Once again, we’ve asked Mike Harper, account executive and promotional product genius, at Summit Marketing to provide some unique ideas for promotional products that are sure to get noticed and that will keep your brand in front of your customers long after they’ve left the floor.

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Aircube Laptop Case 14.1”
No more hassling through safety check-points! Traveling with your computer should make life easier, not more inconvenient. The Aircube Notebook Sleeve that features Patent Pending Air Cell Technology for protection makes check-point friendly design for fast security clearance in airports and buildings. Aircube is available in pink, blue and black.

Cardboard Speakers
Size: 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 3.5″
These Speakers are amazing! They come neatly packed in a decorated box and unfold into 2 speakers ready to plug into your computer, iPod or portable music device. Their size makes them easy to pack and go.

Reusable Beverage Sleeve
Get others talking by making a boring bottle or can more festive. These great nylon “tattooed” sleeves can be used anywhere such as picnics, concerts, fundraisers, or even at the office. Customize with your own logo.

Pedometer Media Case
Getting ready to take that run or walk and ask yourself where you put your keys, phone, money, etc.? Counting your steps could not be easier with this Velcro closure case that is ideal for holding those small items.

Laminate 100% Recycled Shopper
Recycled tote bags have become very popular. They are commonly seen around town as grocery totes, but are rapidly expanding into mall stores. It has become a trend for consumers to “be seen” using re-usable grocery totes, not only to carry their groceries, but to carry around everything from library books to beach gear and they are easy to store. People like to show their eco-responsibility, and these fun colorful bags are a way to say it. They are lightweight and made from 100% recycled material.

Highlighter Strips
Small and compact, perfect for the person on the go! You will not need to carry another highlighter! The small translucent strips are self adhesive, removable and reusable. Also make for great page markers.

Compact Digital Scale
Personal, portable weight scale made of ABS plastic and tempered safety glass. Easily fits into your travel bag. Measures up to 330 lbs. and features a sliding LCD read-out.

Twitter is a powerful tool to communicate with your members and conference attendees. Here are some ways you can leverage Twitter to promote your conference and add value on-site.

Create a separate Twitter handle for your conference. Use this handle to promote session updates, speaker announcements, and registration deadlines. Cross-promote by posting occasional relevant messages to both your conference handle and your Association handle.

Include your Twitter handle in all print and electronic communication with your members.

Consider giving a specific registration discount to your Twitter followers. Offering an exclusive registration discount code to your Twitter followers will help your organization track ROI and will also result in retweets (RT). If five of your followers each retweet your offer to their 100 followers, your message has been seen by as many as 500 additional people.

Encourage attendees to add their Twitter name to their nametags. (Or, collect them on the registration form and preprint the Twitter names.) Attendees are coming from all over the country and Twitter is a great way to facilitate lasting conversation.

Host a Tweet-Up at the conference. Chances are your members may not know other members who they are following on Twitter. A Tweet-Up is a great way to get to know each other online and off. The event can be as informal as sending out a tweet to meet at a local bar or restaurant, or, the event can be more formalized and planned in advance as a part of the conference.

At the conference, encourage the use of laptops and phones. Attendees can tweet session highlights and ask questions to speakers in real-time. Announce specific hashtags (a short abbreviation preceded by a #) at the beginning of each session to allow for easy searching. During Q&A time, broadcast the session’s Twitter feed on the projection screen so attendees can see the questions being asked as well as the comments of their fellow attendees.

Utilize Twitter to serve as a conference “concierge.” Most likely, your members are in a new place and may not be at all familiar with the nearby attractions. A conference concierge can help these members find restaurant recommendations, give information about airport transportation options and help connect members with each other. Plus, since members are in sessions most of the day, they are away from the computer and don’t have time to spend online looking for local information. Assign several staff members (especially those still in the office) to follow the Twitter feed and as attendees reply to your conference tag (@) with questions, have these staff members respond to any questions that arise.

For example: @conference: I’m looking for a place to take 6 people to dinner tonight around 7 for a business dinner. Any suggestions? @attendee: McCormick & Schmicks is 2 blocks from the convention center and has availability at 6:45. Can I make you a reservation? ^staff

or

@conference: How far is the airport from the hotel? Need to know when to leave to catch my flight. @attendee: 15 minutes during rush hour. 7 minutes otherwise. ^staff

If you have a great idea your association has used, or that you’ve seen in action at a conference you’ve attended, share it below in the comments!

Social media is a great tool to promote your conference — before, during, and after. More and more organizations are using Twitter and other social media tools to highlight conference topics and “stream” keynotes. Here are six ways to build hype around your conference and to engage your attendees.

Flickr — Create a Flickr group and ask attendees to post their photos directly into this group. You’ll get a variety of conference perspectives, and you may even get some photos you can use in future promotional pieces (with permission, of course!) Here’s a sample of AIGA DC’s group in action.

Twitter — Create a hashtag (hashtags help organize content on Twitter) for your conference — try to keep it between 6-8 characters total. Promote the hashtag in your conference promotions, onsite, and have speakers reference it at the beginning of workshops. At SXSW, speakers created hashtags for their individual lectures and encouraged attendees to ask questions through the session hashtag and the conference hashtag. The hashtagging allowed at-home attendees to be involved in the conversation as well. See how SXSW does it.

Facebook — Set up an event page or group page specifically for your conference. It will create a sense of community as more users register and share information about hotels, carpooling, and restaurant reservations. Additionally, through the administrative tools for the page, you’ll be able to remind members of specific deadlines (early registration or hotel reservation close dates) quickly and easily. IEDC does a good job with their page.

Blogging — Engage a group of members, vendors, sponsors and staff to blog the event for you. With a large group of authors, you’ll be able to cover more varied topics, and your readers won’t feel like they are only hearing from your association. Encourage speakers to participate as well, and with their continued insight, you’ll be able to continue the conversation after the conference. The PAnel is a good example of this.

Live Streaming — Pick a signature aspect of the convention and stream it to the members who are unable to attend. Time the event so that at-home viewers can be at their computer (lunch time) and promote the Twitter hashtag to allow these viewers to “phone in” their questions. Here’s an example from ACC.

Live Website — Create a portal for combining your Twitter traffic, YouTube posts and Flickr feed. The site can be created fairly easily by pulling in the RSS feeds from the external sites. Open the site up as a sponsorship opportunity and promote it your entire mailing list. Here’s AIGA’s “live site”.

Conferences are great — there are endless networking opportunities, lectures and workshops by industry leaders, and the chance to re-energize worn-out batteries. But let’s be honest, one of the best things about conferences is what’s available on the tradeshow floor — the “swag” (or stuff we all get). These are the items attendees covet; and often the only thing that makes it back to an attendees’ office. But how many logoed BIC pens, magnets and mints can one person use?

We asked Mike Harper, account executive and promotional product genius, at Summit Marketing to provide some unique ideas for promotional products that are sure to get noticed on the tradeshow floor and that will keep your brand in front of your customers long after they’ve left the floor.

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Slinky Adhesive Notes
Budget: $1.99-$1.23 each
100 Sheets

Slinky® adhesive note pads feature alternating glue and reminds everyone of their favorite childhood walking toy. Each note has repositionable adhesive at the top. Works like a sticky note, fun like a Slinky®.  Must be ordered in increments of 500.

Slap, Wrap & Go Cooler
Budget:  $1.79-$3.99 each

Slap n Wrap beverage insulators are the only Coolie on the market that can fit cans, bottles, glasses & more. The patented Slap n Wrap effect allows it to grip almost any container without falling off. The large 2.5″ x 7″ imprint area allows for a billboard logo that will be recognized easily.

Biodegradable Anti-Bacterial Wipes Canister
Budget: $1.95-$1.65 each
Blue or Lime Cap
Recyclable dispenser contains 30 biodegradable antibacterial wetwipes. Wipes are lavender scented.

Relax Calm Down Pen
Budget: $2.25-$2.00

Fun pen says “Relax, calm down now. Don’t stress, take it easy!” when head is pressed down. Made from Eco-Friendly corn plastic.

IGOT Pen
Budget: $4.95-$3.25 each

The same size as a credit card, this pen fits in your wallet just like your credit cards would. Full color imprinting options on both sides. Made in the USA.

Driinn Cell Phone Holder
Budget:  $3.17 – $1.75 each

Authentic Driinn™ Phone Charger Holder is a handy product for EVERYONE with a cell phone, Mp3 player, or PDA. It hangs between the battery charger and the wall socket, providing a support for your mobile phone and convenient storage for the charging cord. Patented, Made in the USA, large imprint area for your logo will be viewed daily for optimal brand recognition!

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Summit Marketing offers services including promotional products, recognition and incentives, strategic fundraising, direct mail and fulfillment services.

Stay tuned for more ideas from Mike in the coming months (including some great ideas for holiday gifts). To learn more about these and other promotional products, Mike can be reached at 240-491-5235 or m.harper@summitmarketing.com.