Corporate Gifts

Call them what you will--schwag, trinkets, or (yawn) promotional items--corporate gifts are a mainstay of the business world. I may be stuck in a time warp, but the Internet Boom (with caps ... just like the Ice Age!) surely seemed to be a high point in the world of corporate gifts. My desk drawers overflowed with wacky stuff scavenged from trade shows from coast-to-coast. Software developers scattered their t-shirts to the throngs with great abandon. Hardware manufacturers showered their customers with fine corporate gifts. Brightly burning dotcoms shared their oh-so-temporary wealth with insanely great promos.

We all rejoiced at the fine bounty as the bean-counters overlooked the costs and poured another drink for the road ...

Just as it seemed like the corporate gifts would flow forever, they dried up.

Poof!

These days, fine schwag rarely shows up in the mailbox. It's been ages since a big software developer has sent an unannounced goodie box. Alas, my collection of geeky t-shirts is finally showing its age, carbon-dating to the late 90's.

When I really wax nostalgic for the trinkets, I browse the multitude of corporate gift websites. Armed with a valid credit card, one can order up just about anything possible ... emblazoned with a corporate logo, of course.

You'll find it all, from the practical and obvious like pens, polos, and sweatshirts, through glittery glassware, jewelry, and watches, to the ever-useful flashlights, luggage, and ubiquitous Swiss Army knives ... there's a corporate gift for everyone, if not every budget.

Friends, Romans, Countryfolk ... send me your schwag!