It's inevitable that the world of meetings merchandise has evolved along with the meetings industry itself. From tote bags, to executive gifts and on to pillow tchotchkes, planners may be bound by new strategems of purchasing, appropriateness and effectiveness.
One trend is that some purchasing decisions increasingly are being placed in the hands of corporate procurement departments. That has dovetailed with the analysis and consolidation of meetings spend within the purchasing function, according to Marty Bear, president of Professional Marketing Services Inc., in Fairfield, Conn., a supplier of merchandise to the meetings and events market.
"The locating and sourcing of gifts by planners used to be a fun, creative part of the implementation of the meeting, but that has diminished," he said.
Bear noted that as preferred vendors are being selected by procurement, the choice of gifts often winds up in the same hands. Also influencing the trend are industry-specific gifting restrictions (in, for example, medical meetings), the strictures inherent in new corporate ethics legislation, and still-tight budgets held over from the recession.
Others see the duties of procurement and planning inevitably blending.
"It depends on what sort of merchandise goals you're talking about," said Laurie Sharp, president of Sharp Events, in San Francisco.
"If you need, say, 3,000 T-shirts, then procurement may step in to get the best deal. But if it's unique gifts for 200 incentive winners, the meeting planner knows the corporate needs and what they've done in the past."
Bear and Sharp agree that today's gifts — whoever chooses them — are more exclusive than ever. Backpacks and totes are approaching upper-end retail quality, with plenty of mesh pockets. Water bottles and travel mugs, likewise, are becoming more upscale and expensive.
And awards, too, are changing, as more employees work from home. Rather than give out plaques that would ordinarily line an office wall, Bear said companies are awarding gifts that don't require any walls; popular here are technology items like wireless mouses or leather mouse pads.
And gifts are shouldering more roles. Sharp, for example, recently chose leather airline ticket portfolios crafted by Coach, not as stand-alone gifts but rather as invitation cases for a fancy event for a client's prospective customers.
Finally, local theming remains essential. Nancy Trosclair, president of Destination New Orleans, recently hosted a group at the house of Anne Rice, the local writer of horror tales.
"For a souvenir, we purchased 500 copies of her latest book, and had them all signed by Rice," Trosclair said. "Because we could not alter the cover, we made black velvet envelopes for the books with the corporate logo embroidered on the flap."