Interop Swag Wars

As at any trade show, there are new products, new services, metric tons of backgrounders, spec sheets, and brochures, buzzwords, and cadres of corporate clans marching along in matching polo shirts. But with all that eye candy to spin your head every stroll across the show floor, it's the take home swag that keeps on giving.If there's a must have tchachki at Interop this year, I haven't seen it -- but it's ain't over yet. Between the bowls of company-colored breath mints and chocolates, there are the expected desktop tools from pens to paperclips (tchachki courtesy of Lantronix).

Others are taking the no-stress approach, offering gel insoles, massages, and stress balls to keep the trade show tension at bay (tchachki courtesy of Sophos).

On the sartorial front, there's no shortage of ball caps and T-shirts (tchachki courtesy of Sitemasher).

Mazu Networks amped up the creativity with a media-specific tchachki: a Media MacGyver Survival Kit.

Lifting the lid on this mini-lunchbox reveals a press release with folding instructions to create a paper airplane, a toy hammer, matches, a pencil, and a bottle of Dewar's. All in the name of journalistic tongue-in-cheek and I'll admit it got me to look at their materials with a keener than usual level of attention. The scotch remains in the bottle.

Liquid libations aside, my fave tchachki so far comes courtesy of Intronis. A boomerang with the dead-on messaging for the online backup provider (and a sure fire winner when I bring it home to my young son).