What vendors give away, or offer as incentives if you purchase their product says a great deal about a vendor. Two to three times a year, I will end up at a conference where some particular vendors give away conference bags. These bags not only have a company logo, but also the name and date of the conference. This is indeed pure class! Giving away things at conferences is pretty standard marketing now. However, it is quite a rare company that will give away something that is very useful after the conference is already over.
These conference bags of the particular company are also available in three varieties. There are the ones they give away just for spending some time with them (I have two of them in different colors). The tote bags are sturdy and well made, but also are probably inexpensive enough to provide a quality marketing tool without costing them an arm and a leg. Because I still use one of these bags when I am at the office and one of my kids will carry another bag at school, the bags will get used. Then there is the bag if they will give if you will actually purchase their own software package. They had a back pack style bag last year and are now offering a sport bag, large enough to actually take my stuff to the gym. I have been drooling over one of these typesof bags for months already. The last variety is the one the staff gets to use while traveling and these are uber sweet meeting bags. (see free stuff)