Dollars and $ense

"For a small 300-person event name badges are not a huge cost. Perhaps $100 at most. But what if you could eliminate this cost and create a cool sponsorship idea? This is exactly what Canada Media Marketplace did.

Canadian destinations participating in the event are always looking for interesting and unique ways to enhance their profile with travel writers invited to attend this event in hopes it might generate positive press for them. In 2009, Ontario Tourism had a brilliant idea: sponsor handmade name badges by Toronto-based designer James Fowler. What better reminder of their destination than a beautiful piece of art hanging on the neck of every attendee?

To make the story even greener, badges were made from reclaimed container plastics and textile trimmings that would have otherwise been discarded. The name badges were a hit, and are still in use three years later, multiplying that $100 savings forward a year at a time!"

Excerpt from Saving Green by Going Green