Do We Really Need Goodie Bags at Conferences?

We all like free stuff, I get it. The excitement of receiving a small bag at a conference, not knowing what we might have scored. But let’s be honest - how many lanyards, notebooks, tote bags, water bottles and pens do we really need? Especially when they have the big logo of the conference sponsor on it?

The Benefits Of Fewer Goodies

For that reason, I'm making the case for fewer goodie bags for participants at conferences and events. Here are my three arguments:

• Less goodies = less waste

  On average, promotional products are only kept for one year, according to the 2019 Global Ad Impressions Study by the Advertising Specialty Institute. Only 21% are kept for a longer period of time. More than half are given away and 23% are thrown away. This means that many promotional giveaways will end up in the landfill. Ask yourself, how many items have you thrown away right after conferences or during your first cleanup?
  

• Less goodies = less clutter I think we can all benefit from less clutter in our life. Personally, I get so annoyed by all the clutter we receive these days.

• Less goodies = more budget for conference content For the host, this also means reduced costs, money that can be invested in the content of the conference or in lower admission prices. I assume it will be the former. :)

Mindful Conference Gifts

I know what you might think - how about useful, sustainable gifts? I attended a few events in the past months that provided very thoughtful gifts and I really appreciated that. Two were food-related, one was a useful tech tool. While I ate the food gifts, I still gave the tech tool away, because ultimately I didn't need it. I think that's one of the essences of this article: Even if the gift is thoughtful, we ultimately don't really need it.

However, there are a few options for mindful event gifts:

• Food: This is actually a great opportunity to feature local specialities that represent the region and support a small business.

• Donations: Donations in the name of the participants is such a wonderful idea. Once I received a certificate that a tree was planted in my name. I thought that was a great idea.

• Reusable items: Here are a few ideas you shared with me on Instagram and that I found online: Coffee cups, backpacks, umbrellas, electronic goods like chargers, plantable pens, soaps, lip balms, reusable produce bags, little bags of seeds native to your area or plant kits, socks, discount codes for local yoga studios (or other sports)

• General idea: the more local, the better.

I had a brief conversation with a conference organizer, and she mentioned that many clients are initially concerned about sustainability, but when it comes down to budget, they still often opt for the cheaper, easier route of branded pens, notepads, etc.

I can understand that to a certain point, but there has to be a solution to this. Choosing cheap and easy is not the right way for a sustainable future.

How about we don’t give gifts to the participants, or something very small like a lip balm, but invest more in a sustainable gift for the speakers? Or we do a raffle where 5-10 people from the audience can win a sustainable gift? That way it’s not just the speakers who get something.

What Can We Do as Participants?

Change only happens if we want it to. So if you are attending an event or conference in the coming months, you can make a conscious decision whether to accept the goodie on offer and whether to share any feedback you may have with the organizers after the conference. At many conferences and events, a survey is sent out after the event in which you can give your feedback.

If you organize conferences and events yourself, maybe next time you can think of something new and creative that has less impact on the planet and maybe even contributes to a good cause.

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I hope this article has made you think about the topic of gifts in general - how can we all be more mindful of what we give - both privately and professionally?