Monday, September 12, 2011

Swag Party

Farm show season is in full swing, and farmers from all over Ontario will descend on Woodstock this week for Canada's Outdoor Farm Show. Farmers love farm shows. There is of course the business side of the show; seeing new equipment and technologies displayed in action. Then, there is also the social aspect where you need multiple days to see a show, because one day is dedicated to just talking to people. As a kid, I hated this when I went to farm shows with my parents. They had to talk to everyone. Today, I'm the exact same!

The other thing you are guaranteed at a farm show is 'free stuff'. Having worked several John Deere trade show booths, I know there are people who come to the show in search of the 'swag'. When I was a high school student, we would head down the Agri-Fair in Chesley, in search of as much free stuff as we could find. After all, why buy pens when you could get them free at the farm show? I'm sure most farmhouses already have enough 'stuff', but it always seemed appropriate to bring home that bag (or 3 inside each other), jam-packed with brochures, pencils, stress balls, fly swatters, peanuts and a meter stick!

At John Deere, we love swag too. Our product launches and expos tend to be loaded with giveaways, and in 5 years, I don't know how many John Deere hats I've been given! Here is the swag I brought home from Indy a few weeks ago.

Finally, right about the time I read about the 'swag party' Strategy magazine recently threw, Agvocacy 2.0 delegates were blogging about the swag they brought home from the conference. So, I immediately got to thinking, what kind of 'swag party' could we throw with all the goodies we bring home from ag shows and conferences? What has been your favourite farm show swag this year?

1 comment:

  1. I agree, Jen. I've worked at several ag tradeshows and there are lots of people there just for the free stuff! Looks like you received some sweet stuff from John Deere. Our IFAJ swag bags contained some cool stuff as well. There was a utility knife that had a pretty sharp blade. Needless to say, we made sure we packed that in our checked bags on the flight home!

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