Our OpenStack Summit Giveaways Stomped Their Takeaways!

May 22^nd, 2015, OpenStack Summit, Vancouver:

Since embellishing one’s “takeaways” appears to be en vogue right after an event like this, I thought I’d write about our giveaways instead!

First, you should know that we had 2 giveaways at the Avi Networks booth: T-Shirts & laptop stickers – both quantities in the hundreds.  Despite a small booth, we ran out of both of them... almost as quickly as kombucha sells out at a new age festival!

On the flight back home I wondered why people lined up for our giveaways. I think here are the 4 things that worked for us…

1. Flaunted it flamboyantly.

   Of course, we’re referring to our character and integrity! And T-Shirts ..that are one-of-a-kind!  Let’s admit, many of us men (and women) would love to grow a bright orange moustache, but don’t.  Mostly due to genetic impediments and to avoid rejection by society.  But on a Tee, people can enjoy the sinful pleasures of commitment-free cartoonish moustache-wearing!

2. Embraced controversy. 

   So what would our rebel style look like on YOU?  Well, imagine yourself wearing a 3-piece suite at your company board meeting . . . and then suddenly, you literally rebrand your professional image by pulling out your laptop with a big, bright sticker that says “BADaaS” on it!  That’s right!  No one messes with a BADaaS! 

3. Fewest words possible.

   Mostly because the Internet has shortened our collective attention spans. Yo! It’s a T-Shirt - not a whitepaper!

4. Benevolent non-self-promoting saints. 

   Why should we or any other company booth really need to shout our own names from the rooftops?  We believe if you’re really good at what you do, your reputation will precede you.  If you’re not, a company logo on a T-Shirt or sticker or stress ball or keychain will simply be a gentle reminder of what not to buy!

OUR BADaaS STICKERS:

* Beyond Application Delivery as a Service

CONCLUSION:

OpenStache and BADaaS were much more than giveaways…they almost achieved a cult status. Infact, we had the same giveaways at the OpenStack Summit in Paris last year.. and to our delight, we had people swing by our booth this week to proudly show us their OpenStache Tee’s from last year.

And that puts a BIG smile on my face. You know you’ve done a good job when a giveaway is NOT a throwaway! 

To learn more about how Avi Networks can deliver robust application services in OpenStack Cloud:

     

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