When is free not really free? When it binds you by the apron strings.
I don't normally have a problem with free stuff. In fact, I like it quite a bit. But as I look through my swag bags from BlogHer '07, I do notice a disturbing theme. Among many other class-act items, I was offered:
- A potholder from Butterball.
- An apron from Wine.com.
- A hand mirror from Wiley.
And it makes me wonder. And I say hmmmm.
On the face of it, it seems appropriate for a producer of mass-market turkeys and turkey accessories to use a potholder as their calling card. I mean, even though this was a blogging conference, it might seem a little strange for them to hand out thumb drives.
That would be strange, right?
Strange and incredible.
These companies completely missed the boat. Seriously, a potholder? Yeah, I'm a woman. Yeah, I cook. But this was not a conference for cooking women, this was a conference for blogging women. You know, who use computers. And I know, Math Is Hard Barbie, but blow me. The more I think about the apron and the hand mirror and the potholder, the angrier I get.
And I should say that I hold Elisa, Jory and Lisa up as our own goddesses. The founders of BlogHer? I.Love.Them. And this post has nothing to do with them or their incredible conference at all.
But companies who hear "woman" and think "apron" make my blood boil.
Oh no they di'int!
It could have been worse: think tampons and douches. Maybe that's what you should send back to the swag contributors as a thank you present.
All I have to say is Amen sister!
I would have liked a box of tampons. Those things are expensive! I left the potholder in the hotel room. I bought home a LOT of PBSkids schwag for my kiddos though. They are THRILLED.
Wiley the publishing house? A mirror? WTF? Wine.com should have given away quality waiter's helper. As the guy from Waiter Rant notes, those things are invaluable. Though perhaps they aren't safe to carry on.
All of my thumb drives have come from conferences. I have no issue with flashing around the log from Insight or Dice or whoever when it comes to free data storage.
Girl I so hear you!!! The only thing I really liked was the GM bathroom set and the memory stick was pretty good I'm not sure who that was from but they got that right on.
How did you like the conference overall? I think the Un-conference was the best part on Sunday. (Also I was feeling better then) It was so AWESOME to meet you and everyone else.
Grrrr. Good point.
Something about that ugly blue potholder didn't sit right with me either - so I too left it behind. Maybe they should have realized that a Women's conference doesn't automatically equate to a bunch of recipe swapping and talk of our longing for the perfect turkey at Thanksgiving.
Aside from that - and my roomie typoid-melina (hahaha) - BlogHer was incredible! Definitely going next year!!
What's an apron?
I'm willing to bet the potholder had the Butterball brand on it - and they already had it in their marketing 'freebie' stash. I'm also willing to bet that nobody at Butterball was willing to spring for branding thumbdrives with the butterball brand for a blogging conference, even though it may have been attended by scads of great women, the ROI wouldn't have cut it with the suits lol! They could have managed a mousepad though I suppose ;)
That sucks - maybe not worse, than say if they had given Crocs with little removable turkeys instead of flowers!
All kidding aside, I think you all rock for getting there! Thanks for the updates.
Leigh
Mmm-hmm, I'm with you. Did they not even bother to look at the BlogHer site before setting up their tables? Oh well, I guess I'm going to go put on my apron and put the turkey in my little ol' ove with my potholder so that dinner will be waiting on the table when my man gets home! :O
Yes! Did you notice how many of those potholders got left behind on tables?
Last year people complained about the bibs. This year it was the potholders. I, personally, found them to be useless - I don't cook.
Well, the wine part makes sense…. If you are going to do a hot pad, you could just as easily do a mouse pad instead. We all need tons of those, too, right?
And there's nothing like an apron to wear outside on a cool, Pacific Northwest day…..I find it adds the perfect, extra layer, and it goes so well with my pearls.
I sold the potholder to my kiddies as a cool pocket that they could hang up that mommy brought back from her trip.
But I'm totally with you. I think it had the opposite intended effect on me. No way I'm going to buy a Butterball after seeing that freak turkey that sat on the table for three days anyway.
Great to meet you! Wish I had had more time to sit and pick your brain. But I'm guessing that's what you were afraid of and why you kept running away every time you saw me stalking you.
I wasn't there, but I'm offended for all of you (us) just knowing of it. Let's remember the experience when someone else cooks the turkey this November.
I am right there with you…I left my apron,potholder,hand mirror at the conference! Thank you very little. I must say the awesome laptop bag from AOL was rith on the money!
I didn't get the apron or the mirror (my only Wiley swag was a notebook). However, I did make it home with 4x the number of condoms as I did last year. Yeeha!
There was way too much trashswag. They could have gotten more respect out of "sponsoring" a few bloggers to attend. You know, as long as they promised to wear the apron and tote the hotpad. My vote's for bloggerships next year.
I'm with Annie. It sounds like some of the stuff I've heard of marketing departments doing to get rid of stuff while seeming to be involved.
If nothing else, there's a whole lot of turkey talk going on now. :)
Does anyone even use potholders anymore?
They could have been way more creative than that. Why didn't Wine.com give out wine? That would be totally fitting.
I gave all my trash-swag to my kid. He totally thought he struck gold. I'm sure I'll end up throwing most of it away eventually. But it saved me from having to actually buy him something. lol
The swag was pretty pitiful for a blogging conference. I think they thought we were working on Girl Scout patches and how to be a better wife during those sessions. Come on, sponsors! Most of the women there are total technology geeks. Get with the program.
The thumb drive was the best. I thought about going to the AOL booth to get the laptop bag, because I have a 17" screen laptop and need a bag, but decided to skip it. There was so much schwag as it was. (I'm surprised nobody complained about the Second Life martini glass! And did anyone see the Kraft table with slices of American cheese? WTF???)
FYI, that martini glass was hot for 2 reasons: it came from Queen of Spain, and it glowed pink, people! Excellent!
Pot holders. OOH! Sign me up! I FOR SURE won't miss BlogHer next year!
Yeah…sure…
Why don't these people use their brains. Rule of thumb, if the stuff wouldn't apply to men as well, then it's probably a bad idea.
souvenirs for your husband
Well, Mr. Plain does do all the shopping and cooking, so that wouldn't have been a bad idea!
Seriously? I would have been slightly offended but then again something free is something free so I couldn't complain too much.
It's a potholder? I thought it was a pocket holder for the Cd's. Seriously, how insulting.
It was great meeting you!
Thanks for getting my back, yo.
Seriously. I was the ONLY non corporation in that damn bag and I can't even tell you the WORK we put into those mofos. Not to mention the thought. Geez.
Crack and shake. No, its not a straw. No, its not some odd liquid. CRACK AND SHAKE.
Sigh.
I'm bitter. I picked up everyone of those glasses that was left on a table and I will now have them scanned for prints so I can rant at you personally. :) Way to much work for you complainers. I'll give you my address and you can send them back to me. Or better yet, take up your bloghership collection. I'll donate $5 for everyone you send back. Or, photo you post of you using it properly.
So, uh, could I have the apron?
Is there an RSS feed for the GRIT in the sidebar? I'm needin' my GRITs, missy.
You cannot have my apron coolio - I want it. I was about to buy one at IKEA a few weeks ago, but thought … "Wow! I bet I get an APRON at BlogHer!" *joking*
The glowing glasses were, in my opinion, pretty cool. However, the fact that my luggage gained 12 lbs - yes, TWELVE POUNDS, for the return journey was bad enough. I did GIVE mine away, but not to a dumpster - hopefully that keeps me from getting my thumb printed or my yard forked.
Hi–and thanks for the shwag review! It always bubbles up to become one of the most talked-about thing at BlogHer.
I have to confess, though, that I think you're being hard on Butterball. Afterall, they were there sponsoring the Food Blogging session, in addition to putting an item in the tote, and many of them use pot holders. Hell, I'm not a food blogger and I use a pot holder. I imagine that others in the community do too! There really was no more political implication behind it, at least not for me. I thought it was an apropos item that spoke to what the company is about and when we should think of them–while cooking!–not an indication of their take on women's place in society. As the one who worked with them to bring them into BlogHer, I was really pleased to see how innovative the company was, and how supportive they were of bloggers.
I love that we have sponsors who don't only see us at techheads who want free software or tech gadgets. We had beauty products, food, books, you name it. These aspects speak to all of the interests of the community, not just to our inner geek/diva/chef. I also wish that the monetary value of what is in the tote is not a primary gauge of the giveaway. The point of the item was to say "We support you!" I think BB made that point loud and clear.
What appeals to us is all very subjective. I wish that folks hadn't chucked their pot holders–I would have taken them! We don't all love every item in the tote bags, but I, for one, am always tickled to see what's in there.
–JD
By the way–I put up my URL and Lisa's pic is coming up. I'm actually not the blonde babe next to my comment.
Well, I kept the apron - and it didn't offend me in the least, but I didn't need the extra pot holder. I didn't ditch it. I talked to the maid in the hotel room and she was thrilled to have it.
Some of my decision of what to save and keep was a direct result of what could shove down in my suitcase.
For instance, the toiletries in the brown "gator" box I kept, but I couldn't keep the box –> the maid got that. She also got the GM bag b/c I liked the AOL bag better and well, I didn't have room for it all.
It might be a good idea to have a bin for people to "give back" items they do not want. I kept MOST of what was in my bag, but I know others did not (as mentioned above). Then, others that DO want those items can come along behind and take what they want from that same bin. I traded for a jump drive … came home with two of those and one less something else (OH! The Bliss products … I didn't need those).
The turkey skeeved me out, but I was indifferent to the potholder. The Curves shit, however, pissed me right off. I thought it was really, really tacky to accept diet advertising for a women's conference. I mean, I'm as concerned about health and obesity as the next woman.
But using what's supposed to be an empowering forum for women as an opportunity to bombard women with the message that what they are isn't good enough (and please don't tell me curves empowers women. It doesn't. And it was a diet aid just like an LA Weightloss Bar or a Weight Watchers entree would have been) left a bad taste in my mouth that had nothing to do with cereal.
Jory,
Well, even though they were supporting food bloggers, they were still bloggers. I didn't want to rehash the "oh my god they gave us condoms and bibs and I don't have sex with men / have children" rants from last year, but to me the choice of freebie is significant.
I never said I was unhappy about the monetary value of any of the freebies. I did love the AOL tote, but all I ever expect out of swag is an indication of how the company relates to me. Or how the company values me. Or how the company imagines me to be.
If wine.com had given out corkscrews, butterball had given out turkey (or more realistically coupons) I wouldn't have written a thing except possibly "thanks."
There were other items in those bags that I didn't bring home, but they weren't note-worthy because they were either innocuous (magnets for example) or very representative of the company offering them (towel from the exercise company).
Erika, I didn't get an apron and I'd take yours for my mom if you wanted to get rid of it…..
So that apron totally got my kid to want to help me cook after I explained what it was :) I use potholders but just found that one kind of ugly. I got a really nice spatula at a SWE conference one and totally loved it.
I thought the Butterball potholder was funny. I took it home in ironic vegetarian glee. And I wore my "I heart Giblets" pin all weekend, too.
I am bummed to hear the one response about General Mills/Curves bar. What about a granola bar is anti-body image? There was no diet message here; there was a healthy eating message. I think it's a bit presumptuous to think that others won't like to try the granola bar. I thought it was a great alternative to the, er, less healthy food at the sponsored break.
I realize I come from a position of support of the sponsors, but as a blogger, I just don't agree. I LOVED those bars, just like I enjoyed the Weight Watchers Bars last year. Why didn't the beauty products evoke the same response? After all, they are premised on women's desire to look better,no? Or the jump drives? Do those imply that we're all geeks?
I'm always impressed at the innovation of the sponsors. I hope I don't have to beg them to include nothing but paper next year, or risk upsetting the bloggers who might take offense. I think we would all suffer.
I think AOL definitely wins the swag of the year award…their items were absolutely useful for a group of people who at least likely to have computers, if not laptops, and the branding was very discreet.
It must be terribly difficult to please such a diverse group of people with such diverse needs and interests. I took home everything I got, and although the Butterball potholder will never grace my kitchen counter, I'm keeping it as a reminder of the weekend and it'll be a great conversation starter whenever my girlfriends are over for a meal.
I wondered if the pot holder would cause a bit of an uproar when I saw it, but felt it was appropriate for the company. I mean, they sell things you cook, they were sponsoring the food blogger's session…
Perhaps I'm a bit thick, but I don't know that everything that can be tied to domesticity represents some kind of hidden message that we belong in the kitchen.
Of all my BlogHer posts this is the one with lots of comments? Well OK…
Jory, I didn't see the granola bars, but the Curves cereal didn't set off any alarms for me. I stuffed it in my laptop bag in case I got hungry later and that was about it.
But the point is that you'll never please anyone. This is my rant about companies who don't seem to be able to think creatively about the context they are going into.
It doesn't take a lot of thought to say "Hey, this is a blogging conference, maybe a mousepad conveys a more appropriate message than a hot pad?" Neither product I have a lot of use for, but swag / shwag / schwag / schwääg is typically of little use anyway.
Haha, at least it's not a nine month old entry. I have thirty four emails in my inbox from a post I wrote in November. NOVEMBER!
Picturing a mousepad with a photo of that shiny Butterball turkey on it, now. Hmmm.
Or maybe those three items are really a collection of kinky bedroom toys!
I was hoping for turkey earrings, or maybe a jump drive with the Butterball logo that says "Need more r-HAM"?
Okay, maybe not.
I wonder why my gravatar is not working? Bah, ham-bug.