Shit No One Needs: Vinyl Conference Folders

They’re as ubiq­ui­tous as the name-on-a-string you wear around your neck at a con­fer­ence. And, there’s no good rea­son for their exis­tence. PVC Con­fer­ence Fold­ers with a logo proudly embla­zoned on the front. They say just one thing about the con­fer­ence host–they just couldn’t be bothered.

Yes, it’s handy to have some paper to jot down notes at a con­fer­ence. And there are an end­less num­ber of pro­mo­tions com­pa­nies who can’t wait to sell you their cheap, plas­tic con­fer­ence fold­ers and accom­pa­ny­ing pen. 100 clipboards’ll run you $7.50 + a $60 set up fee. They can pump ‘em out like hot­cakes. Or, like wid­gets. Pick your metaphor. But there’s one prob­lem. They suck. Hard.

At Hypenotic head­quar­ters, we’re used to ask­ing, ‘why?’ Why a brochure? Why a web­site? Why a conference? When we ques­tioned our client’s (the ‘rad­dest of the rad’ Matt Houghton) first instinct to give away vinyl fold­ers he was imme­di­ately primed to switch gears. This was a guy who under­stood the value of authen­tic­ity bet­ter than anyone.

We were help­ing Matt put together a Media Lab for Push​.ca, a Sym­pa­tico por­tal that is the most authen­tic Cana­dian voice on Skate­board­ing and Snow­board­ing. Push​.ca was host­ing the Media Lab to show poten­tial adver­tis­ers Push​.ca had the right peo­ple, con­tent and ideas to speak to this niche audience.

The scene was set to give the atten­dees an expe­ri­ence that was as cool as this cul­ture. We reserved the Glad­stone Hotel, ordered upscale street food like nachos and grilled cheese sand­wiches, and had the hottest lineup of for­mer pros turned mar­keters to lend insight.

Instead of a vinyl con­fer­ence folder, we came up with an envi­ron­men­tally friendly pad, with each cover hand screened with the Push​.ca logo. The pads were screened by The Bait Shop, a spot so invested in skate cul­ture that they have a half pipe in their show­room. Beyond the half pipe, their space fea­tures a printshop and gallery. We fur­ther fea­tured the Bait Shops’ skills by hav­ing them screen­print Push​.ca t-shirts on site dur­ing the Media Lab, in full view of the par­tic­i­pants. It was cool eye candy. When folks walked in, they were asked what colour shirt and what colour screen print they wanted. And, at the end of the day, they walked away with some­thing authen­tic and hand rendered.

So, tell me again why you were think­ing about get­ting one of those vinyl con­fer­ence folders?

Related posts:

1. Vinyl Preser­va­tion Society Redesign
2. Shit No One Needs: Exfoliator
3. Shit No One Needs: KD with Freeze Dried Cauliflower