PAX East: Swag Hag with a Bag

I absolutely love swag. I don't know what exactly I love about swag, but I adore it. Make it video game swag, and I can hardly control myself. Last night, during a reunion with several old friends and my husband, I made my shameful confession: I'd actually contemplated committing assault and battery to get the swag I wanted off of other PAX East attendees.

As an exhibitor, I had to weigh what I wanted more- swag or a chance to reach out and literally touch some new customers. (But not in a dirty way.) Of course, I had to choose customers over swag, so I spent most of my time confined in a 10 x 20 space. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely cherished our chance to be an exhibitor at PAX East especially since we were in the Indie Mega Booth.

Still, I could hear the swag calling to me. It sang a siren's song, and I had no wax for my ears. Thankfully, I met some of the most amazing people ever. First, through Twitter, I met Brock. Yes, THE Brock. The one from Pokemon. This Brock tracked me down at my booth, traded me a HAND MADE gym badge for my daughter for a box of Girl Scout cookies and some our swag. One of the best trades I'd ever made. Ever! I still can't believe I'm bringing home a gym badge for my daughters.

Now, remember LoL Couple? They brought me the Lulu cupcake that I mistakenly identified as the Caitlyn cupcake in a previous blog. Well, they actually go by Colleen and Ben. How did I find out? Because Colleen and Ben came back, and they had gotten me a Ziggs bomb, a Gangplank orange, a Soraka banana, and an honor pin. I'd talked to them on Friday about how I was incredibly thankful to be able to attend PAX East but that I possessed fears that I wouldn't be able to go get the swag I really wanted to get. They went and got it for me. I can't even express how incredibly touched I was by their gesture. People I didn't know more than two days previous went out and got swag for me.

The swag came from the Riot Games booth, easily the largest the booth at PAX East. The crowds that gather there are quite intimidating, and these fine people braved it to get swag for me. Let me tell you, though, that the people working at the Riot booth are also some of the most awesome people I got to meet. Colleen and Ben told them exactly what they were doing (getting swag for another exhibitor who is a total LoL fangirl), and the Riot people gave them swag to give to me. As swamped as we were, I can guarantee you that they were far more destroyed by their crowd and all the people who wanted their swag as badly (if not more so) than I did. I can't wait to be able to give my girls their LoL swag. They'll be crazy excited. The Ziggs bomb is mine, though!

I also took a "bathroom break" and visited the PopCap booth. We took a bunch of our swag over to them, and we had a wee bit of a swag trade. I think I came out on top. They got collapsible water bottles to fill with the "water" of their choice, and I got sunshrooms, walnuts, and zombies. Yay!

So, I'll take a picture of my swag and send it out soon. They're all tucked away in my bag, ready for their fourteen hour trip home. I'm going to take them out and cuddle with all of it on my way home.