Swag

The cartoons depicting the burglar carrying a sack filled with loot are iconic. I’m not sure there were ever burglars who actually found that an overstuffed sack of loot was an effective way to make an escape, but the image sticks.

That’s the origin of the word ‘swag.’ Loot.

I honestly can’t know when I got hooked on making swag, but I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, a project exists just because I have a great piece of swag to go with it.

The first rule of swag is that it’s not a bribe. It can’t be so valuable on its own that the swagness of it is irrelevant. Handing out twenty-dollar bills will get you a crowd, but the brand at work has added no value.
On the other hand, a Fast Company t-shirt from 2004 is a treasured memory. I have plenty of shirts, of course, but only this one reminds me of the magic that happened that week.

The second rule is: no junk. It’s hard for a memory to justify cheap trash or useless clutter.

I’ll keep making swag if I can. This page exists to keep you up to date on it.