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Grabbing Free Stuff At The AMD Microsoft Tech Tour

written by John Chow on May 17th, 2007

Yesterday was the Vancouver leg of the AMD Microsoft Tech Tour. I missed the tour last year because I was in Taipei during the time they swung through Vancouver.

For whatever reason, the tour was smaller than two years ago – the event no longer takes up the entire ballroom. The presentation format has changed as well. Instead of the interview/talk show style, the tour now features more boring one-sided presentations. There was a break during the “Are you smarter than a fifth grader” session but overall, the event was damn boring and lasted way too long.

Joining Sarah and I at the tour was Stephen Fung, Paul Mudhar and Michael Kwan. We try to make the best of a boring situation but pulling some stunts. We ate dinner on the stage because there was a table there. We had almost finished when an AMD guy took us to get off. I also took over the Visiontek booth because no one was there. I opened up their box and gave away all their T-shirts. Here are some photos.

The Show Floor

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The show floor had about dozen companies showing off their stuff. Every vendor had people manning their booth except for VisionTek. I guess they missed their flight.

Taking Over The VisionTek Booth

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Since VisionTek was a no-show, I decided to take over their booth. See that box behind me? It contained 100 T-shirts and a bunch of VisionTek LED lights. I guess I could have taken the entire box for myself but I ended up giving most of the T-shirts away.

Andy The Host

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The host of the AMD Tech Tour is Andy. He has hosted this event for as long as I can remember. However, this is the first time I’ve seen him use a T-shirt gun.

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

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This was the only entertaining part of the tour. I can understand why attendance has gone down in recent years. They need to bring back the old interview format.

The Free Stuff

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It wouldn’t be an AMD event if they didn’t give away any free stuff. There was a bunch of stuff given away in a lucky draw. Stephen won a MSI motherboard. I didn’t win anything but I made off with my share of free stuff, including thirteen T-shirts. I guess if I kept the VisionTek shirts, I would have over 100.

Of course, I’m going to give away most of this stuff because I don’t really have any use for it. I think I’ll start by giving away a couple of VisionTek T-shirts. Just reply to this post and you’re entered. I’ll draw two names on Friday and those two will have a nice T to wear this summer.

Good luck.

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  1. I wouldn’t mind a free t-shirt.

  2. Hello again :p I hope win xD

  3. Looks like a decent enough time, LOL @ taking over the booth. Gotta admire your balls, John :D

  4. Nice job with the booth ;)

    Jason

  5. John Chow always getting into trouble. You really are evil. :evil: Count me in!

  6. That was pretty evil John! :twisted: I like it!

    I’ll throw you a few make money online keywords to help your internet business if you send me a T-shirt so I don’t have to get a payday loan to buy new clothes from an online store.

    What do you say…

    Later,
    Tyler

  7. Can’t beat free, count me in!

  8. Woo hoo! Free merchandise! Count me in!

  9. should’ve turned it into a johnchow.com booth. :) count me in also!

  10. How about giving me a little credit for the photo of you at the VisionTek booth? :p

  11. I wonder what the most expensive item you’ve won is? I’ll take a t. Its summer time.

  12. Here is my entry, Thanks.

  13. I will take free T-shirt

  14. Count me in! I hope you have some XL in there

  15. wow, that’s some long post!

  16. Sign me up for the free tee John!

  17. free t-shirt would be nice

    actually, would take anything free

  18. What the hell is Andy holding in his hand? It look like something that i saw once during my tour of Amsterdam.

    Hell, I won’t say no to a free t-shirt :)

    • It’s a Tshirt gun — you stuff a shirt in there, pull the trigger, and away it goes, out into one lucky audience member’s arms. It does look like a weird contraption though (probably Dutch-made, too), I agree LOL.

  19. Free T’s rock! Love how you took over the booth. I wonder if they read Johnchow Dot Com. :lol:

  20. Hey hey I’m surprised you didnt take this as a reason to make another link-bait campaign :mrgreen:

    I’m im for the competition aswell, John!

    Thx :) .

  21. Free shirt? Why not :cool:

  22. VisionTek should be paying you. How long did you occupy the booth? That’s hilarious.

  23. Haha, love the VisionTek stunt. Was the MSI Mitherboard any good? :)

  24. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen a t-shirt gun. That thing seems pretty cool. :smile:

  25. Man,why are there no shos like these here where I live… :smile:

    P.S.
    I wouldn`t mind the T-Shirt too :mrgreen:

  26. Have yet to finish up all the laundry and winning free stuff from John Chow is always worth going for.

    :razz:

  27. Sounds fun, I’m in :)

    Good luck to everyone!

  28. Kyle

    Nice of you to pass on the free stuff.

  29. Aah, what the hell, I want a t-shirt. :razz:

  30. It’s great how you just give away stuff :smile: . Thanks.

  31. G Smith

    What size are those T-shirts by the way?

  32. Moulinneuf

    John you did not like there exclusive bundle for 249 US?

    - Energy efficient AMD Athlon 64 dual-core processor 4400+, Rev G, 65nm
    - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate OS – NFR (32 bit DVD)
    - ASUS M2A-VM with AMD 690G Chipset
    - McaFee VirusScan Plus – (year service) – NFR
    AMD LIVE CD

    :mrgreen:

  33. I need to start going to some of these conventions.

    • I just went to one this week but it didn’t have anywhere near as swanky swag. One company did have tons of candy as swag and that was a very smart idea :)

  34. Please give me a t-shirt. I’m naked. :(

  35. We can always count on you John :grin: for coming big everytime :smile: I guess you’re not that evil after all…. count me in

  36. free is my price- send me one in florida!!!

    your chutzpah in taking over that booth is a hoot!!! :twisted:

  37. John hello from Ontario, Canada

    Great post, how can I get a JohnChow.com T shirt…

  38. mao

    It will cost you a lot to send it to me….do you have some fine print with “US resident only?”

    • You mean “Canadian residents only” :) John usually is pretty generous and willing to ship anywhere. At least he did with his pens.

  39. What if I don’t want the shirt but just want to reply?

  40. Count me in for the T!

  41. I’m in for a shirt, John. Thanks!

  42. So no one asked you what you were doing at the Vision Tek booth? That is hilarious that you were able to just go over there and start giving out their stuff.

    • Didn’t you know? That WAS the plan of VisionTek…they spot John Chow in the crowd, lure him to the empty booth, and let him give the company swag away — BRILLIANT advertising. And they didn’t even have to pay John for his talent fee! :twisted:

  43. I have been reading stuff on this site for two weeks now, but it took your ‘evil’ contest for me to post. :wink:
    -Chris

  44. I want one of them. Here in Brazil is a little bit difficult to get one of these :razz:

  45. I could use a new gym shirt. :grin:

  46. I was there. I was the guy in the Digg hoodie, I saw you, 2nd row I think? Anyways, I tried to “accidently” run into you and introduce myself, but you’re just way too fast.

  47. I never win nuttin!!!! :sad:

  48. I might as well enter! Beginners luck hopefully :razz:

  49. Wooo… I need those lovely T-shirts. :lol:

  50. Enter me. Me want T-shirt!

  51. Count me in for a free tshirt. Way to take over the booth John, lol!

  52. Well, I have an AMD Athlon 64 processor, so its apt if I wear an AMD shirt.

  53. I’m game for AMD t-shirts ;)

    Oh John I forgot about that flip-it t-shirt that I was drawn for earlier.. you can re-contest that if you want unless you still want to mail it to me ;)

  54. Cool~ I’m in too. Hopefully I will get one and I don’t need to buy any T-shirt this summer:)

  55. I would like to have a Free T-Shirt too.

  56. Count me in for the contest, John! Thanks!

    I wonder if VisionTek actually intended to give away the whole box? :P

  57. J

    I’ll win a free t-shirt, and meet John Chow one day!!!

  58. Count me in if You can send it to Poland.

  59. I’d like a Tshirt…and a video card…and a car. Fine, a shirt would do for now LOL.

  60. I love free swag, and your “stage” shenanigans sounded hilarious! Reminded me of the times I’ve walked into catered events, at previous employers, and started chatting to guests whilst savouring the catering delights!

  61. Hey, throw one over here!!

  62. VisionTek needs to pay you a booth babe fee.

  63. I would not mind a free t-shirt

  64. I just went to something like this where I got tons of free stuff as well :)

  65. If its free, give me three. Hey, I’m Chinese.

    I’ll settle for one.

  66. Ali

    count me in for the shirts

  67. I was laughing my ass off when I read(on two other blogs that you might know) that you took over the VisionTech boot.
    It’s like if you go to McDonalds(which I don’t as their food is unhealthy and sucks in several other ways)… and no one’s there. Then you say… oh well… I might as well make some hamburgers.
    “Who wants a friggin mc chickin??!”

  68. scott

    Hi john this is the guy who threw you off the stage at the vancouver show.let me know what you think would make a better tech tour always looking for better ways too educate and entertain.see ya scott

  69. Charlotte Web Design

    Where do I get one of those tshirt guns? :)

  70. nice grab…too late to get any free t-shirt…

    u shipping the free tshirt to any part of the world?

Trackbacks

  1. The 2007 AMD Tech Tour Train Stops in Vancouver | Stephen Fung DOT NET - May 17, 2007 at 7:13 pm
  2. BlueFur.com » In the Sphere: The AMD Microsoft Tech Tour 2007 - May 18, 2007 at 12:00 pm
  3. The VisionTek T-Shirt Winners « John Chow dot Com - May 18, 2007 at 11:44 pm
  4. Wilfred Chua dot com » Blog Archive - May 19, 2007 at 6:36 pm