timperrett Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 With the delights of PLASA looming and the after math of ABTT still in our minds, I thought it be fun to contemplate and compare SWAG given away by different companies and manufacturers from the back stage industries. A potted history of SWAG (according to my research!!)...SWAG was originally provided in t-shirt form to smelly tour crew in order that they may have a clean change of clothes every week! Branding was put on these shirts by tour sponsors or production companies. Also, as in our industry it is not uncommon to take a business associate out for a drink, another way had to be invented to 'shmooze' (spelling courtesy of lightnix) with clients, free stuff was the way forward. Have you ever been given something inovative? cool? crap? etcWho does give away the best swag? Can anyone rival the VLPS special edition baby grows?!!! Your comments please.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 With the delights of PLASA looming and the after math of ABTT still in our minds, I thought it be fun to contemplate and compare SWAG given away by different companies and manufacturers from the back stage industries. A potted history of SWAG (according to my research!!)...SWAG was originally provided in t-shirt form to smelly tour crew in order that they may have a clean change of clothes every week! Branding was put on these shirts by tour sponsors or production companies. Also, as in our industry it is not uncommon to take a business associate out for a drink, another way had to be invented to 'smooge' with clients, free stuff was the way forward. Have you ever been given something inovative? cool? crap? etcWho does give away the best swag? Can anyone rival the VLPS special edition baby grows?!!! Your comments please....<{POST_SNAPBACK}> The most inovative piece of swag I recieved was a DMX tester/terminator which had the company logo printed on it's sleeve. I got it from the lighting company which we bought the equiptment to re-fit my school from. It looked a lot more pro than my other one which is home made and used copious ammounts of hot glue and gaffa. Unfortunatly I have never been able to get to any industry events, so as far as swag goes, your standard tee's and pens. (Although I do love it when a company gives away a good quality pen, instead of crappy bic biro's) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadyn Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 With the delights of PLASA looming and the after math of ABTT still in our minds, I thought it be fun to contemplate and compare SWAG given away by different companies and manufacturers from the back stage industries. A potted history of SWAG (according to my research!!)...SWAG was originally provided in t-shirt form to smelly tour crew in order that they may have a clean change of clothes every week! Branding was put on these shirts by tour sponsors or production companies. Also, as in our industry it is not uncommon to take a business associate out for a drink, another way had to be invented to 'smooge' with clients, free stuff was the way forward. Have you ever been given something inovative? cool? crap? etcWho does give away the best swag? Can anyone rival the VLPS special edition baby grows?!!! Your comments please....<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Avolites definately has the best swag I've seen so far. Or maybe I've led a sheltered life and don't get out that often??? :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 So, when's Peter going to say that the Blue Room swag is far better than any other ;) Seriously, I'm pretty happy with the Jester shirt I got mailed. And ETC sent me a flashlight for participating in an online survey. Can't wait when I can save the money to take a random trip over to the UK for a trade show to pick up some swag, and all the lanyards I can loop around my neck j/k (and attend the BR meet :unsure: ) David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Waterproof clothes are always a winner! Still like my Vari-lite Yoyo which lit up as you used it and also a stress ball, printed with the logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 VL - good yoyo and stress ball I agreeMartin - Can be a bit tight at times but other than that a descent qualityAvolites - Top swag by far good quality and not afraid to dish it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furryface Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Has to be the old Turbosound T-Shirts which simply said TURBOSOUND - #### me that's loud! Classic. They stopped doing them a few years back when they got bought by a big, humourless American company. But generally any useful swag such as my old SOundcraft Swiss Army knife, Turbosound Maglite, Marquee Audio shoulder bag or waterproof hooded smock. In general the best is left for those who spend the most and bizarrely know companies try to out do themselves by making their top end swag nice and the logos very discrete. Get on a good world tour and then you'll see quality swag Still those days are gone now - boo hoo! Furry #### me! I didn't realise this was a humourless forum as well! Censored! What about free speech? Anyway the offending word started with an F and sounds like "duck" Moderation Note: Please use the edit function to add additional information to a post when it is the last on the thread at time of posting. Thanks. Firther moderation note : it's not that we're ####ing humourless - it's our ####ing 'obsecnity filter' doing its thing automatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 For Me its DiGiCo's USB watch, very useful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 usb watch ??? how that work ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 It has a USB connector built into the strap and 128Mb memory. Idea being that you store the D5/D1 settings when you finish the gig, turn up at the next gig to a different desk and voila, all your settings from the previous night appear on the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Nice Pen from Meyer, along with CD wallet. The little football from CM was quite amusing for a game to kickabout in the office. I'm still waiting for the inspirational swag though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBrien Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Erm relating to tech: My Zero88 Jester T-Shirt is rather cool, if you can do bright yellow. Best was proberbly after a run of Wizard of Oz when I got a 400g bar of chocolate, a few bottles of stuff and kisses & numbers off some rather nice cast members, if that counts. Best ever bit of swag was a while back now and was the Higher Education Conference I went to when I got large stack of sticks of rock of Blackpool University, doesn't sound much but just the right thing at the right time. EDIT: Just general spelling and grammer, I know a load of it is still bad but hey I can only do my best, sorry to any one that tried to read it before the edit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 ...another way had to be invented to 'smooge' with clients, free stuff was the way forward...<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[pedant]It's "shmooze with clients", from the German schmusen, meaning to smooch, cuddle or canoodle.[/pedant] Swag really needs to be of good quality and useful every day to be a properly effective marketing tool. Crappy see through T-shirts tend to wind up cleaning my windows very quickly and don't even come near me with that polo shirt B-) My best bit of swag ever: the gilet (sleeveless jacket) handed out by Showtec in Cologne, as standard to all their show crew. Six years of near-constant Summer wear and still going strong, with pockets for days. That's closely followed by the Adidas® bag given to me on a 1998 tour (along with the biggest, plushest towel I've ever had) - seven years on and waiting to be unpacked once again after its latest adventure ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 ETC torch is good, with a nice carry case, and posted from the USA, all for completing a survey on dimming. (Before anyone questions what I could contribute to this, I am responsible for LX gear at a few schools, churches and small am-drams) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomJ Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Yep Avolites are great, but for me the jackets from the Felix Dennis Tour Last Year. Poetry is the new rock n roll Did I Mention The Free Wine www.felixdennis.com Thom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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