Conference Swag and Giveaways

We try to offer attendees a few things to remember the conference by and make sure that whatever we produce is worth keeping.

The t-shirts, notebooks, pens, books, bags, and more, everything we hand pick is designed to be taken home, kept, and used time and time again. We know that, in general, people value what they receive and we hate to think that things will be thrown away. Sadly, every year the landfill sites across the world get fuller and fuller.

This year at BoS Europe, we made some changes and we’ve been very encouraged by the feedback.

As you may know, our Europe 2020 conference was moved online because of a little thing called the Coronavirus pandemic – I’m sure you’ll have heard about it. Unfortunately the goody bag items had already been ordered, delivered, and accepted when we were forced to switch up our plans.

Hundreds of items – tote bags, notebooks, and t-shirts – were suddenly at risk of being useless.

Thankfully, our savvy team came up with some simple ways to upcycle the printed merch to provide exclusive limited edition swag our Europe 2022 attendees can cherish forever – meaning zero waste and a much happier planet.

With a little help from the wonderful people over at Stickermule, our notebooks got a quick and easy update, and thanks to some iron on patches, our t-shirt and bags also got a wonderful and tactile change of year.

Business of Software were not the only ones taking a step back and looking at giveaways differently following worldwide events.

Quiet Light – having seen the devastating news coverage of the war in Ukraine – chose to donate to a worthy cause in lieu of giving physical goods away at conference (see how they are making a difference). This not only reduces the chances of items breaking and ending up discarded, but actively personifies the BoS Community spirit by helping those in need get to where they want to be, to grow stronger, and have a positive future.

As we move towards regular in-person conferences again, we’d love to hear from you about how you feel regarding giveaway items and our efforts to reduce waste.