
Ever heard the term "swag"? It's supposedly an acronym for "stuff we all get" (for free). But really, we don't all get swag, or it wouldn't be worthy of a special nickname, would it? If it were something we all got, swag would mean like, "old," or "beaten down by life."
I'll tell you what swag is: it's stuff some of us get for free, usually for promotional reasons. It's actually how some of us, ahem those of us in publishing who only make like 10 grand a year, supplement our incomes and lifestyles, because we don't have a choice. And so, unlike other dignified adults who have worked in their professions for years and receive the expected monetary compensation, some of us in publishing don't have your "home ownership," your "new clothes and furniture," your "cars with functioning passenger side doors," your "option of having children," but we do have...15 spare pairs of fancy shampoo and conditioner.
Well, that is no longer true about the shampoo, but let's just say that after working at Naked Man Magazine, I didn't have to buy shampoo for a long time, and while I have had to purchase body wash, I anticipate never having to buy bar soap again.
Jealous? If you're not yet, let me show you some of the more successful and not-so-best swag from this year's South by Southwest conference/ trade show/ festival in Austin, Texas, where they start you off with a bag or two full of free stuff and you are constantly handed items for the duration of your time there.