Whatever you do.... no knick knacks. Especially since APO is for guys too. Most guys are not into knick knacks. Which you probably know though being a guy yourself.
Although I love the sorority "stuff" I have received from various conventions/ events, and I do display it around my house, at this point in my life I'm trying to declutter said house. I have no where to decently "get rid of" sorority stuff, until a new chapter is started!

I love the grocery sack idea, or any tote. Also like the to-go mug.

I have seen customized/ printed flash drives before. That would be very useful, and small so as not to take up a lot of room in the suitcase!

More knick knacky is a Christmas ornament, though not everyone celebrates Christmas.

Good luck with the decision. :) Always fun to plan stuff.

FLASH DRIVES!!!!!

Since I'll be there *smile* I am voting for the mug, reusable bag, and the flash drive.

Weeelll, here's my personal take.

I like event t-shirts, if the event is atleast 2-3 days long, and I could wear the t-shirt at the event and afterwards. I like polo shirts, but they are more pricy then t-shirts, so don't necessarily want them at all events, just the major ones.

I do like small mementos of the event. I have several glassware items and the like. I really don't care for coffee mugs, as I don't drink coffee. I do have a few plastic drink mugs (both insulated and not), and these get used.

I like bags that I can re-use. A briefcase style bag or knapsack style bag may be fine at the event, but probably won't reuse it. A canvas style shopping bag style WILL be reused by me.

Give away items can be nice. I've gotten pens and pencils. They get used. Food items can be nice. I've gotten notepads, which get used. thumbdrives are also getting popular. Lanyards, while nice, will ususally only get used at the event for the event id. But I'll keep that as a memento.

I do like pins and patches for events, but that's me.

One of my co-workers uses an Alpha Xi Delta mousepad that she got at their convention a few years back. I think anything like that that can go on a desk is a great idea.

I've been to a good number of events where I got my SWAG on. I'm sorry if some of these are listed, some of my favorites have included:

• travel coffee mug--I got a Viagra one!
• nice pens--Mercedes sponsored one of our events and gave pens, keychains, and money clips. One year we all got teddy bears with MB sweaters
• Swiss Army knife
• trial-sized hand lotions or hand sanitizers
• depending on the location, something specific to the location, or even the philanthropy. For one event in New Orleans, we got mini-bottles of Tabasco and boxes of Zatarain's
• a small container of mints/gum
• a teeny-tiny flashlight
• a bag that's actually reusable
• an emergency poncho

All of these things can have the shield, or not.

Good luck! I have loaded up many a gift bag in my day. The charities I've been involved in are very lucky to have had great sponsors (The US Army, Mercedes-Benz, Nivea, Pfizer, etc.) donate items.

I've gotten a couple of flash drives from work and it's amazing how useful they are. I like that idea a lot.

As someone who's allergic to fragrance, I would recommend against getting lotions (and even hand sanitzer is bad)- people will open them & use them in the confined & crowded space, and people like me will be miserable and/or have to leave.

The swiss army knife idea is kind of fun- I actually don't have one. And flashlights are always good too- especially if they're nicer, like mini mag-lites or something.

Past SWAG I've received (best containers are reusable shopping bags, or even a zippered tote):

Loved:
-flash drives
-map of city, especially with guidebook
-coupons
-soccer balls that play that "ole, ole, ole, ole" song. Four World Cups and most are still going strong!
-first aid kit

Liked:
-reusable mugs or glasses
-pens
-pencils
-notepads
-ruler
-lanyards
-mints
-special Pez dispenser

Hated:
-t-shirts (use for 2-3 days then donate to charity)
-kazoos
-chocolate that was melted
-toys for very small children (I gave mine to the housekeeper's children, she loved it!)

Bottom line: anything someone's going to leave at the hotel isn't worth giving.

Omg, I never realized that SWAG was an acronym! Btw, not all of my suggestions are from Kappa events. I won't identify the guilty parties for lame things.

Absolutely no:
- antenna topper (srsly?)

Ditto:
- tote bag
- something specific to the area
- lanyard (if it says something generic like "Kappa Kappa Gamma" not something weird-ish)

Love the reusable shopping bag idea- my school has started using those for its events and they are cheap, easy to personalize, and everyone has a use for them. Plus they're great to have at conventions or events when you're away from home so you have a handy place to put all your miscellaneous things.

Things to avoid: candles, pencils (most people use pens over pencils), anything that might trigger allergies, knicknacks (like snowglobes or ornaments), long lanyards, bookmarks, and other things people are likely to leave behind.

A key fob could be nice if it's in metal or leather- I don't like cheap plastic ones but a nice, well-made one would get a lot of use. Same for pens- most pens you get at events are cheap but they do make really nice ones- I got one at a conference that is metal and writes better than any other pen I've had, and it is absolutely indispensable! I like the coffee mug / insulated tumbler idea too. Glassware doesn't seem to fare very well for older people (we always seem to have alumnae bringing back old formal and convention glassware that they want to get rid of) but mugs and water bottles (nalgene or sigg type) would probably get more use. You could also present them in a nice way, filled with M&Ms or with a few sticks of rock candy and a pen stuck in.

Good luck!

A pen (and a notepad) can be nice for use at the conference and that alone makes them worth putting in, but I'll agree that the pens you usually get are cheap and not worth keeping after the conference. But I'm going to be the voice of dissent on "nice" pens -- I think they're a complete waste of money. I've never understood why anyone would want them, and that includes the umpteen Cross pen sets I got when I graduated from high school. They never left the boxes.

These ideas are really good..... I knew I could rely on GC to do my work for me. I mean, help. :)

Old Bay tins? Mini bottles of mumbo sauce?

Another good reusable item would be those Kleen Kanteens with shield/letters/etc. printed on it. I like the mouse pad idea as well.

I'd rather have a not-so nice pen than a nice one. I use pens all the time and would rather leave a ballpoint pen at the bank than anything else.

The boy belongs to a professional union, and for every event, they pass out these really handy notepads with small pens. He has a zillion of them and they fit in pockets, glove compartments, kitchen drawers, etc. Something like that would be ideal, I would think.

I got one of those when I went to the preview weekend of my grad school and I love to grab it and bring it along when I'm going to something where I won't need a legal pad-sized notebook but still might want to write something down.