Magnets, wherefore art thou?

Magnet #736 - New Smyrna Beach, FL

Ya'll, I've said it before. Unabashedly.

I love trade shows. I admit it. It's kinda silly.

And, it's for a zillion reasons. On the exhibitor side, it's just fascinating to see how each organization lays out their booth, their installation, the furniture, even the shirts the booth reps are forced to wear. I love seeing the activities they come up with to get visitors to drop by and stay awhile, and perhaps give up their personal information to boost an operators' database.

Overall, I love seeing branding carried out in all their materials. Nothing pleases me more at these things than to see a booth operator who knows what they're doing - well designed collateral and booth graphics, reps who are engaging but not imposing. Shoot. Sometimes, even nice carpet in their booth makes me happy.

On the attendee side, I won't lie. I love the tchotkes. I love seeing what various operators are giving away. Who has the best bag - general the one that everyone want and are carrying around the floor. Who has the best pens. Who has the most unique giveaways. Who has the giveaway that doesn't even make sense.

All of which means that I end up leaving any trade show with tons of crap. Mind you, I'm not walking around with the rollies, but sometimes, even as I'm tripping over them in the aisles, I envy those folks...as my own shoulder's dying from carrying my booth booty and my heavy coat.

This weekend's New York Times Travel Show was no exception. I freakin' love the travel show, and vow to go back every year. I feel like I traveled the world today! And my baby photo album, almost proves it.

It's so much fun wandering from region to region and country to country to figure out my next travel destination. I never really have anything in mind, but I love learning about the different countries in their demonstrations - each region has a stage, so it's great to check out activities of interest.

This year, you can learn to dive, you can rock climb, you can learn to salsa, you can learn a quick Filipino dish. And that's just off the top of my head. I had a couple of target countries for other folks - Argentina for a friend (supercute bag), Iceland for my sister (nada), and cruises for a friend who mistakenly thinks I can be convinced to ever go on one (materials so heavy!).

But, I haven't really settled on a new destination for me. Yet. I have a thousand bits of collateral here, so maybe there will be something.

I've gotten to this point where I really pick up from booths that I really am interested in, or that catches my eye with good collateral. I hate wasting the unnecessary paper, or taking their tape measures or other random stuff.

I have only a handful of pens (not anywhere near my record of 40 pens)...so booth exhibitors, please know that the pens are fabulous - because wherever I go, I love having cute pens - the cuter the better. Half the time, I'm using random branded pens, if for no other reason than it's cute. Keep that in mind. Oh! And the bags...stop with the little plastic bags. The recyclable fabric bags, over the shoulder, with a good gusset and supercute branding. Those are what I end up walking down the street with, on my shoulders.

Finally. And pertinent to joy magnetism. Magnets. Wherefore art thou, magnets? It's a travel show! People pick up magnets of places they've been. How about the places they want to go to? Why weren't there any magnets? *stamps foot in askance*

Seriously. How sad is it that I go to a travel show with more than 500 destinations, and only ONE magnet could I find.

Of Florida. Where I'll be spending half my life next month.

Oiy.