good or interesting corporate gifts

magicbastarder

in light of the car fuss, what interesting or memorable gifts have you received in the course of your work?

i got a phone call from a woman in microsoft many years ago, asking did i want to attend the official launch of office 2007, exchange 2007 and vista in croke park. i don't know how interested i sounded, but she then dangled a free lunch provided by fitzers too, so i thought, 'sod it, that sounds like i'll do that'.

and then almost as an afterthought she asked, 'oh, and would you like to meet neil armstrong too while you're there?'

when i was in college, a friend used to give away massive femidom beach towels femidom were sending to her mother. she didn't get too many takers.

Riddle101

Years ago when I was in college I was doing work experience with a PR company. It was just a ten day thing and I wasn't being paid but near the end of my work placement they gave me a brand new copy of The Godfather 2 video game. The game had just been released in Ireland and they were promoting it here so they had some copies and I received one. In my younger years I thought that was pretty cool of them.

Sleepy

Aside from the usual pens / keyrings / sweets / tickets etc. I think the best I've received have been a couple of nice little power banks.

Allinall

Free set of tyres for my car.

Alkers

One of my friends workplaces used to offer extra annual leave as prizes, thought that was good.

corner of hells

An uncle of mine used get sun holidays from his employer every three years or so , granted he was in the army and it was always the Lebanon.

gameoverdude

Does riding the foxy boss count? I would certainly count that as a corporate gift at 23.

Baba Yaga

got a fleece one time...no flip-flops though unfortunately...

SuperBowserWorld

A nexus 7 tablet.

Was lovely.

Then Google updated the OS less than 12 months later and it ran like ****.

Google, masters of land fill.

pat_sconce

I got an original piece of art by an artist a US company I worked with sponsored.

His pieces sell for over $5k currently, but Americans do overpay for stuff like this.

Archeron

A usb hub shaped like a little robot. You plug his head into the usb port and his arms and legs give four new ports.

gameoverdude

Make sure you let your compliance team know.

freshpopcorn

Flip-Flops!

CPTM

A seasoned department head used to buy chocolate advent calendars for everyone's kids. It was a pretty big department with very little turnover at that time when she was in charge. Some people were there for decades and she continued to buy the calenders forever. Last time I was there she handed one of the older mothers a couple of advent calendars and said it was for the kids - "I know they're 19 and 17 but it just feels too weird to stop now".

L1011

At the time of the Windows XP launch we ended up 3x copies of XP Pro, each with a cack webcam (I think I sold the two spares on here actually) couriered out to the gaff due to my Dad's job. I also went to a pre-Vista launch event with a decent lunch and a swag bag including a reasonably large USB key - probably €60 or so worth at the time on its own

Microsoft would often spend decent amounts of launches back then.

Strumms

Cross pen… worth about 85 euros im seeing, found it recently during a clear out . Not working though …might get it refilled…

a black fleece… very comfy and stylish and real good quality but it had the small company logo on it, so didn’t want to wear it out, gave it to my Dad who still has it… he wears it in the garage in the winter. Can’t remember the label but it was quite stylish, warm and very comfy, only the damn logo… 🙈

A voucher for the company’s corporate travel agent who’d just started doing personal travel too….was reasonably generous, we thought but the non corporate rates on the site for personal travel were absurdly astronomical….bonkers…got one night in Langtons out of it…

the best… years ago (20 plus) an Ericsson T10 (?) flip ready to go mobile phone with 30 pounds ( yep that long ago ) worth of credit… one day an Eircell rep just came in with a big hold all and plonked the phones beside us as we worked for them….I was on a call so missed the little spiel and presumed it was a demo but was made up going home with it…was my first mobile, was around 1999 or 2000, still have it in a drawer somewhere..

Emblematic

@Strumms 9:27pm Cross pen… worth about 85 euros im seeing, found it recently during a clear out . Not working though …might get it refilled…

Slightly off topic but a company I worked for once sent out fake Cross pens to prospective customers. Unfortunately one of the recipients was the Cross pen company, makers of the genuine pens. Much hilarity at the time. Needless to say the recipients were indeed cross.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120820260#Comment_120820260

😂 classic, the writing was on the wall for you after that I’d say. Kicked up a right ink.

chrisd2019

Ones that come to mind: Box of Cadbury roses!, a leather pocket wallet, Tickets to All ireland Final, Power bank, christmas hamper, a golf bag, a few bottles of nice French wine from a private vinyard. Some fleeces & various other pieces of clothing and of course numerous emails and cards referring to charity donations in place of gifts :)

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058304086/good-or-interesting-corporate-gifts

me and neil.

Bridget Clarke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120820552#Comment_120820552

Thats really cool. I’m impressed.

Motivator

We used to get mad gifts from our company. There were 5 departments with 6-10 people on each department. Every few months there’d be a draw in the canteen and whatever department came out of the hat would get a meal out, tickets to concerts or matches etc. the only stipulation was that you had to go with your team. No partners or you couldn’t offload them to a mate. It was a very good way of building up a good bond between the staff and the best thing about it was every department would get something over the course of the year. Once you came out of the hat, you were out until all departments came out. The buzz when you came out waiting to find out what you won was brilliant.

Recession came, huge number of redundancies and headcount was stripped right back to the bare minimum. The company kept afloat and got the numbers back up a bit over time but the draws are a thing of the past now unfortunately. It was a great company to work for back in the good old days. We didn’t know how good we had it at the time.

Collie D

Pair of tickets to a supplier’s corporate box in Croke Park for international soccer game when they played there during Lansdowne development.

Nice meal and free booze and a couple of gifts like polo shirts, etc. but very few of the roughly 15 attendees actually watched the game. Nice to try once but not for me. Maybe if I had been with a gang of friends who were fans of the team.

Collie D

Also got a ton of booze in that role at Christmas from various suppliers and shared them around the small team.

All pre-recession and before our anti-bribery regs. Not that it mattered. I was just the contact point who placed the orders with these selected suppliers. No input from me as to who we actually bought from so if they were an attempt to gain favour they got the wrong person drunk.

magicbastarder

the only other notable bit of largesse i experienced was when one of two colleagues couldn't make it to a dinner that ironport (who'd just been bought by cisco) had invited them to. so i ended up in shanahans sitting beside an american chap called scott; nice guy but complete overdose of personality, it was almost exhausting talking to him. he paid; €1997 for ten of us, i do remember seeing the bill.

on the bus on the way home, the other colleague of mine texted me to let me know he'd just found out that was scott weiss, who along with his business partner had sold ironport to cisco for over $800m. the two lads had taken $400m each, and gave the rest to the staff IIRC.

mikemac2

Got an iPod Nano (remember them?) with our company's name printed on the back

I loved that Nano. It was the Version 2 as I remember. Around 2008. Was the best corporate gift I ever received. Hah later that year the recession started and there were redundancies, that was the last of that

I still have an iPod Nano and it's the last version, 7 I think and it still goes strong.

Gregor Samsa

Got a huge crate of Lucozade and a branded beach towel (Lara Croft) from GlaxoSmithKline many years ago, when I built their Irish website. Still have the towel.

In my current company, we used to get employee discounts of about 40% from some clients (including Canon, Logitech, Microsoft, Lenovo), but that seems to have mostly dried up.

About 15 years ago, some of my co-workers were on a project for a particular client. At the end, they were told they were getting an “mp3 player” as a token of thanks. They were very excited, and the rest of us were very jealous. When it arrived, it turned out that it was pre-loaded with 5 cringy corporate songs of the client company, and you couldn’t remove them or load any of your own music.

Arthur Pants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058304086/good-or-interesting-corporate-gifts

Nah, I'd have preferred to meet Michael Collins (the astronaut).

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058304086/good-or-interesting-corporate-gifts

If M$ had been around 50 odd years ago, Armstrong's corpse would probably still be orbiting the Moon.

bartkingcole

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120823250#Comment_120823250

The Nano was a great device. Still think there is a market for a small music player for exercise. The watch just does not do it for me.

bartkingcole

Last year I received one of those small back massagers (the ones which could be other massagers). The other half got a really cool USB lamp.

https://www.lampmasters.ie/mr-wattson-mini-table-lamp-usb-vintage-white-piffany-copenhagen.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrqWZ55eCgAMVyvftCh3Zwg4FEAQYAyABEgJN4PD_BwE

Kintarō Hattori

A few years back I was given a Mont Blanc pen which was a nice enough item to get. The only trouble is, my jobs over the years have all been computer based and I rarely ever use a pen. I still have it and think I've used it about 3 times in the last 7 years.

silliussoddius

A ham at Christmas from a company I worked for in Australia.

AndrewJRenko

I still use a Samsonite luggage trolley that I got in my FMCG multinational days. I have a nice leather folder from the same shower too.

Nigel Fairservice

I got a few dinners for 2 at a fine dining restaurant I worked at. Dinner for 2 would probably come to about $300 so not a bad one to get.

Pawwed Rig

I got a PC from my work in the early 2000s that was worth about €1,000. Everyone got one at the time and it was solely for our own use as opposed to having to do any work on it. They also used to give us heaps of vouchers for Blanchardstown Centre. Good times

I was on an audit of Luxottica who make most of the branded sunglasses for sale. We were each allowed to buy one paid for cost price (in hindsight that shouldn't have been allowed but the partner approved it and sure I was only the juniorest junior).

I got a pair of Oakleys for near nothing.

The mark up on those sunglasses is criminal.

magicbastarder

I used to work in the building luxottica were based in. They had a sale every six months or so, I assume ex demo or end of the line stuff. It was always mobbed.

banie01

One of my very 1st perks as an employee was a launch day PS2 back in 2000, I was working abroad and setting a stock control and EPOS system. Working long days getting everything done. My boss at the time knew it was my birthday and that I was pulling 80hr weeks getting the project over the line. As part of a nice bonus package he arranged for a PS2 to arrive on launch day.

I worked quite a while in tech roles and the mobile phone companies in particular were quite generous in the stuff that was gifted. A lot of phones and networking tech collected over the years.

corner of hells

I worked in Gateaux in Finglas when I was an apprentice, once a week you could buy a shopping bag full of cakes of all types , all slightly damaged,for 50 pence .

You could also eat as much as you wanted throughout the day but God help if you stole anything.

Not quite corporate gifts but nothing beats a fresh chocolate Swiss roll.

Grayson

I've gotten some good hoodies and some terrible ones. There's a few I still have 10 years later. they still look good and feel great.

I worked for a US company that gave everyone backpacks for work. But because the company was based in California, none of them were waterproof.

The thing I've probably gotten the most use out of is bottle openers. They never broke and just keep on going.

Grayson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120839816#Comment_120839816

I worked for M&S as a part time student job. At the end of the day after the shop closed they'd fill crates with the food that has a best before/use by of that day. Then everything would be sold for a euro or two per item to the staff. I'd stock up on stuff that could be frozen and manage to get a week of meals for a tenner. And it would be lobster and stuff like that. Probably the best I've ever eaten.

McGrath5

Worked in a MNC a few years back and a partner we worked with arranged an all expenses paid trip for 2 nights to Southampton for a day of sailing on those yachts similar to what is used in the Americas Cup. Had a blast. The company has really cut down now on that kind of stuff lately.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121482163#Comment_121482163

Our company gave us a branded blanket a couple of years ago. It's probably not the same one you have there, but everyone raved about it, it was so cozy. I manged to snag two, because my wife and eldest daughter were fighting over the first one. Velour on one side, wooly on the other. It also zips open, so you could fill it as a beanbag if you wanted.

Grayson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120840611#Comment_120840611

Now I think about it, the most useless thing I ever got a a dell branded boomerang when I worked there. Have no idea why they gave those away.

RiderOnTheStorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121482163#Comment_121482163

oh, the blanket .... 100 % !! I would def be happy to get that as a gift. So many uses ....

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491356#Comment_121491356

I presume they thought they'd get then straight back.

10-10-20

A man in Sligo once offered me one of his three fine daughters after I fixed his PC over the phone for him. 😂 Best offer ever.

thomil

My employer (US-based tech company) usually does a big kick-off in the US in early January, and they fly people from all over the world for that. That wasn't possible during the pandemic for obvious reasons, and so the company allocated the budget for that to providing the staff with gifts, and not cheap stuff either. Over two years, I ended up getting a DJI drone, a set of Apple AirPods Pro, an iPad mini and an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, all of which still see regular use. That's beside the regular company swag (hoodies, t-shirts, coasters, a blanket, etc...).

We're back to traveling this year and honestly, I kinda preferred the gadgets...

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120840611#Comment_120840611

My Irish employers branded backpacks are very, very waterproof. I've been caught in a rain storm and the book I had inside was dry as a bone

Unbranded single unit retail price is about 90 quid though I suspect 3000 with minimal branding cost a lot less than 90 each

Bottle opener reminded me - football club I support sends you some stuff every year for paying for the account that lets you buy tickets. Surprisingly good stuff. Over the years theres been a bottle opener, a very good waterproof wash bag, a power bank and a coil up charger cable with micro, C and Lightning heads, slightly tacky but good quality socks, playing cards and probably other stuff I've forgotten.

Not really gifts cause I'm paying indirectly for them but shows someone has put care in to picking them. The account fee makes it dearer for scalpers and you get it back in branded kit

Padre_Pio

Off the top of my head I've gotten two laptop backpack, north face jackets, beany hats, power banks, towels and pens. Sometimes I walk around feeling like I'm sponsored by my company.

We spend plenty of money with a supplier who runs seasonal giveaways (spend €X and get a free coffee machine / tablet/ air pods, dyson hairdryer) so I've gotten plenty from them over the years.

Very handy at Christmas, I got a €200 Brown Thomas voucher that I regifted to Mam. She would have far more use for it than I.