Anyone have any ideas of what cadets would like to see in a Cadet Conference registration bag ? If anyone has any connections, point of contacts, or venues to suggest I'm all ears :)
1 set of Cadet Officer shoulder boards
1 voucher for $50.00 off a CAP Cadet Activity (Encampment CLS etc)
stickers, pens, pencils and the usual "junk"
Honestly?
Tickets for the waterpark next door...
I've been to conferences that have given out conference challenge coins, and they've seemed to be pretty popular. The conference coins I have usually feature the conference date and location on one side, and the host Wing patch or state seal on the opposing side.
Other things that wouldn't be too shabby: A nice CAP t-shirt, water bottle or something custom imprinted, A program book, coupons to local restaurants or something useful.
It's very weird but printed carabiners go over VERY well.
Whatever you put in there, make it useful. I get goodie bags at conferences and seminars with all kinds of crap - lotions, shampoos, tiny wet wipes, ad nauseum. The vast majority of these end up in the trash. Useful stuff like carabiners, sewing kits (the ones with the pre-threaded needles are GREAT!), band-aid packs, water-bottles, etc are horded.
Printed pens are nice, also. Takes care of the "oh crap, I forgot to bring a pen" issues.
CAP Ribbons, cadet grade, wing patches, CAP name tapes.
CANDY all cadets love candy.
Challenge coins are always cool, as are the useful little things, like sewing kits, pens, carabiners and stuff like that.
Other neat things like small model rocket or plane kits might be cool also. Posters, and things like that would probably go over pretty well too.
Putting grade insignia or ribbons is kinda pointless IMO, because the cadet is probably going to already have that, and it is really hit or miss that they will even get the right ones...
How about a coupon for 1/2 off their next set from Vanguard?
^ That will make the Wing go broke in about 2 orders. :D
I don't know what the budget is, but I'd assume that after putting things like T-Shirts, Coins, etc you'd probably be at around the $10.00 a piece range.
How about some sort of 1st Aid Item like a CPR kit (See B-504 towards the end of the page): http://www.first-aid-product.com/industrial/cpr-kits.htm
Individual First Aid Kit (http://www.firstaidstore.com/product_details.aspx?item_guid=56f0ebbf-ac93-4f0d-ab7f-80677a14865e)
About 10 years ago, the Wing Conference group had the ES, Cadet Programs, DDR, AE and a few other staff sections each set a table display up, and each table had a small item to give to each attendee. It allows for the member to meet Wing Staffers, and the opportunity to walk around and interact with others. Get cheap bags to hand out the first night, and have the staff hand junk out for 2 or 3 hours. The member walks out with a bag of junk and feels that there was something accomplished by them attending.
If I remember correctly...the ES group handed out CPR/First aid books (free from the red cross) and signal whistles, the Cadet Programs group handed out T-shirts and stickers/pens/pencils, the DDR group handed out thermoses and DDR funded totes. AE staffers gave wooden airplanes and activity books, PAO gave out old copies of the Wings newsletters and the Wing Command Staff gave challenge coins.
At the last med conference I was at the big freebie was medical shears provided by a drug company. The EMT's and ER nurses flooded that table.
Quote from: nesagsar on January 13, 2009, 12:17:00 AM
At the last med conference I was at the big freebie was medical shears provided by a drug company. The EMT's and ER nurses flooded that table.
Just watched a CNN piece yesterday where drug and supply companies are going to stop giving freebies away at conferences and physicians offices. For a while I was the Hospitals contact for drug and pharmacy reps, and got boxes of free pens, pads and drugs. I have to say that the freebies do play a factor in what Doctors prescribe. Using the prescription pad that has Ambien written across the top may influence the DOC writing out the sleeping pill prescription.
To relate this to CAP......those pens that have Vanguard written on them that the Vanguard rep gives out free at Wing Conferences reinforces the "buy from Vanguard" mentality.
Maybe the hock shop should start making pens?
If I remember right.....Hock used to enclose a few "hock" stickers with your order back in the '90's. I guess they figured you would give them to a friend or advertise for them.
I know what most cadets would like to see in the goodie bag..... (READ: paintball guns w/ ammo)
As for something that might be appropriate, maybe pick a couple of things that match each of the missions? Like chem-lights, whistles, or orange vests for ES, maybe a small model airplane for ES, and then something cadet programs oriented. Just a thought...
Give them pens pencils, and those little notebooks the local farm bureau has every year at the county fair.
Quote from: ThorntonOL on January 13, 2009, 06:23:55 AM
Give them pens pencils, and those little notebooks the local farm bureau has every year at the county fair.
I'm from Long Island, what's a farm bureau and what is a couty fair?
In my opinion it's a farmer's union without much of the benefits of a union. County Fair is usually held in summer time and your local 4-H showcases their projects there. Actually a good place to look for possible cadets if they allow you to launch model rockets down there as there is an Aerospace program they offer which i think had some help from CAP. (They're listed in the contacts for more info.) ((For the 4-Her not us.))
Well my suggestion is that the registration packet should include a conference t shirt. The goodies bag should include the following free tour of the National Air Force museum. Pens. List of the when NCSA/encampments are. Drill instruction book. Uniform manuel with updates. Conference Jacket lightweight for cool nights. Thats my idea what should be included.
For about 20-30 cadets? That's a bit to much, I can see the t-shirt and maybe the drill manual, but that's too much and to pricey to do.
The most useful thing I ever got at a conference was a drink coupon for the bar. Maybe not so great for the cadets though..... :angel:
Quote from: M.S. on January 13, 2009, 03:40:42 PM
The most useful thing I ever got at a conference was a drink coupon for the bar. Maybe not so great for the cadets though..... :angel:
Sure....a free soda or iced tea!
Quote from: Timbo on January 13, 2009, 04:35:26 PM
Quote from: M.S. on January 13, 2009, 03:40:42 PM
The most useful thing I ever got at a conference was a drink coupon for the bar. Maybe not so great for the cadets though..... :angel:
Sure....a free soda or iced tea!
yea, but do you want to expose a hotel bar to an onslaught of cadets? The barkeep may never recover! ;D
Very true, they would be out of soda before the coffee easily. The nice thing about the NY Wing's dinner cruise banquet is that its usually done buffet style so if you want to try different items you can. Unlike when it was at The Treadway in Owego (My old hometown) you only got 1 out of 2-3 choices and i think limited drinks. So a drink coupon wouldn't work for us at night but a coupon or $5 dollar Mcdonald card would probably do nicely. That is during the day.
Quote from: capcadetwilliams on January 13, 2009, 03:15:09 PM
Well my suggestion is that the registration packet should include a conference t shirt. The goodies bag should include the following free tour of the National Air Force museum. Pens. List of the when NCSA/encampments are. Drill instruction book. Uniform manuel with updates. Conference Jacket lightweight for cool nights. Thats my idea what should be included.
Remember, that stuff isn't really free. Somebody's got to pay for it. An enterprising event organizer might be able to arrange some donated stuff from various companies as free advertising, but anything that isn't donated gets paid for out of event registration funds.