What you're saying makes perfect sense - no complaint or disagreement from me - but I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around this because when all's said and done we're still talking about a vendor t-shirt, and how cool can that really be?

If it does motivate people and they like them, then fine: I guess it's just different strokes for different folks.

> different strokes for different folks.

It pretty much boils down to this. Not only are vendor t-shirts actually a physical item but they are also often uniquely designed; many vendors only provide certain designs for certain events. So they really become a badge of honor and can gain in emotional value: "been there, got the t-shirt..."

People actually pay extra money for t-shirts that have specific brand names on them and entire businesses are built around that. It shouldn’t be surprising to you that there are people that want particular shirts.

True, but Ralph Lauren's a lot more stylish than Digital Ocean (not that I wear a lot of either of them!).

For a nerd? Probably not.