Get your clown nose here

Welcome to the annual legislative swap meet, where hundreds of vendors are offering everything from plastic roaches to metal tractors in an attempt to lure state lawmakers to their booths.

Strolling through the aisles of the National Conference of State Legislatures exhibitors' hall, hundreds of items that run the gamut from resourceful and handy to useless and pointless are available to convention attendees. All of them are courtesy of the various government contractors, issue groups and professional organizations hoping to spread their message or hawk their wares.

The typical trinkets such as pens, pencils, buttons, candy — there was all that and bags of chips — were given by approximately half of the vendors, primarily as a way to keep their organization on people's minds without spending much money. For Jim Anderson, vice president of business development for BI Inc., the free ballpoint pen was simply a thank you to those states already contracting with the company, which specializes in electronic monitoring devices for parolees and a way to keep their company name fresh in lawmaker's minds.

"We work with the legislatures and corrections departments in most states, and all of our contracts are government contracts," he said. "We're here to support the organization (NCSL) and let others know there are less expensive alternatives to incarceration."

For the more politically active organizations jockeying for a few minutes with legislators, the gifts became more creative and, therefore, more highly prized. Representatives of America's credit unions couldn't keep their black computer bags stocked, while endangered species bookmarks featuring bald eagles from the U.S. Army Environmental Center and smoked salmon from Seattle were also practically impossible to find Wednesday afternoon.

Some groups aimed for the practical, such as a big, green plastic cup from Interior Design Associations, the spongy toy cars from the Maryland-based Car Care Council that were meant to help relieve stress, or the red, white and blue mug from electonline.org.

For the travelers at the conference, there was also a road atlas from the American Automobile Association and, for the truly adventurous, a CD-ROM guide to nude recreation around the country.

Erich Schuttauf, executive director of the American Association for Nude Recreation, said that along with the guide, people also flocked to their booth for their pin, which they have changed every year during their decade of attending NCSL. Primarily, he wants to educate lawmakers about nude recreation and is not pushing for changes to the law.