Are You Still Giving Away Traditional Branded Swag?

Keep reading if you want to stay ahead of the curve and disrupt a $17 billion dollar industry of conference swag giveaways. For event designers, it’s time to ditch the standard conference & trade show swag (tote bags, stress balls, USB drives, t-shirts, etc.). These may have served you well in the past, but are they standing the test of time for your conference now that we’ve shifted to virtual? Or are they destined for a landfill? The powerful millennial generation prefers experiences over stuff and we agree–here are four great ways to be more innovative with what your conference offers to sponsors.

Virtual visual notes created for Social Jack webinar

The new world of conference swag is virtual

Now that so much of the world is working virtually, physical items are much harder to get into the hands of event-goers. Virtual visual notes can be projected live during your webinar, meeting, or any other online event with screen sharing capabilities. Since they’re drawn digitally, these visual notes can be sent out via email to attendees are shared on social media to keep people talking about your content. And, if you still want to provide a physical takeaway to your attendees, the visual notes can be printed on posters, plexiglass, and more.

Financial Health Network‘s Annual EMERGE Conference featuring sponsored visual notes

Visual notes make a sponsor’s name and brand memorable

If you’re an event planner organizing a conference, chances are you have a roster of opportunities available to key partners and sponsors. Adding a visual notes package to the mix is an effective way to maximize their investment and attendee engagement (especially the millennial generation). Sponsoring visual notes yields multiple ROI benefits, and brand recognition is one of them.

Your sponsors’ logos will be prominently displayed on everything we are graphic recording. Our artists will also curate a color palette around primary brand colors. This way your partners infuse their branding in every graphic recording session we capture, from the opening keynote to the closing address.

Beyond real-time visual notes of panels and breakouts, sponsors take advantage of our interactive engagement boards. Pose a question that attendees can answer, then see visualized into beautiful illustrations as they walk the conference floor. They will stay engaged with day’s sessions and give you authentic, critical responses framed in an incredible takeaway.

How often do you see photos of attendees with tote bags or a fistful of ballpoint pens on your social feed? Finished visual notes are galleried in high traffic areas to draw attendees in and increase the share count. And people LOVE to see their knowledge and experience translated into visuals–especially sponsors!

Visual notes are useful & eco-friendly conference swag

We have visualized hundreds of conferences around the world. Needless to say, we know a thing or two about branded conference swag and trade show giveaways. Event planners are always looking for unique giveaways to attract attendees to their booth, but most are destined for a landfill. This is already an environmental nightmare, but what does it say about the logo printed on those totes, water bottles, or ballpoint pens?

Our visual notes–both analog and digital–are environmentally responsible, an impactful archive of your content, and a launchpad for re-engaging with key ideas long after the conference is over.

Squishy balls don’t biodegrade, but our artist boards do! Plus, our markers use water-based-inks and refillable ink. We strive to minimize our carbon footprint, and yours, by designing our process to minimize waste. After your event, you and your sponsors will receive high-resolution digital files of every visual note we create.

The physical artist boards created with visual notes are often shipped back to corporate HQ and displayed until the next year’s event, creating an impressive visual archive of the content. Additionally, the digital files we send are the perfect asset to share in post-communication emails, white papers, and thank you messages.

Digital Visual Notes at the annual Daring Women Summit in Seattle, Washington

Visual notes are one of the easiest ways to strengthen your corporate partnerships

Corporate sponsors of our visual notes forge strong partnerships. It’s an investment in what’s truly important – the content. Name badges, buffet lunches, and WiFi networks help a conference flow, but do attendees really connect with these? Does the name on their lanyard help them reflect on the keynote? Our visual notes are a catalyst that helps strengthen partnerships and build brand awareness, all while keeping the content and theme of the event in focus.

HR Technology Conference & Expo had their real-time digital visual notes sponsored for their event.

Are you planning a virtual conference and want to elevate the attendee experience? Give us a shout, we’ll help create something awesome for you and your sponsors, together.