The Danger of Too Much Swag: A BlogHer Tale of Caution
Attack of the Swag Bags
I was warned to expect lots of swag at BlogHer. I just underestimated what “lots” meant. Someone should have said absurdly, obscenely, over-the-top amounts of swag. Now, I wasn’t out elbowing children or robbing other BlogHers. I mean, I like stuff, but I don’t like it more than I like other people. Still, I had ridiculous, overwhelming bags of this and that. I wouldn’t have minded less. It’s sort of like wedding favors… if it’s isn’t edible or day-to-day useful, save your money. On the other hand, once I had it, I certainly wasn’t going to throw away anything of use.
I spent forever sorting through the swag, “recycling” some and trying to figure out how to get the rest home. I ended up checking a second bag and bringing an additional carry-on. And I still barely got it all home. My carry-on had a big bag that consisted entirely of edible items (chips, candy, gum, cookies, etc. – I have a hard time throwing food away) as well as sponges (yeah, we use sponges – not going to throw them out and have to buy more at home) and various other things. All of the things I needed to access throughout the day were in my other bag… my laptop, book, receipts, and so on were easily accessible.
I blogged about the whole drama that took place in another post, but basically, I got up far too early (for me), quickly finished packing and ran out the door. I had a lovely chat on the shuttle to the airport, but when we pulled up to my terminal, I couldn’t find my ID or credit card. They weren’t in their usual spot in my purse because I had pulled them out to go to a party the night before. I knew they were sitting on the desk the night before, but was almost positive that I packed them. I went through my carry-ons over and over again trying to find them, but they were nowhere to be found.
After a full day of drama trying to get through security with no ID, I was finally home. Once the kids were in bed, I was sorting through the swag and showing some things to my husband. He got hungry and I said, “Don’t bother to get up. Check this out.” And I dumped my food swag bag in front of him. Guess what was at the bottom of that bag? Yep. My ID and credit card.
Foiled by the swag!
Related posts:
BlogHer and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very-Bad Day
BlogHer 10 Recap – The Good, the Bad and the Swagly
BlogHer11–No Surprises, Great People, Plenty of Swag
BlogHer 09: Looking Back
A Cricket Tale and an Adventurous Review
BlogHer09 – On the Road
BlogHer and the Private Party Myth
Birthday Party Dilemma
I think this will be one of those things that you’ll laugh about… some day. :-)
I didn’t get to attend BlogHer09 and really wanted to go. But I must say after hearing about a lot of things from several bloggers I think I’m glad I missed it this year.
I would love meeting many bloggers but I think I’d like it in a smaller venue. :)
Oh man, that’s just perfect. -Christine
Okay, I had to LOL when I read that the ID and card were at the bottom of the bag. I’m glad you found them but what a pain that day must have been!
Yes, the swag was overwhelming. I brought home 10 lbs of swag – I only know because my suitcase was 44 pounds on the trip to Chicago and 54 pounds coming home. I gave a good 75% of the swag to the swag swap table and I only attended two extra events (yours and the People’s Party). The swag was insane.
Oh and my daughter says thanks for the pink RideZ car, she slept with that thing last night!!
Hi-larious!! That had to be a big relief!
I had to ship mine back to me LOL it was insane how much was given but BlogHer was a blast, sorry we didn’t get to hang :(
I spent almost an entire morning trying to pack, missing a session and my appt with Digital Nation. Good thing I had that nice EA bag for an extra carry-on :)