{"id":463,"date":"2025-07-17T15:38:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/?p=463"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:38:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:38:35","slug":"conference-swag-is-a-landfill-in-waiting-lets-fix-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/conference-swag-is-a-landfill-in-waiting-lets-fix-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference Swag Is a Landfill in Waiting – Let\u2019s Fix That"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conferences: Where Sustainability Goals Go to Die \u2620\ufe0f<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about the dark side of branded merch.
A Reddit thread recently lit up with complaints about conference giveaways \u2014 and if you’ve ever walked out of an expo with a tote bag full of junk, you already know what they were talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One user in r\/Anticonsumption posted about being buried in branded swag<\/strong> at an event:
\ud83d\udca5 Cheap plastic trinkets
\ud83d\udca5 Useless promotional giveaways
\ud83d\udca5 More tote bags than any human could possibly carry or care about<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then the comments came pouring<\/em> in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcac What People Are Really<\/em> Saying About Your Swag<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cI guarantee 95% of this stuff is going into the trash.\u201d
\u201cConvention swag is just birthday party favor bags for adults.\u201d
\u201cWe talk about being zero waste, then mail boxes of branded clutter.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t use tote bags. Why would I need 20 from companies I don\u2019t care about?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And the real kicker?
It\u2019s not about one notebook or one reusable bottle.
It\u2019s about 100,000 of them<\/strong> \u2014 mass-produced, uninspired, and destined for the dump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quantity \u2260 Quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to branded merchandise for conferences<\/strong>, the volume is often the villain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your company is ordering tens of thousands of generic products that will sit in hotel trash cans, you\u2019re not building brand love \u2014 you\u2019re building waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Go To Market Studio, we believe eco-conscious swag<\/strong> can still be exciting, useful, and unforgettable. The kind people want to keep, use, and even post about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because great branded merch doesn\u2019t scream your logo \u2014
It tells your story, shares your values, and makes people feel like insiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask This Before You Print a Single Unit:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2728 Is it carry-on worthy<\/strong>?
\u2728 Is it actually useful<\/strong>?
\u2728 Is it beautiful enough<\/strong> that someone would buy it in a store?
\u2728 Does it align with your brand\u2019s sustainability commitments?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the answer is no<\/em> to any of these\u2026
Put the tote bag down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to Reimagine Your Conference Giveaways?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re here to help you create intentional, sustainable, and standout branded merchandise<\/strong> that people don\u2019t just take home \u2014 they treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s end the era of disposable swag and create something worth carrying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, your turn \u2014 what TV show are you binging lately?<\/strong>
I\u2019m watching Gilmore Girls<\/em> for the first time with my 13-year-old daughter, and yes\u2026 I\u2019m completely charmed. \u2615\ud83d\udcac<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want help building better, smarter conference merch?
Let\u2019s chat.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Conferences: Where Sustainability Goals Go to Die \u2620\ufe0f Let\u2019s talk about the dark side of branded merch.A Reddit thread recently lit up with complaints about conference giveaways \u2014 and if you’ve ever walked out of an expo with a tote bag full of junk, you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hide_page_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}