I too find the trinkets pretty pointless, but I think their presence in our current economy probably goes towards subsidizing the ticket price. The sponsor pays the venue, say, $25 per attendee to give away the swag that costed somebody $2.50, in theory the net benefit is passed off to the attendee in some way if they don't mind being sold to.
In a few cases, like my treasured, octocat figurine I posted in this thread, it seems like a win-win-win where the trinket isn't pointless. But yeah, this kind of appreciated value is usually lost and the whole effort is wasteful capitalism.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
I too find the trinkets pretty pointless, but I think their presence in our current economy probably goes towards subsidizing the ticket price. The sponsor pays the venue, say, $25 per attendee to give away the swag that costed somebody $2.50, in theory the net benefit is passed off to the attendee in some way if they don't mind being sold to.
In a few cases, like my treasured, octocat figurine I posted in this thread, it seems like a win-win-win where the trinket isn't pointless. But yeah, this kind of appreciated value is usually lost and the whole effort is wasteful capitalism.