There were many takeaways from Salesforce’s recently wrapped Dreamforce conference, but an overabundance of branded merch wasn’t among them.

That’s because the company instituted a new swag policy for this year’s conference, which brought more than 40,000 people to San Francisco in September.

“When we give away tons of swag that can end up in landfills, we are sending a mixed message,” the company wrote in a message to conference exhibitors that was shared with ASI Media. “In addition to end-result waste, the production of cheap swag has many environmental and social implications, using precious resources and large amounts of energy as well as a human toll: Cheap prices are often indicators of bad manufacturing processes (dangerous working conditions, low wages, child or forced labor, etc.).”

Dreamforce, the conference put on by software giant Salesforce, brought over 40,000 people to San Francisco in September. (Photo courtesy of Salesforce)

Rather than totally eschew branded giveaways, Salesforce (which didn’t respond to ASI Media’s request for comment on the new policy) asked exhibitors to be thoughtful about their choices and submit them to the company for review. Swag, they said, “should be earned” by having an action, such as participating in a challenge or attending a session.

Dreamforce giveaways should also be sustainable, the company said, meeting at least two (but preferably more) of the following criteria: functional items with a long life; locally produced; sustainably produced or made with eco-friendly materials like bamboo, corn or recycled paper; upcycled; have a giveback component; or involve experiences like activities or memberships.

“At Salesforce, we live by our core values, and it’s important they show up big at Dreamforce,” the company wrote.

Such a stringent conference swag policy is a rare ask, promo executives say, but it could be a bellwether, driving other Fortune 500 firms to follow suit. Already, larger clients are requesting that distributors provide reporting on sustainability and DEI-related spend, and more clients today are familiar with B Corps, FSC paper and other certifications than even just a few years ago, says Melissa Westphal, vice president of Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600).

Melissa Ralston, chief revenue officer at Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480), has also noticed the phenomenon. “There is a wide range of asks, depending on the distributor’s end-user. Some are looking just for a product made from an eco-friendly material. Others dive deeper, asking about any accreditations we might have and even proof of our chain of custody,” she says.

Distributors typically start out requesting “environmentally focused desk audits,” whether it’s an EcoVadis assessment or a report from Worldly (formerly known as Higg), Ralston adds. “Once customers see our responses to those surveys, they’ll then begin asking more specific questions about the amount of recycled content in an item or if the product carries a third-party designation showing that it’s environmentally or socially conscious.”

“It’s unrealistic to believe that there won’t be any giveaways at events. Quality branded merch is a key component to any effective brand-awareness campaign or employee morale-building effort.” Ally Delgado, Merchology (asi/169169)

Though Salesforce’s missive takes an extreme stance – drawing a throughline between “cheap swag” and child labor – promo executives that ASI Media spoke with welcome the idea behind the policy, noting that a more thoughtful approach to conference swag is an opportunity for positive change and reputation building for the industry.

“I think as an industry, we just need to do a better job aligning to the goals of a company like Salesforce and not overreacting to what we could perceive as a ban on trade show giveaways,” says Kate Nash, director of promotional sales and marketing at Raining Rose (asi/80489) and a member of the Promo for the Planet advisory board. We all win when we can better “match a product with the experiential nature of in-person trade shows and conferences,” she adds.

Indeed, most big brands still understand the value of a clever giveaway as a tangible keepsake of a memorable experience. Even Salesforce is included in that statement: The company reportedly hosted an event at Dreamforce for 50 former employees who were given custom swag, including a “stuffed animal wearing a yellow shirt with an illustration of a multicolored boomerang.”

“It’s unrealistic to believe that there won’t be any giveaways at events,” says Ally Delgado, CEO and co-founder of Merchology (asi/169169). “Quality branded merch is a key component to any effective brand-awareness campaign or employee morale-building effort. Honestly, people are just tactile. They like to receive physical items with impactful messaging.”

Because of its visibility, swag is low-hanging fruit for organizers looking to boost the sustainability of their events. However, the reality is that the largest impact of trade shows is their carbon footprint, with roughly 85% of greenhouse-gas emissions coming from participant transport and nearly 15% of emissions coming from venue energy, according to a 2022 report called “Finding the Future, Together: Towards a More Sustainable B2B Trade-Show Industry in the U.S. and Canada,” put together by a task force of event executives and industry associations. Material waste – which would include discarded swag – and booth construction had the second- and third-largest environmental impact respectively, according to the report.

On average, the material waste generated per show participant is 3.5 pounds, with 51% going to landfills, 26% recycled, 10% combusted, 6% composted and 5% donated, according to the report.

Despite the unavoidable environmental cost of large gatherings, there’s near widespread agreement about the value of meeting in person, whether it’s for a trade show, conference or some other business get-together. In fact, according to The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), 79% of trade show attendees say attending shows helps them make purchasing decisions.

The trick is to create connections without the carbon. Event organizers and venues at the cutting edge of sustainability are moving toward a model for a new era of events – one that the promo industry can actively participate in by providing sustainable trade show giveaways that leave a positive, lasting impression without a negative impact.

Events on a Sustainable Path

Increasingly, convention centers and event organizers have taken steps to shrink their carbon footprint and zero out waste generation.

The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, itself a LEED Gold-Certified building, says it diverted more than 400,000 pounds of material from landfills through its recycling programs in 2022. Its food service provider, Sodexo Live!, composts organic kitchen waste, and the center offers reusable or fully compostable dishes and cutlery, as well as food composting services. The center is also equipped to track sustainability metrics – including energy use and bottle filling counts – for events.

The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans created a gourmet zero-waste meal in May during WasteExpo, serving food in a clean dumpster as part of what it called “an immersive experience in eliminating excess waste.” (Photo courtesy of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)

In March, the convention center hosted “Net Zero” luncheons for software company Ellucian, where all dishes, cutlery and food could be recycled and composted. “To really show its commitment to this goal – and also eliminate attendee confusion – the regular trash cans were completely removed,” BizBash reported. Clearly labeled recycling and composting bins helped instruct the 4,000 attendees on proper disposal of waste. Afterward, the lunch pilot program delivered over a ton of compostable materials to a local dirt farm.

Another event at the New Orleans venue, the WasteExpo trade show in May, featured a gourmet zero-waste meal made from surplus foods, including leftover coffee, that otherwise would have ended up in the trash. The meal was actually served at tables set up inside a clean dumpster, to drive home the point, according to BizBash.

The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council Summit, held in Atlanta in August, had a detailed sustainability plan, from committing that 100% of the carbon emissions generated by travel and facility use during the conference were offset to serving “plant-forward meals” and eliminating the use of disposable tableware and single-use plastic water bottles. In addition, the conference used paper made with 100% recycled fiber and 50% post-consumer waste for all printed materials, though it also cut back on paper use by deploying digital programs and electronic pre-conference communications.

Exhibitors were instructed not to hand out paper flyers during the event and were asked that branded merch be eco-friendly. “They didn’t police it, but everyone took it pretty seriously,” says Daniel Cardozo, president and CEO of Ethix Merch (asi/189731) and a member of ASI’s Promo for the Planet advisory board. Cardozo adds that his company, which exhibited at the summit, gave away glass straws with seed-paper backings and seed-paper business cards to meet the conference organizer’s requirements.

At the Net Zero conference in Los Angeles in September, DGW Branded (asi/222095) created a trade show booth and branded merch with sustainability in mind.

DGW Branded (asi/222095), the merch division of Certified B Corp Doing Good Works, recently partnered with sustainability consultants and fellow B Corp Verdical Group to help provide eco-friendly signage, lanyards and swag for the Net Zero conference in Los Angeles this September.

“All of the display swag was from B Corps, 1% for the Planet participants, and all sustainable,” says Logan Altman, chief impact officer at DGW Branded.

Thinking sustainably, he adds, “was the whole purpose” of the event, and Altman’s team carefully crafted their booth design “to focus heavily on our carbon footprint.” The backdrop was supplied by Pleetoox (asi/91081) using Repreve fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. The table throws from Top 40 supplier Showdown Displays (asi/87188) were also made from recycled plastic bottles. And the chair, coffee table and display setup at the booth were made of recycled corrugate from cardboard furniture maker Chairigami.

DGW Branded also gave out grocery totes (7901-07), offered by Top 40 supplier PCNA (asi/66887) and made from a blend of post-industrial recycled cotton and recycled polyester. The bags were each emblazoned with lighthearted, Earth-friendly slogans like: “Tote-ally committed to net zero,” “Cancel carbon. Not Plans” and “Don’t be a fossil fool. Go net zero.”

In its 2022 impact report, Verdical Group shared a number of steps it took to reduce waste at that year’s Net Zero conference: Beans from the coffee brewed onsite were composted; the caterer provided palm leaf disposable plates and compostable cups, used real glassware when available and had bamboo utensils; vegetarian and vegan foods were prioritized.

“We also,” Verdical noted in its report, “engage our sponsors and partners in our effort, requesting that they limit the number of printed deliverables that they bring, build their booth space with items that are reusable, and to not give out any merchandise or ‘goodies’ wrapped in plastic or cellophane.”

How Promo Can Help

There are a variety of ways distributors can partner with event venues, conference organizers and trade show exhibitors to make gatherings more sustainable and ensure that the branded merch given out is part of the solution, rather than a problem to be solved.

1

Ditch Single-Use Plastics & Other Disposables

Many convention centers have bottle-refilling stations throughout their square footage, and several sustainable trade shows note that they remind attendees to bring their own reusable water bottles to the event. Distributors can further this mission by supplying high-end drinkware for organizers to give out at the start of a long meeting or conference, both as a covetable keepsake and as a practical item that attendees will refill during the event and beyond, Delgado says.

In addition, branded bamboo cutlery could be distributed as an alternative to plasticware at show floor food courts.

2

Help Clients Build Lasting Trade Show Booths

Bold signage and engaging booth displays are critical for cutting through the noise at a bustling trade show. But spectacle and sustainability don’t have to be mutually exclusive – help clients appoint their booths with long-lasting, reusable setups.

Orbus Visual Communications (asi/75209), for example, makes framing systems that are meant to be long-lasting, and many have a lifetime warranty, according to Natalie Whited, vice president of marketing. She also notes that the supplier’s collapsible display systems come in hard-shell cases, so they’re easily portable and less likely to be damaged in transit than if they were stored in cardboard boxes.

And when a company wants to rebrand or freshen up its marketing message, frame systems can easily be reskinned with new graphics. “Switching out a fabric graphic on a tension frame gives you flexibility,” Whited says.

When booth materials need to be disposed of, there are plenty of options to keep them out of landfills. Orbus recycles around three-quarters of the waste it produces. The supplier also helps facilitate material recycling for some of its dealers, Whited says.

Upcycling is a possibility for trade show signage. For example, last year Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) collaborated with Preloved to create a collection of functional, handcrafted bags made out of single-use street pole banners from the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

3

Don’t Overlook Lanyards

For well-seasoned business travelers, it’s easy to accumulate a plethora of lanyards. While they’re crucial for keeping an attendee’s badge front and center during the show, their use off the show floor is limited.

To help keep them out of the trash, many organizers have been collecting lanyards at the end of a show and then reusing them for future events, Delgado says. “It’s smart because people don’t really want to bring those home anyway.”

If the event organizer isn’t thrilled about reusing a lanyard, another option is to recycle them. A rep for Top 40 distributor Overture Promotions (asi/288473) recently used TerraCycle to collect and recycle lanyards and badges from a trade show, says Overture CEO Jo Gilley. “We ordered one of their All-In-One Zero Waste boxes for our headquarters for an upcoming customer event,” she adds.

Based in New Jersey, TerraCycle helps facilitate recycling for products that aren’t typically permitted in curbside recycling programs. Customers can buy Zero Waste boxes for particular items – like lanyards and plastic name badges – fill them with those materials, then ship the full box back to TerraCycle using a prepaid shipping label to have TerraCycle recycle everything in it, according to the company.

4

Discourage Timestamping Merch

When creating branded apparel for conferences and other events, it’s natural to want to add the date to the design, but that can be a no-no for organizers who want to up the sustainability of their merch. Delgado says Merchology often advises clients to leave the date off event garments “so that they don’t seem old and outdated in the years to come.”

Not only will end-users be more likely to re-wear a shirt without a date on it, event organizers could potentially give out or sell surplus garments at subsequent shows, to cut down on waste.

Steve Starr, vice president of global programs at Top 40 distributor Corporate Imaging Concepts (CIC; asi/168962), has given similar advice about apparel that includes dates: “Based on our research, the usage of that garment, whatever it is, drops significantly once the year is over.”

5

Suggest High-Quality Items & Lead-Qualifying Actions

The traditional method of swag giveaways at trade shows has been “spray and pray,” says Leo Friedman, CEO of iPromo (asi/229471), but tying a giveaway to an action – like sharing an email address – is much more powerful.

“The layup for me is the QR code gift,” he says. “You’re killing multiple birds with one link: You’re getting someone’s email, it’s lead generation, and you can give away something meaningful that people want.”

In this scenario, attendees scan the code, fill out a questionnaire and are routed to a custom web store to choose a branded gift from a list of options that will be mailed out after the show. “The quality of swag you’re giving away can be higher,” Friedman adds.

One caveat, however, is that shipping promo individually will add to the carbon footprint, Promo for the Planet advisory board members note.

6

Strive for Progress, Not Perfection

Think of a client’s sustainability-related checklists as a starting point and a chance to educate, rather than a conversation ender. You might not be able to meet every single request, but if you can get close – and also explain why a certain request is not feasible – that can be much more lucrative and appreciated than refusing even to try.

Merchology, for example, counts a university’s ecology and conservation department as a customer. The department was looking for backpacks made from recycled materials, certified as carbon neutral and also locally sourced and manufactured in the U.S. to reduce their transportation-related carbon footprint.

“That’s three difficult boxes to check with one product,” Delgado says. “We weren’t able to find an option for them, but we had options that checked two of the boxes, which I think is still a huge win.”

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