One of the perks of being a tech is getting to go to vendor conventions and get lots of little free pens & things. Sure, you learn stuff and do some networking, but the REAL reason to go to places like ITEC is for the swag. Let’s see what all Trina got from her trip today…

• An Emergency Action Wheel (card “dial an emergency” thingy that says what to do for a number of eventualities.)
• Business Lollypop (like a business card, only it’s really a lollypop! Way cool. And cherry flavored!)
• CD business to business phone directory.
• Mouse-shaped highlighters (the two highlighers, yellow & pink, are the “buttons” on the mouse)
• Pad o’ post-it notes w/ “Excellence in Computing” on ’em
• Salary Guide from one company so we can prove to the administrators that they’re getting us CHEAP
• Cute mini-mousepad
• Pad o’ paper from RoadRunner Business Class
• 1 pencil, 3 pens, and a yellow highlighter
• A gel pad thingy for keeping stuff on your dashboard (like cell phones)
• A “Magic Eight Ball” water bottle (with answers like “operator error” and “ask your server”)
  
• Business card magnet
• And best of all – the prize of the day, a little stuffed white tiger – yay!

When dad and I go to the SOITA Conference in December, we’ll only get an hour in the vendor hall (they don’t have vendors on the day the tech coordinators are present – very dumb idea, IOHO – but this year we get an hour, at least), so it was nice to get to an ITEC to chat with vendors. We got some ideas and some contacts and if we get some money, we may yet contact some of these vendors. But in the meantime, I can enjoy my SWAG!