Monday, June 26, 2006

Freebies, Collecting conference

While at a library conference, run around the vendor booths collecting free give-aways like a whore in a cucumber patch. Grab the free bookmarks, catalogs, tote bags, and flashlight pens with a desperate, wild-eyed passion that would scare your non-librarian friends. Need and practicality are not issues in the vendor booths. ("It's a highlighter AND a laser pointer?! Brilliant!!") It's all about getting as much free crap as you can fit in the rolling suitcase you brought along just for the occasion.

In order to make the most efficient use of your time, don't look vendors in the eye. Just grab the freebies by the handful and go! Do, however, stop to acknowledge the vendors whose companies have obviously spent an egregious amount of research and development money coming up with new ways to reinvent the ink pen. Let them know that they are the ones who keep the librarians coming back.

8 comments:

AnonymousX said...

Personally, I also use conferences as a change to buy a carton of cigarettes for way cheaper than in NYC (since ANYWHERE qualifies as cheaper).

Of course, when I was in Baltimore they wouldn't let me carry the carton out until it was in a black bag. I told them "Come on, it's not porn!"

It's not always for the free stuff, but for the chance to take advantage of all the state-to-state differences.

Anonymous said...

"...like a whore in a cucumber patch." I'm just...disturbed...

Librarian Girl said...

And be sure to give those freebies away as birthday gifts to all your friends. Because you're classy like that.

Anonymous said...

Wow, did you see me in that cucumber patch?!

Anonymous said...

mmmmm... cucumbers

Josh said...

Haha...I can totally relate!

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Alan said...

sounds all too familiar

Anonymous said...

I try to collect as much chocolate as possible so I can stay awake at some of the presentations. I love conferences around Halloween.