It's a common sight at conferences whether it's ERE, ASA, local staffing conferences or job fairs - droves of people with "bags of swag". Along with this phenomena, comes the related "swag swap" where you get together with colleagues and make strategic trades of promotional products for their most important clients (translation get the stuffed toy for their son, daughter, nephew or niece). There is nothing like watching staffing professionals in tense negotiations, "I will give you 5 calendars for the stuffed toy from Monster" or "If you give me that job shark, I will give you twenty Careerbuilder pens". And if you are one of the strong and make it to the last day of the conference, then you might just witness a "swag feeding frenzy". This is when the booth exhibitors try to give away their remaining swag before the conference closes and staffing professionals swarm in for the kill (something more extraordinary than the mass migration of caribou).

In the midst of this do you ever stop to wonder if there is any proof that giving staffing swag is beneficial? How do you know promotional products branded with your staffing company's logo will actually help you get more job orders, attract more candidates, and close more deals?

Well I have done some research and I think I have gained some insight on staffing swag. As for the "swag feeding frenzy", that is a topic I will save for another day. Well I am off to jot down notes for my next post.....now where did I put that Indeed pen and Careerbuilder day planner.... (hey I never said, I was above it all, besides admitting it is the first step).