Notes from BIO: Swag Review

Although overall it's probably true that companies have toned down their exhibit hall shenanigans this year at BIO, there are still some stand-outs in the giveaways department.

Late yesterday afternoon (after a long day of working very hard, of course) we ventured into the Exhibits for the first time. We know you're curious, so here goes.

Re Louisiana: "The beer coozy technology they're developing down there really surpasses anything I could have possibly imagined," said one biotech CEO. We couldn't agree more.

Novo Nordisk was giving away drumsticks. Not the chicken-leg kind either. Proper drumsticks. We didn't pick up on why, but this will certainly make a lot of children happy and a lot of attendees eventually wonder: why on earth did i pick those up?

Argentina takes top honors for the best metaphorical exhibit, running tango demonstrations that drew large crowds. After all, everyone at BIO is interested in learning how to dance in lock-step with an attractive partner.

We couldn't pass Haiwaii by, of course. Who among us wouldn't rather our business be based there. Greeters offering leis amid the lovely strains of the hula made it seem so possible--but the gentleman in native garb looked positively frigid in the overcooled Atlanta exhibit hall.

Hungary was offering some kind of apricot cocktail. Is there a laetrile angle there?

Finally we should mention that Merck-Serono's booth lacks tchotchkes entirely--they're making a $5 donation to the National MS Society for each person who drops by their booth. Any other companies doing something similar?

We'll try to stop by the exhibit hall again today, so let us know what we missed. Also swing by the lovely Elsevier Business Intelligence booth (1737) where you can pick up some magazines and get a database lesson or two ... OK yes we're giving away puzzles.