Cardboard 'free beer' sign

What's the play

Skip the polished sign. Grab a piece of cardboard and a sharpie, write 'free beer' on it, and hold it up in the middle of Dreamforce. The handmade sign cuts right through a sea of corporate signage...and people like beer

What was the alternative?

A polished booth with printed banners, suits, and ties like everyone else.

Results / what moved

UserGems drove 578 attendees and hundreds of thousands in pipeline off a single piece of cardboard while every other booth ran polished corporate signage.

Cost breakdown

A piece of cardboard, a sharpie, and the beer

Time to pull off

Minutes to make the sign, one day at the event

Steps

1. 1

   Ditch the polish

   Leave the printed banners at home. The goal is to look nothing like the corporate signage around you.

2. 2

   Make the sign by hand

   Grab cardboard and a sharpie and write 'free beer' in plain letters. The rougher it looks, the better it reads.

3. 3

   Stand where the crowd is

   Hold it up in the busiest part of the event so foot traffic finds you.

4. 4

   Deliver on the promise

   Have the beer ready so the sign turns into conversations and captured contacts.

Notes

Everyone else brings printed banners and matching polos, so the handmade sign is exactly what stands out. Keep it low effort on purpose, the rougher it looks the more real it reads. Have the beer actually ready so the sign pays off in real conversations.