I’ve seen lots of negative posts about social media conferences in regards to schwag. My take? I love schwag. Last year at BlogHer, I discovered the Bounce Dryer Bar, tested it out, and got rid of dryer sheets forever. At Blissdom, I enjoyed Kraft Bagel-fuls, which my kids now regularly enjoy for breakfast when I need to get them out the door in a hurry. And, at Mom 2.0, I learned that my love of pasta didn’t end with linguini and spaghetti-type noodles after enjoying a fabulous lunch and dinner by Barrilla. Mmmmm!

Do you notice a theme here? I find that the schwag that delights me the most is typically delicious.

Top 10 Most Delicious Schwag

The 10 items I’ve received from social media conferences that, to me, are most delicious, include:

1. Quaker’s True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps in Wild Blueberry Flavor. I got a couple of bags in my evo’10 Conference welcome bag and I’ve been buying and eating them ever since. The oatmeal bar they sponsored wasn’t too shabby either! Mmmmm!

2. Dove’s Fresh Revive Body Wash. I know! It’s body wash! You may be wondering how soap qualifies as delicious. Well, it does when it comes in four amazing scents. My favorite? Pomegranate with lemon verbena (with deodorant to match, I might add). Mmmmm! Thanks to Unilever for hosting one of the most amazing, and wonderfully scented, parties at BlogHer’10 and for sending me home with a bottle of body wash.

3. Barrilla’s pasta. I’m not gonna lie to you. I only learned how to like pasta a few years ago. And, I pretty much stick to the skinny stuff. You know, angel hair, spaghetti, linguini. But, not any more. The Barrilla-sponsored lunch and dinner at Mom 2.0 opened my eyes to how good pasta can be. Three cheese tortellini with two amazing sauces. I went back for 3rds. You heard me right! And I wasn’t alone. That stuff was addictive!

4. Kraft Bagel-fuls. I love having simple, but healthy meals that are perfect for busy families on the go. My kids are big fans of toast and jam in the morning. But sometimes, it’s much easier to throw a Bagel-ful in the microwave. It’s also a lot less messy, especially on the odd days when the kids end up eating in the car as we rush to school. I loved discovering them for breakfast at Blissdom 2010.

5. Bounce Dryer Bars. I know! Another stretch in the delicious category, but seriously… have you tried a Bounce Dryer Bar? I about hugged the guy that introduced me to this at last year’s BlogHer expo. I put it in my dryer right when I got home and we haven’t used dryer sheets since. I hated finding the sheets in my clothes, so this is a delicious solution and works awesome!

6. 1-800-FLOWERS gift card. Social Luxe Lounge is a favorite BlogHer party of mine. Is it because, Allison, Jane, and Marie are a terrific trio of hostesses? Absolutely! But, it is also because they offer awesome schwag. Who doesn’t want to send their friends flowers?

7. Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes. If you haven’t tried them, click here and order some. This gal knows a thing or two about cupcakes. The attendees of the evo’10 Conference enjoyed them twice: once at the PBS Kids Sweet Suite and again for dessert at the Bush’s Beans Closing Party at the Park City Mountain Resort. They are ridiculously scrumptious!

8. Febreze air fresheners. What’s more delicious than a scented room? Febreze treated me twice this summer—once at evo’10 Conference and again at BlogHer’10. My house smells glorious because of it!

9. Skull Candy head phones. I also got a double dose of head phones—first at evo’10 Conference and then again at the Social Luxe Lounge party. Talk about the sweetest kind of candy! I love their delicious designs.

10. Food! I know this, technically, isn’t schwag, but I adore brands that in addition to giving you great gear, also provide you with fabulous food. There’s nothing like connecting with friends over a little yumminess.

Who ranks up there on the most-awesome-party-food list? Hallmark with its to-die-for veggie tray; HP, which makes me say Mmmmm! just thinking about the dessert!; Lowe’s: Cheese with honey anyone? I could have died and gone to heaven right then and there; Soy Joy and the brunch buffets of all brunch buffets; Unilever… and their amazing water, scented to match the scents of the body wash. Have you tried water with grapefruit? Delicious defined!; and last but not least, Nate Berkus… he alone is delicious, but I ate more than my fair share of finger food at his cocktail party. Mmmm! And this was just food from the offsite parties at BlogHer”10.

This list doesn’t begin to touch on the delicious toys, games, other personal care products and food, etc. that I’ve been able to test and enjoy as a result of the many brands’ generosity that make all of these events possible.

Are you heading to a social media conference this fall? Been to one recently? What schwag is most delicious to you?

And while we’re on the topic of the power of food, let’s talk about what transpired from this gal and this gal connecting last year over a juicy Jell-O chat and this gal jumping on the Jell-O bandwagon during a #gno Twitter party, changing this gal’s and this gal’s palette, perhaps, forevs because of it.

Ready for the Mom 2.0 Beet Jell-O Challenge? Are you mom enough to take it? Let’s see!

Like I said, Rachael and Holly connected at a #gno Twitter party. The topic may have been on parenting or shoes or green living, but Jell-O became all the rage when the two discovered they had a common bond. Rachael tried to tout her Thanksgiving Jell-O as the worst concoction evs and Holly adamantly declared her grandma’s beet Jell-O as victor of worst Jell-O recipe known to man. Even though I had seen a pic of Rachael’s Thanksigiving Jell-O, I was “Ewwwing!” over the thought of beets and Jell-O combined (not to be confused with the sound a sheep makes, but rather a child’s squeal of disgust).

Then, life went on. Jell-O conversations went back to wiggly, jiggly happiness and talk surfaced about the Mom 2.0 Summit and what to wear to the Mad Men party. As it turns out, #gno Twitter parties and Jell-O have a positive way of bringing people together, because after connecting online, Rachael, Holly (descendant extraordinaire of the Beet Jell-O recipe creator, featured on far left), and I decided to be roommates.

Then we heard the news! So you get the same sensation we got, you must pause, click here, and read Holly’s post to get the full effect.

Have you clicked yet? Here! Click here! I’ll wait!

Yes! She was bringing Jell-O and we were invited to take the Beet Jell-O Challenge! You saw that the recipe had three kinds of Jell-O—all fruit flavors, my favorite. But, did you also see that it had pickle juice, pimentos, and celery? Oh! And lest I forget to mention the mayonnaise. Yes! You heard me right. MAYONNAISE (pimento flavored mayonnaise at that).

We put it off as long as we could. We tried to recruit challengers. We tried to rally supporters. But, when Rachael and I returned to the room late one night, there it was. Open, ready, and waiting for us with five onlookers seeing if we were mom enough to groove to the beet.

If I could send a smell out through this post, I wouldn’t even do that to you. Horrific! Pungent! Wretched. And the taste? EXACTLY THE SAME! The picture here is pre challenge. What would follow, if anyone had captured it, would be Rachael wiping off her tongue with a towel and me heaving over the toilet. We may have lost our lunch so to speak, but we mommed up and took the challenge. Would you?

And this isn’t over? We’re bringing Jell-O back in a big way at Evo Conference this summer where we hope to continue the Jell-O challenge for both best and worst Jell-O recipe evs. Jell-O shots? The rainbow mold? Beet Jell-O? Can you beat them? Get ready, get set, CREATE!

Full Disclosure: Neither Kraft nor its Jell-O brand compensated me in any way, shape, or form to write this post! In fact, they don’t even know about it! I just heart the brand, its product, and its memory-making experiences that much!

Disclosure Part II: Kraft Jell-O is not an official sponsor of Evo Conference.

Top photo courtesy of Flickr. Other photos courtesy of Holly.

Prize

Two winners will receive a Kraft BAGEL-FULS prize pack, including the following items. (Each prize has an approximate retail value of $200.)

• BAGEL-FULS Branded Toaster
• Tassimo Coffee Maker and Coffee
• Reusable Travel Coffee Mug
• Projector Alarm Clock
• Five BAGEL-FULS Vouchers

Entry Requirements

To enter for a chance to win the Kraft prize pack giveaway, you must Click here to visit the Bagel-fuls website, review the Bagel-ful flavors, and leave a comment here listing the kind you’d most like to try. If you have already tried Bagel-fuls, simply list your favorite flavor!

Terms and Conditions

No purchase necessary to enter. No more than one entry per person via each of the methods listed in the Giveaway details.  The odds of winning a Giveaway depend on the number of entries.  Winners will be selected randomly by Mom It Forward. All decisions of Mom It Forward are final.  Employees of Mom It Forward and the Giveaway sponsor are not eligible to participate. All entries received after the Giveaway closing date and time will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If the winner does not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants who are residents of the US 18 years and older. Void where prohibited. Taxes on Giveaways are solely the responsibility of the winner.  Winner agrees to permit Mom It Forward and the Giveaway Sponsor to use her or his name, voice, photo, or likeness for reasonable promotional and marketing purposes for up to 90 days after the end of the Giveaway.  Mom It Forward and Sponsor are not liable for late or misdirected entries, entry errors, or transmission problems. Mom It Forward reserves the right to terminate the Giveaway in the event of technical problems, or to correct typographical or technical errors, or to amend these rules.  All participants should review the Mom It Forward disclosure and privacy policies.  By entering, participants agree to release and hold harmless Mom It Forward, Sponsor, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents from any and all liability or any injuries, loss, or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with a Giveaway.  Mom It Forward will provide the name of the winner for any Giveaway, upon request, for 90 days after that Giveaway’s entry period ends.  Unless otherwise provided by the Sponsor, no substitution, transfer, or assignment of prizes is permitted.  Non-winning entries from one Giveaway are not carried forward to future Giveaways.

Are you the type that makes breakfast from scratch every day or relies on a quick and easy fix as you’re rushing to your home office, to tend to your kids’ needs, or as you head out the door? Have any special breakfast plans for Valentine’s Day? Is this making you hungry for some yummy conversation?

Then click here to join the #gno gang and Kraft this Tuesday, February 9 from 9-11 ET (8 CT, 7 MT, and 6 PT) as we share tips on the most important meal of the day—breakfast!

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• What: Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)
• When: Tuesday, February 9, 9-11 p.m. EST (8CT, 7 MT, & 6 PT)
• Where: Party with us here on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! (Use hashtags #gno and #bagelfuls.)
• Topic: Breaking Up Your Breakfast Routine With Kraft Bagel-fuls
• Who: @ashleyspohn @cookingwcaitlin @dineanddish @goodlifeeats @fujimama @makeandtakes @mommyskitchen @southernplate @sthrnfairytale @tokissthecook
• Party Favors: Click here to enter for a chance to win this week’s giveaway. Deadline: 2/10
• RSVP: Use Mr. Linky below (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF). If you would like to include your blog, please enter it next to your name. Make sure to include your twitter URL in the URL line. Please do not enter your blog URL there.

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Note: Mom It Forward accepts paid sponsorships for most #gno Twitter parties. During the parties, brand sponsors provide tips, techniques, expert advice, and information on party topics. Mom It Forward is grateful for the giveaway prizes, coupons, and discounts that sponsors also provide to the Mom It Forward community in conjunction with #gno Twitter parties.