The schwag game

Let’s face it — although the education, the networking, the trade show and the special events are the real reason a superintendent treks to the annual GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show, there is another draw that most won’t admit to.

The schwag.

You know, the schwag. The giveaways. The trinkets. The toys. The hats, ballpoint pens, towels, t-shirts and basketballs (yes, I’m looking at you, Agrium) that most exhibitors at the trade show flash about to get you, the coveted “qualified buyer,” to stroll into their space for a few minutes and survey their products and services.

Common sense says a ploy as cheap as that one wouldn’t work on educated, professional folks like the ones who attend GIS. But obviously, common sense is dead wrong. For whatever reason, the schwag works. The schwag pulls them in. And even if you tell yourself you’re picking up that toy tractor for your kids, you’ll still do the polite thing, look around the booth and pick up a brochure (after all, they just gave you a toy tractor), and the next time you need a pallet of fertilizer or a new greensmower, chances are you’ll think of that toy and that company before you pick up the phone.

You see, the schwag works.

When it comes to the GCM booth at GIS, we are definitely not immune to schwag fever. We’ve been giving away crap … er, I mean, high-quality promotional items … since we began exhibiting at the show back in 2000. This year, we took our schwag the way of the contest and conducted a drawing for 15 brand-new, turf-green iPod Nanos in an effort to promote the recently launched GCSAA TV (www.gcsaa.tv), GCM’s blog (http://gcm.typepad.com) and a handful of the association’s other Web properties.

Did the schwag work? Well, we had good crowds at the GCM booth, a hearty pile of contest entries and a nice uptick in the number of online visitors to both GCSAA TV and our blog. Plus, we got a good group of 15 GCSAA members who will be sporting brand-new, turf-green iPod Nanos this spring as the winners of our little contest. Those “schwagified” (I’m just inventing words at this point) supers are: David Brandenburg, CGCS at Rolling Meadows Golf Course in
Fond du Lac, Wis.; Kevin Breuker, the assistant superintendent at Traverse City (Mich.); Golf and Country Club; Miles Carson, a turf student at the University of Arkansas; Thomas Doyle from Callippe Preserve Golf Course in Pleasanton, Calif.; Christopher Garrett from Riverside Golf Course in Fresno, Calif.; Timothy Glorioso, CGCS from Toledo (Ohio) Country Club; Bill Herbert from Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara, Calif.; Sean Hoolehan, CGCS at Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Ore.; Matthew Leinen from North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill.; Sean Remington from Green Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hills, Pa.; Jay Stine, CGCS from McKinney, Texas; Randy Swonger from Trout Lake Golf & Country Club in Woodruff, Wis.; Franklin Unrau from Geneva National Golf Club in Lake Geneva, Wis.; Eric Ward, CGCS at Golf Tremblant in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada; and David Webner from Westwood Country Club in Rocky River, Ohio.

Enjoy the schwag, guys.