How much do you REALLY miss swag?

[Fabienne Gerhard]

This one goes out to my swag loving brothers and sisters in community...

First of all let me say - cancelling summit was the only right thing, I'm fine with Remote Summit and Workshop and stuff but to be true - all swag hunters, swag givers... we are sad....

Last year we had this https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Summit-questions/Another-Swag-Remember-those-who-had-to-stay-home/qaq-p/1053808#M217

Thanks again @Max Foerster - K15t for making me crazy like this and getting me all this awesome stuff - gonna wear this shirt today (no idea why the pic is upside down...)

Did you get your Badges @Andy - PTC Redundant ?

So on a scale from 1-10 (10 is missing like hell) how much do you miss swag hunting @everyone out there?

[Mirek]

Well last year half of my suitcase was filled by swag so it is an important part of Summit :) .. Every swag remind about specific event. It is not maybe important "like hell", but without this is hard to imagine normal Summit :) .. Usually you do not need to "hunt" it usually get into your hands just by passing by all booths in the Expo Hall :)

[Martin Chalány]

I was looking forward to bring tons of swag for our community members. It's quite funny how happy can people be when they get something for free :). I was planning to get extra suitcase just for swag for ACE. But the most important thing that I'm missing is to meet new/old friends and talk to each other (ideally with beer in both hands)

[carolyn french]

Cool question - it's funny, but I think I'm more missing doing the chatting with all the vendors while picking up swag. Missing swag is probably 5, missing walking around the exhibitor floor and chatting with people is a big fat 10! (especially as I have massive guilt around throwing away/ finding someone to give away the swag that I don't need or have space to keep)

Matthias posted some nice links to help attendees find vendors and the virtual demos and events they are doing: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Summit-discussions/Don-t-miss-out-on-meeting-your-favourite-marketplace-partners/td-p/1338476

Hope to find other ways to connect with people over the next few days! Thanks for the post @Fabienne Gerhard 

[Fabienne Gerhard]

I'm totally with you @carolyn french - chatting and swag counts together for me :) 

[Thomas Schlegel]

Well, I do miss some swag, e.g. the official conference shirt.

But I stopped years ago grabbing everything I can get - my closet is already full of shirts I never wear :-) - Now and then there are useful things, e.g. cleaning cloths for glasses or a powerbank  and I also have one T-Shirt I really really love.  

But what I really miss is the athmosphere, is travelling far far away from home, seeing something new and meet and talk to a lot of people in person. Zoom is a good emergency solution, but it is different sitting in front of my screen in the middle of the night instead of talking in person. Of course, this year, everything's not normal and I'm grateful that Atlassian people are making all this possible.

[Valerie Palmer]

I haven't been able to attend in quite a few years and all my old swag has seen better days.  Was looking forward to it this year.

[Dharma Ramos]

This was going to be my first in person Summit. The exhibitor or vendor hall was one of the things I was looking forward to the most. I was looking forward to getting a chance to talk to all the exhibitors, learning more about their product and the swag. So even though I haven't experience it, yes, I am missing it.

[Deleted user]

This made me chuckle @Fabienne Gerhard  Thank you! I especially love the fact that the picture is upside down. :)

I do miss some of the more useful swag (e.g., those big clips with magnets that stick on your fridge and can double as a chip-clip) and certainly the conference t-shirt. My son has appreciated sunglasses and pop-sockets. 

I'd give my swag-missing a 5 and have to agree with @carolyn french about talking with the vendors. I love finding out which country they came from and what their products can do for our Jira implementation. 

Thanks again for the laugh! Have a great day!

[Ed Gaile _Atlanta_ GA_]

I love the SWAGs!!!  Usually get my years worth of t-shirts and cool stuff to distribute to my ACE members.  

[Jeff Tillett]

This is probably the thing I am missing most. The booth crawl is always my fav part, and the virtual presence just is lacking some energy. (but the community sessions are making up for it!)

These are some of my previous SWAG hauls :)

2016:

2017:

2018:

2019:

This is also how Dallas gets the majority of our SWAG needs for in person events.

[nina_schmidt]

What the hack... I‘d need an extra suitcase to fly back 😃😱🤯

[Jeff Tillett]

I do bring an empty one with me every year for this purpose. :)

[Fabienne Gerhard]

That sounds like a pro to me 👍🏻🤩

[April]

I totally miss the swag, and all the wonderful people I've met while collecting it. That said, SO grateful for Community, and for all the great pics from Jeff!

[nina_schmidt]

I really loved the Community swag at the Vienna Open last year 🤗

and the Lego Darth Vader (from stagil) 😂 

[Jack Brickey]

I do love swag at least the really cool ones. I love the socks, shirts, thermos mugs, etc. But what I enjoy more is watching others that are really nuts about swag. They move thru the booths with extreme efficiency. Later I see them in the airport with suitcases and backpacks challenging the zippers beyond engineering capacities.

[Dominic Lagger]

I have never been to a summit, but I still miss the swag :) 

As I'm looking all the swag hauls pictures, I get really jealous... 

I'm looking forward for next year, and I hope I can make the trip to vegas! And yes, I will collect all the swag! 

[nina_schmidt]

Don‘t forget the extra suitcase :-)

[Helen Griffiths {Capgemini}]

I was lucky enough to attend Summit last year with my colleague. We bought about 16kg of swag back from Vegas which we shared with the team when we got back :)

I think the most used Summit swag in our house however is a pair of K15T sunglasses I picked up (can't remember if from the booth or whether they were on the chairs for a Keynote?) but my boyfriend wears them at the slightest hint of sunshine...including at my cousins wedding last year on the official photos 🤦‍♀️

Oh, and the Adaptavist travel charger! Life saver!

[Mihai Schwarz]

I don't have anything from Atlassian :(

So I cannot say that I've miss them...

[Fabienne Gerhard]

😱 an idea is coming to my mind - we should open some kind of fleamarket or something 

[Mihai Schwarz]

@Fabienne Gerhard- maybe its not such a bad idea :))

[LarryBrock]

Great topic @Fabienne Gerhard !

I'm on a swag diet.  Having been around a while (let's not get into just how long :-) ) and being a socially oriented person, I really enjoy attending user group meetings and both regional and national conferences.  As one could imagine, the swag stack got enormous and with the end of having an office/cube in an office building, I found that I had way to much stuff to bring at home.

So, I've had to go on a diet and cut back on my swag hunting and collecting.  To keep the peace with my wonderful wife (the Felix to my Oscar), it's one-thing-in == one-thing-out.  This has worked well to help me become a swag connoisseur and from having a closet like the one @Jack Brickey posted. :-)

I miss the baazar-like atmosphere of the expo hall and especially the Community and Atlassian University lounges more than I can describe.

[Davin Studer]

Yeah, I miss swag. Half my current t-shirt wardrobe is swag from conferences. It's also really fun to bring stuff back for my team at work. Last year I kept a few good things, but set the rest out for the team to grab ... gone in seconds.