Network Computing Magazine hosts an annual “Best of Interop” awards program at the Interop Las Vegas show in the spring for the best new products offered by exhibitors at the show. This really helps the casual networking specialist sort through the hundred of exhibitors and products offered.

Vibrant noticed an important category missing in the awards though and took it upon ourselves to dig up the best “Schwag” or “Tchotchkes” that we could find on the Interop expo floor. I’m really not sure how this was previously overlooked!

Please take a look at the three finalists below and vote for your favorite.

(apologies for the audio in these clips… the show floor was pretty loud and our external mic didn’t work out)

Extreme Networks Purple Mug

These mugs were everywhere during the Interop Pub Crawl, filled with cold beverages and vividly purple. Extreme Networks had an incredible presence at the show and these mugs that changed color when cold were one of several brilliant concepts in their arsenal. Extreme also had a preacher and gospel singers at their booth as well as a “purple people” lounge. In the video below, Dan Sibille, Sr. Director of Channel Sales & Operations speaks with me about why their mug should win the award.

Raptor Networks Bottle Opener

Bottle openers that look like a menacing raptor, nice. Raptor Networks had a fun booth too with a giant raptor sculpture out front. I spoke with CFO Bob Van Leyen about their prospects of winning (and their mascot “Rappy”).

Solarwinds Rubik’s Cube

This certainly isn’t the first time that an exhibitor has given away a Rubik’s cube and as a matter of fact, another vendor was handing them out at Interop. What made the Solarwinds offering impressive was that they also had a guy at their booth who could solve the cube in 20-30 seconds. Check it out.

Tchotchke Challenge

While not an entrant in the contest, no article about tchotchkes at Interop could be complete without mentioning this terrific idea. The Tchotchke Challenge was a charitable endeavor by Secure Computing where if they were able to fill a chest with Interop giveaways that they would give out $10,000 to the Children’s Heart Foundation.  They will also repurpose the schwag items as charitable give-aways.