What's Inside the Giant Aspen Ideas Swag Bag?

ASPEN, Colo. -- Even big thinkers like swag.

At this week's Aspen Ideas Festival, the annual gathering of Washington policy wonks, CEOs and other brainiacs in the Colorado Rockies, swag bags are everywhere.

What's inside? In my continuing attempt to chronicle the world of conference goodie bags, I borrowed a bag for an hour, rummaged through it and documented the spoils.

Much of the buzz this year is about the bag itself. Designer Tory Burch created a canvas tote for the festival, embellished with the logo of her foundation. Burch is well known in Aspen, having spoken at last year's event on empowering women in business.

Other gifts ranged from the functional (SPF 15 lip balm) to the bizarre (a connector to hook up to an oxygen bar). A look at what's inside:

Steve Case's Message in Chocolate

Entrepreneurs Steve and Jean Case emphasized Thursday that Americans need to take more risks -- in both business and philanthropy. Hence, their gift of a "Fearless" chocolate bar to attendees. This one, produced by a Berkeley-based chocolatier, combines organic dark chocolate with ginger and hibiscus flowers to create what the company describes as "playful proclamations upon your palate."

A Way to Measure All That Walking

The festival is held on a 40-acre campus, which means attendees are doing plenty of walking between sessions. (That's a good thing; the location is stunning.) This pedometer tracks participants' mileage as they hoof it from lecture to lecture.

Magazines! In Print!

Gather a bunch of journalists together and the conversation inevitably veers towards the future of media. Does substantive journalism have a future? Do Americans want to watch unbiased, long-form reporting on TV? (MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell says "no," Al Jazeera America's Ehab Al Shihabi says "yes.") The Atlantic is a partner in the event, and the magazine's journalists are moderating many of the panels. Attendees get a print copy of the July issue.

Out of Breath? Hit the Oxygen Bar

The air is thinner in Aspen, given that the city is about 8,000 feet above sea level. Anyone who is huffing or puffing can bring this cannula to an oxygen bar on campus, created by the American Legacy Foundation, an organization that sponsors smoking cessation programs.

Get a Taste of Crowdfunding

Multiple panels focus on finding new ways to support the arts. Charles Best, the CEO of DonorsChoose.org, an organization that helps donors fund teachers' projects in schools, wrote about the benefits of crowdfunding on LinkedIn. His organization also gave every attendee a $50 gift card to apply to a classroom art project of their choice.

Accessories to Stay Cool

It's hot in Aspen, with temperatures expected to climb to 86 degrees Saturday. That's why the conference bag is stuffed with the usual assortment of water bottles, hats (including a florescent orange one from Thomson Reuters), an umbrella and that aforementioned sunscreen lip balm.

Readers: What's the best piece of swag you've picked up at a conference? Explain in the comments. Then, read more coverage of the Aspen Ideas Festival from Influencers:

• Maria Bartiromo: Software Is Ripping Through Business
• Don Peppers: Coming Soon -- A Car That Lives in the 'Cloud'
• Mark Mobius: What the Stock Market Is Telling Us About the Economy
• Chip Cutter: A Harvard Economist's Surprisingly Simple Productivity Secret
• Heather Hiles: Will a Common Curriculum Change Our Schools?
• Charles Best: How Crowdfunding Could Save the Arts
• Chester Elton: The Stealth Ways to Network at Conferences