Holland
Holland has cornered the market on orange, with its brightly colored tangerine booth and the highly visible, orange-clad “Mr. Holland.” So it was no surprise that its useful flight pillow giveaway was color coordinated. Imprinted on the small storage sack was the message “Holland, your dream destination” and the #DreamingofHolland hashtag.
Keep myself ***
Give to the kids/coworkers ***
Visit Newport Beach
The Visit Newport Beach booth paid homage to the Crystal Cove Historic district, an enclave of rustic coastal cottages, where the tradition is to raise a martini flag at the end of the day to kick off happy hour. Selling itself as a destination where you can mix business with pleasure, the booth flew a martini flag, served drinks in the afternoon, and offered fun, flashing martini rings. One slip, perhaps, was not branding the rings: Attendees might forget where they picked it up after a cocktail or two!
Keep myself *
Give to the kids/coworkers ****
AV for Planners
Who can resist a pin that says it all? And attendees who stopped to grab one learned that the “Power to the Planner!” message tied in well with the company behind the pins, AV for Planners, a technology service for building, submitting, and comparing audiovisual RFPs.
Keep myself **
Give to the kids/coworkers ****
Milwaukee
At the Milwaukee, Wis., booth, attendees could pick up a special spice blend—Milwaukee Iron Seasoning—that was created by a Milwaukee company in honor of the 95th anniversary of the city’s “Iron Horse,” the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. To draw people to its booth, the bureau took out an ad in the IMEX show daily that included a recipe with the giveaway as star ingredient.
Keep myself ****
Give to the kids/coworkers *
MeetingsNet
A branded pen is as common as sore feet on the show floor, but MeetingsNet’s pen was a winner, if we do say so ourselves. It doubles as a tablet stylus, which tied into one of our goals for IMEX America: promoting the MeetingsNet tablet magazine. (http://meetingsnet.com/app-faq)
Keep myself ****
Give to the kids/coworkers ***
Visit Raleigh
Visit Raleigh, promoting a brainy image for the North Carolina capital, had “Think Raleigh” across one wall of its IMEX booth and on the other a picture of an oak tree (Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks) with a brain rather than branches and leaves. To remember this “smart” meeting destination, attendees could take away a magnetic brain teaser with the Visit Raleigh logo.
Keep myself **
Give to the kids/coworkers ****
Excel London
Flash drives are a dime a dozen on the show floor, so if you want yours to be remembered, it’s got to be good. Excel London Exhibition and Convention Center got it right with this adorable reproduction of a London cab.
Keep myself **
Give to the kids/coworkers ****
SPG Pro
Spicy mints are popular and almost sure to make it into a meeting planner’s purse, but the packaging is what really stands out on this tin handed out to promote SPG Pro, Starwood’s Preferred Guest program for business-to-business customers. The message, “a fresh take on loyalty,” is nicely reinforced with…
… the tin’s unusual twist top and contemporary typography.
Keep myself ****
Give to the kids/coworkers **
