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From maple syrup (think Vermont) to blues CDs (think Memphis), giving a special gift to meeting-goers helps cement the memory of the event in their minds forever. Here, our city-by-city guide to 50 great meeting giveaways.
Your next sales retreat will be held in a quiet, remote setting encircled by beautiful evergreens and other plush vegetation. Suddenly your inventory of logoed pencil sharpeners, which have been great gifts for some meetings, just doesn’t seem too appropriate for the tranquil surroundings of this upcoming event.
Relevancy of a meeting gift to the site “helps to create a memory of that entire meeting,” says Susan
Henderson, president of Atlanta Arrangements Inc., a destination management company based in Georgia.
For example, Henderson often recommends that executives who hold events in her native state, Georgia, offer items that celebrate the Georgia peach - like peach candy or crystal peaches - as parting gifts for a meeting.
“By having a relevant gift, you’re enhancing the memory of the event,” Henderson says. “Even if the gift is an inexpensive photo with a backdrop of the meeting site, attendees will remember that moment in time every time they look at it.”
So throw out the pencil sharpeners. To help attendees capture their next meeting moment in time, consult our guide to the best gifts for 50 popular North American destinations.
Anaheim
Every day’s a sunny one at Disneyland. Help meeting attendees remember the fun - and protect their skin - with a gift pack of sunscreens and moisturizers. This one, which easily can be customized, includes lip balm, sunscreen, hand lotion and sanitizer.
Atlanta
Most individuals associate Georgia with the peach, but pecans are also a popular treat in this Southern city. Gift baskets and bags of this tasty nut can be found everywhere. Be sure to customize the basket, wrapping or bow with the company logo.
Atlantic City
Looking for a late-night bonding activity? Provide meeting-goers with their own poker set with 300 regulation chips carrying the meeting’s logo. Add some logoed cigars, and you’ve got a night of fun.
Baltimore
Baltimore’s fantastic harbor is filled with ships, shops, an aquarium and restaurants featuring the famous Maryland crab. Send attendees home with your pick of “crabby” products—anything from stuffed crabs to logoed mallets to Old Bay Seasoning (what Marylanders put on their crabs).
Billings
Yellowstone Park is just a quick jaunt away from this meeting locale. Even if the group can’t make a trek there, you can’t go wrong with stuffed bears sporting T-shirts featuring the meeting’s logo.
Boston
You’re in Red Sox territory here, so a Sox pennant or T-shirt seems right on target. To take the baseball motif even further, consider purchasing Red Sox jerseys for all attendees and embroidering their names on the back. An evening baseball game pitting two groups of employees against one another would be a great teambuilding activity as well. Just don’t forget the hot dogs and peanuts.
Burlington
You can’t let a delegate leave the conference without maple syrup - the delicious treasure of the state. Many suppliers can custom make the labels to feature your logo and branding message.
Cancun, Mexico
Attendees will remember their meeting on the Yucatan Peninsula every time they don their logoed visors. Here’s one in 100% cotton.
Charleston
Guests love the colorful cuisine of the low country. Add some delicate spices - perhaps with a mini spice rack - to their homeward-bound luggage.
Chicago
A perfect memento from the “Windy City” is, of course, a kite, which will afford lots of fun, both during a meeting and afterwards. Don’t forget a logo and the meeting’s theme (soaring to new heights?).
Cleveland
This midwestern city plays host to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Get attendees in the groove with logoed harmonicas, CDs, mini maracas and all things musical.
Dallas
When you think of Dallas, you think of J.R. and Southfork Ranch - an ideal setting for a barbecue. Why not give guests a small BBQ tool kit to cook up additional excitement?
Denver
Preserve the memories of the meeting with a snapshot placed in a frame that will remind attendees of their Rocky Mountain high. One option: A natural-looking frame constructed from northern white pine that has been distressed and whitewashed.
Hartford
Meeting-goers might be surprised to learn that Mark Twain’s Victorian mansion is located here. Send them away with engraved bookends to surround their Twain classics.
Honolulu
One word: leis. (Buy the fake kind so it will last longer than the plane ride home.)
Houston
Houston stands for everything hot: hot weather, hot food, and hot nightlife. A hot gift? Hot pepper jelly.
Indianapolis
Taking a crew to the Indy 500? Then help attendees prepare for all kinds of weather, noise and excitement with a spectator’s kit. This racing fan kit includes a rain poncho, two sunblock packets, a pair of corded earplugs and a packet of antacid tablets in a convenient 37¼8" x 5l¼2" vinyl pouch. All products can be personalized with a logo.
Jackson Hole
Hiking trails are everywhere in this area. Don’t forget to give guests a set of binoculars so they can enjoy all the splendid views.
Las Vegas
The conference will keep everyone busy, but if attendees do slip out to try their luck at the casinos, make sure they can keep a tally of their winnings with an imprinted travel calculator.
Little Rock
Attendees will want a colorful totebag when they purchase souvenirs at the Clinton Presidential Library.
Los Angeles
The Getty Center is still all the rage in Los Angeles. Prep attendees for a visit there with a small watercolor of a famous painting.
Memphis
A CD featuring popular music from a locale is always a welcome gift - and one that’s sure to be enjoyed for years. Karen Ponchur, marketing associate with CAM Inc., based in Overland Park, KS, recently used a jazz CD to promote a corporate meeting planned for the Greater Kansas City area in 2007. In order to whet appetites for the site, the financial planning company gave out 425 CDs at a meeting in San Antonio and another 425 to delegates in Washington D.C.
Ponchur says guests were “quite jazzed” by the gifts, which also included mesh tins with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds (a Kansas City delectable). The disk’s cover included the company’s logo and the words, “Kansas City Jazz.”
A similar gift - but with a blues spin - would be appropriate for any meeting in Memphis. This CD contains the popular songs, BB Blues, Mr. Grizzly Man, Bluer than Blue, and other favorites.
Miami
Surely you’ve scheduled some time for recreation in your meeting’s agenda. Whether you’re planning a volleyball game or a beach Olympics competition, give attendees a colorful, two-piece travel mug that will allow them to store their watches or room keys while they exert themselves.
Milwaukee
Of course, Wisconsin is the Dairy State, so consider a cheese-slicing kit or personalized cutting board. Every midnight snack will conjure up a memory of Milwaukee.
Minneapolis
In the so-called Land of 10,000 Lakes (some estimates actually put that number closer to 15,000), a fish-themed giveaway is the only way to go. Give women fish-inspired pins, necklaces and earrings; men will attract attention with their fish-print ties.
Naples
No one can return home without reminiscing about those idyllic walks along the pristine beaches of southwest Florida. A gift of neatly wrapped seashells will add to that memory.
Nassau, Bahamas
Top off a meeting in the tropics with a logoed beach towel complete with a Caribbean scene.
New Orleans
Tempt meeting-goers’ taste buds by presenting them with a cookbook featuring popular recipes from the destination they’re visiting. Connie Haines, branch partner for a promotional consultant in Mt. Prospect, IL, says that for the past three years, she has used this strategy to help a client drum up advance enthusiasm for its annual meetings. The client, an aviation group with more than 100 members, routinely presents attendees with a state-specific cookbook in advance of their next meeting site.
“ It helps build excitement for the next meeting,” Haines says. In addition, she adds, cookbooks are affordable “and not likely to be thrown away - ever.”
For meetings in New Orleans, where Cajun cooking reigns supreme, consider this Louisiana Cookbook, which is among many state cookbooks offered by this supplier.
New York City
The Big Apple is an exciting - and sometimes stressful - destination. Attendees who have never been to Manhattan before, for example, may find it challenging to hail a cab on a rainy day. Help loosen them up by providing them with a stress reliever in the shape of the Statue of Liberty or another New York landmark.
Omaha
Besides being home to Warren Buffett, most people know that Omaha was a major link in the American train system. Send guests home with a reminder of that time - a clock in the shape of a locomotive.
Orlando
Mickey Mouse’s home base is synonymous with fantasyland. Give attendees a small, decorative pillow featuring characters from famous childhood movies (The Wizard of Oz? Winnie the Pooh?) so they can remember the city of the young at heart.
Palm Springs
Attendees will undoubtedly take time out for some desert sightseeing. Make sure they’re prepared with a customized survival kit that includes objects such as mini flashlights, can openers, compasses and screwdrivers. (Just make sure whatever you send them home with is airplane-friendly.) Logoed binoculars will make great gifts as well.
Park City
Gloves or mittens embroidered with the meeting’s message will help attendees recall this oft-chilly destination, which was the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Philadelphia
Going into Center City from the Philadelphia International Airport, one gets a spectacular view of the sports complexes of the city’s professional teams: The Eagles (football), the Phillies (baseball), the Flyers (hockey) and the 76ers (basketball). If time permits a visit to one of the events, a logoed seat cushion is a must.
Pittsburgh
Attendees will appreciate the city’s beautifully lit waterfront at night. Let them take home a candle (neatly packed in etched glass) as a reminder.
Portland
Fact: Oregon has ideal conditions for blueberry-growing. Send visitors home with some blueberry jams or preserves.
St. Louis
If meeting-goers decide to explore some of the areas around the Mississippi River (as did Huck Finn), they’ll need a compass. Choose one that can be emblazoned with a logo.
San Antonio
Chances are, the gang is going to enjoy some seriously good Tex-Mex food here. A gift of salsas and barbecue sauces will be a savory reminder of those culinary experiences. Try a triple pint pack of sauces in various flavors, such as picante, jalapeño and raspberry.
San Diego
Think nautical: miniature ships, plush whales, logoed sailor’s caps ... you get the picture.
San Francisco
Mention this city today, and many think of the parrots of Telegraph Hill. Play up that image with gifts that contain parrot images on appliquéd flags, headbands or pins.
Santa Fe
Delegates will have pleasant dreams of this artistic city when they tote home their web-woven “dream catchers,” inspired by American Indian mythology.
Savannah
Taking time out to hit the links in this historic town? Help attendees prepare for their game by offering some much-needed accessories, like insect repellant and golfclub cleaner.
According to Joe Winston, president of Doctor Techno Marketing, based in Richmond, VA, which sells golf accessories kits, such products are increasing in popularity. He recently put together gift packages for the spring conference of the Virginia Employment Commission, held for the state’s 37 employment offices.
The packs included two-ounce spray bottles of sanitizer, with the organization’s logo and the message, "Always on hand when you need us."
"This was an item people used over and over again," Winston says.
Seattle
This city is home to Boeing, the world’s leading aerospace company. A mini plane (with a customized message on the side?) will serve as a nice memento.
Scottsdale
This sunny city boasts the most golf courses per capita in the country - and attendees will be eager to hit the greens once the meeting is over. Help them out with a golf accessory kit. Consider kits that come in a convenient bag with a carabiner clip, ball markers, a divot tool, aspirin, etc.
Sun Valley
Catch the gleam of the sun with a glass goblet etched with the company logo, or upscale, fashion-forward sunglasses.
Tampa
Tennis is the hot sport here, so help attendees look good on the courts with logoed visors and sweatbands.
Toronto, Ontario
Delegates will love the excitement of this city, and if they attend a winter meeting, sports opportunities are aplenty. Send them home with a hat as a reminder of their winter fun.
This one-size-fits-all fleece winter hat with accent trim comes in six color combinations.
Vancouver, British Columbia
A fashionable scarf imprinted with scenes from the great outdoors will evoke memories of this trendy city.
Virginia Beach
Surprise attendees with a paperweight bust of one of the state’s most important people, George Washington.
Washington D.C.
When meeting attendees tour the spectacular and numerous historical sites, they’ll thank you for providing them with a map of the landmarks and a logoed water bottle to prevent dehydration. l
Denis Jensen is a freelance writer based in Pennsylvania.
Reprinted with permission of Successful Promotions, copyright 2006
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