At the Democratic and Republican conventions, journalists can learn about more than politics. Throughout the media areas, companies are luring reporters with free coffee, soft drinks, snacks, pins and other free goods.

It’s a golden opportunity for businesses to attract media attention. As another America.gov blogger pointed out last week, conventions draw thousands of journalists but offer very little actual news to cover.

While visiting the companies’ booths, reporters have access to piles of material about the businesses. Companies present include 3M, LexisNexis, Quest, Google and Diageo – a beverage company. As reporters taste Diageo’s products, they can read about the company’s history and its humanitarian work, such as providing food to orphans in Afghanistan and delivering medical supplies to those affected by the conflict in Sudan.

General Motors also is displaying its new products at the Republican Convention: a hybrid vehicle and a fuel-cell electric vehicle. Those eyeing the cars can ask employees about the company’s efforts to get alternative-energy vehicles on the road and can take home literature about the new cars. According to the packet of information Campaign Trail Talk received, General Motors’ environmental mission is to “take America from gas-friendly to gas-free.”