How Greater Purpose Turned an Event Giveaway into a Networking Experience
- Client:
- Greater Purpose
- Use case:
- Event networking giveaway
- Services:
- Custom event giveaway
Greater Purpose runs networking events for people who want their work to mean something. At one event, instead of handing out swag that ends up in a bag, they gave every attendee a single plantable seed paper puzzle piece and one instruction: find the three people holding the rest of your puzzle. The room was up and talking in seconds. And because the pieces are seed paper, attendees took them home, planted them, and grew wildflowers, so the giveaway kept going long after the event ended.
What problem was Greater Purpose trying to solve at its networking event?
Networking is the whole reason people come to a Greater Purpose event, and it's also the part most of them dread. Walking up to a stranger and starting a conversation is hard, even in a room full of people who'd genuinely get along. A name tag doesn't fix that, and neither does the usual event giveaway, which attendees pocket and forget. Greater Purpose wanted the opposite: something that got people out of their seats and talking to each other, not collecting swag. So the question wasn't what to hand out. It was how to get a room of strangers connecting on their own.
What makes an event giveaway actually work?
An event giveaway works when it does something while people are still in the room, not just after they get home. Most giveaways start with the wrong question: what should we hand out? The better question is what you want people to do. At a networking event, the answer is obvious once you say it out loud: you want them talking to each other. So the giveaway's job isn't to sit in a bag. It's to give two strangers a reason to start a conversation. When the product has that job, everything changes. It stops being a thing people take and becomes a thing people use, right there, on purpose. That's the difference between a giveaway that gets remembered and one that gets recycled on the way out.
“Swag can actually help advance some of your strategic objectives if you are creative and thoughtful. Most typically don't think of swag in those terms.”
Brad O., Founder and CEO, Greater Purpose
How did the seed paper puzzle get people talking?
The idea was simple, which is why it worked. At a Greater Purpose networking event in Toronto, every attendee was handed one piece of a four-piece puzzle as they arrived. To complete it, they had to find the three other people holding the matching pieces. As soon as Brad O. explained the activity, the room was up and moving, and people who'd never met were comparing pieces and introducing themselves. Finding your match got people together; a question from the front of the room gave them something to talk about once they did, so the conversation never stalled at hello. The puzzle gave everyone the one thing that makes networking easy: a reason to walk over and start talking. And it wasn't a throwaway prop. Each piece was a seed paper puzzle, printed with Greater Purpose's design and made to be planted after the event. The activity did its work in the room, and the product carried the message out the door.
“It turned a small moment into a real conversation. That's where the value lives.”
Andrew C., attendee
What happened in the room?
The room changed the moment the puzzle started. At most networking events, people stick with who they already know, the colleague they came with, the two or three familiar faces, and the awkward first half hour goes by without many new introductions. The puzzle broke that up. To finish it, attendees had to cross the floor and talk to people they'd never met, and that's exactly what happened: the room started mingling instead of clustering, and conversations that might never have taken place were happening everywhere at once. The effect didn't end when the event did. Because the pieces are seed paper, attendees took them home and planted them, and the puzzle that started a conversation grew into wildflowers weeks later. Two moments of impact from one small object: one in the room, one in someone's garden.
“The puzzle created easy, authentic connections in the room. Planting it afterward with my daughter gave the experience a second life that truly reflected the event's purpose.”
Louise K., attendee
“I met people I never would have at the Greater Purpose event with the Ethical Swag sustainable networking tool, the Custom Seed Paper Puzzle!”
Catherine L., attendee
What can other event planners take from this?
If you're planning a conference, a networking night, or any event where the point is getting people to connect, the Greater Purpose puzzle holds three lessons worth stealing.
- 1Step 1
Start with what you want people to do
Before you pick a product, decide what you want to happen in the room. Greater Purpose didn't want people holding swag; they wanted them talking to each other. Once that was the goal, the giveaway almost designed itself. Work backward from the moment you're trying to create, and the right object gets obvious.
- 2Step 2
Make the giveaway part of the event, not a handout
The puzzle worked because attendees had to use it, right there, with other people. A giveaway that just sits in a bag can't do that. Give yours a job in the room, an activity, a reason to move, a prompt to talk, and it stops being swag people take home and becomes part of how the event actually feels.
- 3Step 3
Pick something with a second life
The puzzle didn't end when the event did. Made from seed paper, each piece went home and grew into wildflowers, so the giveaway kept reminding people of the event long after. When you can, choose something people will keep or use again. It's less waste, and it's a longer memory.
Questions about networking event giveaways
What is a networking giveaway?
A networking giveaway is a giveaway designed to get people talking to each other, not just to carry a logo home. Instead of sitting in a bag, it gives attendees a reason and an easy way to start a conversation with someone they haven't met. Greater Purpose used a four-piece seed paper puzzle: each attendee got one piece and had to find the three people holding the rest, which turned finding a match into meeting someone new.
How do you get people to mingle at a networking event?
Give them a reason to move and a natural opener. Left to themselves, people tend to stay with whoever they arrived with, so the trick is building a reason to cross the room into the event itself. An activity that only works when you talk to a stranger does that better than any encouragement from the front of the room. The Greater Purpose puzzle couldn't be finished alone, so mingling wasn't something attendees were asked to do, it was just how the puzzle got solved.
Can a promotional product be sustainable and still useful at an event?
Yes, and the best ones do both jobs at once. A giveaway can play an active role during the event and still have a low-waste life afterward. Greater Purpose's puzzle pieces were made from plantable seed paper, so once the event was over, attendees could plant them and grow wildflowers. The giveaway worked in the room and left nothing behind in a landfill.