Compartment 14B
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BlogHer �Swagtroversy�: Oh the drama! 2007-08-10 - 12:08 p.m. I admit, I�ve only read one person�s post about this, but I have the impression that similar posts have been written by others. So, late out of the starting blocks as usual, I really want to put up a protesting voice. If you have no further interest in BlogHer � about which I can�t seem to stop writing. Seriously, it�s like it�s the only unusual-for-me thing I�ve done this summer. Oh wait, it is. - please feel free to come back at a future date and read instead about my ovaries. Otherwise, read on� Here�s the nutshell: people were/are complaining about what they did or did not receive as swag at BlogHer and BlogHer events. These complaints are in two categories: I am going to make a rare, contentious statement to these people. Shut the hell up! Seriously, cram it sideways. Didn�t get swag bags at the party you crashed? Why are you surprised? You weren�t invited. Don�t like the fact that someone tried to give you a potholder or moisturizer? It�s free stuff. If you don�t like it, don�t take it home. Just give it to someone who appreciates it. Or leave it on a table somewhere and someone might just pounce on it and proclaim, �I can�t believe someone didn�t want this! I am totally taking it home!� and cackle with greedy glee. Not that I know anyone who�d maybe do such a thing*. Okay, I know this isn�t black and white. The people hosting the fancy party did show deplorable manners by welcoming gate crashers when they got there and then acting like they were getting ripped off as the night wore on. They hosts should have just said that it was by invitation only from the get-go, and once they didn�t and just told people to come on in I really do think they should have treated the crashers like any other guest. But they didn�t, so the moral high ground could have been left to the crashers had they not, from the sounds of it, made an effort to ensure they got as much free booze and fancy food as they possibly could. And they talked amongst themselves during the speeches. I pity the assistant who told them to take their conversation outside, because I think she was perfectly right to do so and has now been vilified online. I personally cannot stand when people talk over the person at the podium/microphone; I think it�s rude, no matter how boring the person may be. I actually kind of admire the assistant for asking them to pipe down. And yes, it�s true that, probably because almost all the attendees were women, there was a lot of �girly� swag. And yes, it�s also true that, contrary to stereotype, not all women have much use for potholders or moisturizer. (Perhaps the BlogHer organizers should have sought out the NRA to sponsor the event. What? No?) But there were also lots of other, not-traditionally-girly sponsors like AOL (best swag ever) and GM. And this doesn�t even matter, really. To me it comes down to this: would the complainers rather be offered free moisturizer that they don�t have to take, or would they prefer to pay double the fee for the conference? I�m guessing the former. I sure as heck choose the lower fees, PLUS I�m all for being offered free stuff. The stuff I don�t personally use I can do other things with, like: see if my daughter wants to play with it (what toddler wouldn�t want a giant plastic martini glass, really?), or hey, there�s a place at work where we can drop off, and this is a quote taken directly from the sign on the bin, �Soap, etc. for the Homeless�. Any little samples of extra toiletries go in there if I don�t want them. Do you hear me sponsors? I, for one, am grateful for your generosity. As far as I�m concerned, the coolest laptop bag I�ve seen was alone way more than I expected to receive as swag; anything extra was just gravy. So thank you. ----------------------------------
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1) People who didn�t get certain swag that wanted it, possibly at certain events that happened in the BlogHerSphere but weren�t necessarily the conference itself.
2) People who felt that the swag they got was not appropriate.
* Oh who am I kidding? I would totally do that. In fact, I did, scooping up two extra boxes of something, then magnanimously turning one over to someone else who couldn�t believe anyone didn�t want it.
That means no swiping my stuff - text, images, etc. - without asking.
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