I will be at the New Orleans SHRM conference in July but I won’t have a booth. I typically just walk the exhibition hall and introduce myself to prospective HRIS vendors and our existing HRIS vendors. I have been trying to find some type of promotional product that would help me stand out in the crowd as I walk the SHRM exhibition hall floor. You know something a little more attention grabbing than a shirt with a logo on it. I started searching online for some type of lighted shirt that I could put the name CompareHRIS.com on. Yes, I know it sounds a little tacky but if you knew me you would understand.
In my search I found a technology by Phillips called Lumalive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd99gyE4jCk
This is exactly what I was looking for. This is a shirt that would certainly gather attention and get the name CompareHRIS.com in front of all the HR pros at SHRM. I’m the President of a technology company so I should where a technology shirt, right?
For the past week, I’ve been trying to find out the price for these shirts. I finally succeeded today and let me say OUCH! I spoke with a sales rep for one of the companies last week who told me the shirt rented for $400 a week. I would have paid it. Then the manager called me back later that day to tell me the rental fee was $350 per day per shirt. Okay, that’s a little expensive but might still be worth it. I was that impressed by the shirt.
Then I got the details today. They only rent the shirts out with a minimal of five rentals. They strongly recommend or require that you hire models to wear the shirts. I’m just apparently not good looking enough to wear the shirts. You have to pay for someone to program the message and pay a consultant’s time and travel costs to accompany you at all times that you or the models are wearing the shirts. There’s even training involved for those wearing the shirts. I can’t begin to imagine what that would cover or what the cost is. The consultant is probably there to pull out a sidearm if anyone gets anywhere close to the shirts with a chili dog. “Put the dog down and step away from the shirt sir.” This is not the message I was counting on.
I could, however, buy a single cool technology shirt for $5,000 if I elected to do so. I’m sure there are extensive training and support costs added on as well. You know lessons on how to put on a shirt or change batteries and that type of stuff. Sorry, but not going to happen. I was hoping to make a splash at the show but now I’ll just be the guy walking around with a logo on his shirt. Good luck finding me and so much for the high tech shirt. I’m so bummed. See if you can find the CompareHRIS.com logo at the show.
