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How To Get Free Stuff At Shows
Enigma5O writes "The TechZone heads to the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show and came out with tons of free stuff. We're not talking cheap pens or notepads either. No, they got some really cool stuff like two Sony PSP game consoles, DDR RAM, laptop roller bags, computer tool kit, etc. This article explains how they did it."
"Uh, we're from a, uh... tech review webs... err publication. We'd like to review your product and when I say review, I mean praise."
Did they get their server for free? /.ed already it seems.
When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
2. Ask for stuff. Say you're going to do a review.
3. Profit!
Getting free stuff is easy. Not getting caught is the hard part!
Get Your Free Stuff Here!
One of the nice perks about attending the yearly Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is all the manufacturers tries to load you up with free stuff.
[image of backpacks, PSPs, and a whole bunch of T-shirts and other small stuff]
You want free stuff? Man, do I have free stuff!
Yes it's true. Everything shown in the above photo was given to me for free! Some of the more noteworthy free stuff includes 1GB of OCZ RAM, an Ultra computer tool kit, CES laptop roller bags and two Sony PSP game consoles. And these are just the stuff that I haul back home with me. Bigger free stuff are being mailed.
There is a good chance that if you attended the CES you won't make off with as much free stuff as I did. This could be because you don't know the art of getting free stuff. Well, you're in luck because I'm going to give you the step by step to getting tons of free stuff at CES, or any other trade show for that matter.
Step 1 - Ask For The Free Stuff
If you want something you have to ask for it. Don't just walk up to a booth and expect them to hand free stuff out to you. It isn't going to happen. And if it does, it normally means some cheap free stuff like a notepad or a pen. If you don't ask, you don't get. If you're too shy to ask then go to the next step.
Step 2 - Attend The Press Conferences or Product Demos
One of the easiest way to getting free stuff is to simply attend the many press conferences or product demos that companies put on during the CES. They almost always have something good to give everyone who attends. And many will hold a contest for some really big prizes. Yes you have to sit through a demo to get your stuff but hey, it's free!
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"When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers
Another way to get free stuff, just walk around with two of these
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I've tried this trick at several shows and it always works -
Approach the booth and say the gay codeword ("banana").. make sure to do that up and down thing with your eyebrows (that sort of "you know what I'm talkin about hehe" look), and then do that thing with your hand and your tongue that means "blowjob".
The all you have to do is follow through on the deal, and you'll get all kinds of free shit.
In my experience, the days of walking away from MacWorld/etc lugging bags full of stuff you actually want ended in about 2000 or so. Yes, there is still reasonable stuff but the scale is quite reduced from those crazy late 90s shows.
I have an offer here for a free vacation to the Caribbean. All I hafta do is sit through a presentation on an amazing offer on a timeshare in Florida.
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Too bad CES isn't open to the general public, and hotels around the area are all $$$ at that time (one of the bigger conventions). Free stuff is always good, but as usual, it ain't really free =)
about "How to get really really really really rich." "First, you take a million dollars. Then you..."
"How to get free stuff at a geek trade show filled with guys." "First, you be a really hot female. Then you..."
Step 3 - Make An Appointment
While all vendors on the show floor will talk to you about their products, you'll score major points and free stuff if you make an appointment to talk to them. This way the company is expecting you and will be prepare to give you their booth tour. After the tour, they always present you with a goodie bag fill with company information and, you guest it, free stuff!
Attend The CES Parties
Companies that put on parties at CES always have something to give to their guests when they leave. And there are tons of parties to attend during the 5 days that CES runs for. The problem is most, if not all, of the parties are invite only. Don't let this stop you however. Many times you can get an invite by emailing the company or going to their booth and asking for one. This really is the best way to get free stuff because you also get to attend a party as well.
Many companies that throw CES parties will have prizes to give away. That's how I got the Sony PSP. The best thing is many of these contests are the "can't lose" type. In other words, everyone who enters wins something.
Walk The Show Floor On The Last Day
The last day of CES is moving out day. This is best time to get your hands on tons of free stuff. Companies are packing things up to take home and many times they will lose their packing boxes. This is the best time to approach them to ask if there's anything they want to give away and not take home? It's amazing the amount times they will say "Help yourself to whatever you like." This is because it can cost them more to ship the products back home than the product is worth.
You won't get big items, like plasma TVs, for free but many times the companies will sell it to you for a stupidly low price. I remember one year when RCA was the official TV of CES and had their displays scatter throughout the convention center. Instead of packing the $3,000 TVs home, they offered it anyone who was willing to pay $500 for it.
Another reason to walk the show floor on the last day is you will find many abandon booths with stuff still left behind. Most of the time, the stuff is junk but you will come across some really nice stuff once in a while.
hang brain.
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So now thousands of geeks are going to be pestering booth workers to get free swag.. excellent idea. It's no wonder they have semi naked women standing around, it's too keep cultures like this distracted :/
I like muppets.
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*grumbles* Dammit, why dress in anime if you're not into geeks?
"Hey, the third matrix movie would have been good except for the plot,story, and acting." --AC
I've staffed a couple of trade show stands in the past past. What we REALLY hated was people coming over and just saying.
"So what are you giving away then?"
Urgh - probably the same kind of people who work out their exact portion of the bill, sans tip.
For example, he showed up at a College of Engineering open house event for homecoming. While he was there, he got some free cookies. Then, he walked up to the stadium and parlayed said cookies into football tickets from some cute girl. Bam! Free football tickets!
Jeff goes to DAC (Design Automation Conference) in Anaheim. Conference admission is a couple hundred bucks. Dude comes back with close to $1000 in free stuff from the vendor show, including flash drives, MP3 players, etc.
College of Engineering career fair rolls around. I ask him to pick me up a highlighter while he's out because I'm reading papers. He comes back with no less than 20 of them. Oh yeah, he's also gotten laundry detergent for a couple of weeks, enough Easy Mac to feed him for a couple of weeks, more office supplies than the entire lab could use in a semester, and tons more stuff. He replaced the items on his bookshelf with the free booty from multiple trips.
We built a tower out of no less than 200 packs of bubble gum from a Wrigley's promotional stand.
Jeff walks around campus and records dates and times of free food flyers into his cell phone. Then, he goes back to his office and enters them into an Outlook calendar. The only time this guy pays for food is when I invite him out to eat with the rest of the group.
He says the key is to be completely shameless. I've seen him walk right up to the organizer of a booth and flat out ask him for a box of stuff. Then, after getting the box (much to my dismay), he'll turn around and ask for a box for his officemate. He'll walk right up to displays and dump the entire contents of the display into a bag. Most people are too polite to stop him, so he gets away with it.
There are two types of people: those prepared for the zombie apocalypse and those who will be eaten.