My biggest weakness as a healthcare marketer: Event planning. A keg of Busch Light and some Doritos is a party where I come from. Anything beyond that is why the world has professional event planners.

At each big event, you've got to hand out some hospital branded items. You know what I'm talking about:

Tchotchkes. Premium/promotional items. Swag. Craptacular.

Right now, I'm planning a new hospital opening in December. It's a monumental event for the community, but also for the Chicagoland region. New hospitals don't pop up everyday around here. There are three major events, all of which demand different varieties of tchotchkes. With the help of professional event planners, creative co-workers and the Internet, this is what we're handing out:

• A Tree In a Box for our Gala Event. This celebrates the “green” aspects of our new hospital (including the 13-acre geothermal lake that will heat/cool it; check that out here), and can be planted—biodegradable pot and all—in the spring.
• Coffee Tumblers. We're stuffing those with chocolates and goodies for our Employee & Volunteer Event.
• Ice-scrapers made from recycled plastic for our Community Event. Hey, it's December in Chicago. It's not like we're going to order sunscreen.

Have you ordered any branded swag that made your organization swoon? Please share.