Last month, we shared our thoughts on why using swag can increase your impact at virtual events and conferences. As promised, this month we’re continuing the topic with a look at how you can make screen-side events feel personal.

In January 2020, I attended an event for our business software—in person, of course. One of the highlights of this event is always the swag. The event, called SKUCON, puts a great deal of time and effort into choosing products that are not only useful but designed to become part of your regular rotation.

When 2021 rolled around, the event shifted from an amazing in-person experience to a screenside format. In a conversation with their COO, Mark Graham, he told me that pre-COVID, there was no way they would have even considered going virtual.

“It is off brand. We are all about the experience, the accidental collisions that happen, and the energy created in the room.”

Well, I can tell you firsthand that the event they created for 2021 wasn’t just as good. It was better. In every way.

Everything from registration to the marketing drip campaign was tailored to me. Leading up to the event, they shared sneak peeks of the content, program schedule, and format. Every step of the way, they were building anticipation—and it worked.

But the real question for me was this: How are they going to recreate that legendary swag store?

In past years, I was used to getting a swag bag full of the industry’s top products, the kind of stuff that made you feel lucky to get one. I wondered how they would replicate that experience virtually.

They delivered. In a big way.

Starting in September 2020, they began teasing the swag box via email and eventually on Instagram. There were partial pics, vendor partner leaks, and finally—after more than a month of buildup—on Friday of reveal week, we received our link to the virtual shop.

This was the magic. Everything was pre-order. I got to choose the color and size of my sweatshirt. No guessing, no overs, no leftover stock. It was all ordered to spec, and as such, it felt like a personal shopping experience.

The event took place in January, so the box included items perfect for being at home: a blanket, a knit hat (or toque, to our Canadian friends), a pound of custom-label coffee, a mug, snacks, a journal with pens, socks, and a travel kit to remind us that someday, we may travel again. All of it was delivered in a branded gift box that included a personalized note—just for me.

Now, I’m a promotional products professional. I do this for a living. And yet, the level of joy I felt when the box arrived? Shocking. I felt genuinely special. Way more than I ever had while standing in line with everyone else at a live event waiting to grab my swag.

Why? Because this time, I hadn’t already seen a room full of people with the same mug. I was at home. I was the only one getting that box at my house, at that moment. And I was reminded: I’m part of an amazing user community.

I couldn’t wait to open it, use it, and share it with the others in our community.

A year later, not much has changed. In-person events are still on hold or hybrid at best, waiting for some unknown future date when the world turns back on

But I ask you—why wait?

Why wait when you could be offering this same level of personal touch to your audience right now, virtually?

What if you were the one reaching out to your people and delivering the sixth sense of swag—ownership?