You don’t have to set foot in the convention center to see that one of the top 50 trade shows in the United States is taking place. A group of men sitting behind us on the plane ride from New York spent most of the 4 hour trip discussing the latest in embroidery and screen printing. Meanwhile, all over our hotel passersby sported custom badges and held non-woven totes.  While today was filled with no trade show floor action, I felt like I was surrounded by giveaways.

There were promotional snacks on our awesome Southwest flight. (I chose the Southwest logoed nuts.) There were promos in the airport itself and then once we reached the beautiful Luxor Hotel, there were more giveaways. They invited customers to fill out survey cards about their experiences at the hotel. Next to the informative cards were a lovely bunch of promotional pens. I’m certain we’ll be running in to a ton of pens tomorrow- so much so that I’m considering not bringing my own pen at all.

Later in the evening we even hit up the promotional items in a hot, or should I say cold, bar. Below 5 is a bar of ice- literally. From the glasses we drank from, the chandeliers that hung and the sculpture of Elvis, everything was ice. They bundled us up in promotional jackets and even offered custom caps and boots if the below freezing weather was too much for us.

But tonight, as I eyeball my corporate apparel (an imprinted promotional woven and black slacks),  I’m realizing no snow hats will be needed tomorrow. I have however been preparing with the essentials for any trade show attendee. Thankfully I’ve got a skilled trade show guru with me to help coach me on the lifestyle and traditions of trade shows.

Tomorrow, I’ll be up bright and early to join my team on the convention center floor. We’ll be walking up and down aisles filled with the hundreds and hundreds of booths to scope out the best in promotions and meet up with the brightest personalities in the industry.