Affiliate Summit West 2009 is Fast Approaching!
Wednesday
Nov 26, 2008
Can you believe that there are only 45 days left until Affiliate Summit West 2009?! Depending on your outlook of time, this might seem like it’s a long time from now, but just like a project’s deadline, Affiliate Summit sneaks up on you!
At this point all of the meet market tables are sold out, as are most of the sponsorships. According to co-founder Shawn Collins, there are still about a dozen booths available for any interested merchants or vendors. Conference passes grant attendees access to the expo hall, all break-out sessions, and the courtesy meals and drinks the conference graciously provides. These passes usually sell out about a week or two before the conference, so if you’re even considering going I highly suggest you register for Affiliate Summit West 2009 now.
When looking for a place to stay, I really do recommend staying at the conference hotel in all cases, and especially in this case I can personally vouch for the comfort and convenience of the Rio. Being an “all-suites” hotel is awesome as the rooms are totally comfortable and large, and downstairs if gambling isn’t your thing there’s a bowling ally and plenty of shops. Their Carnival World buffet is also excellent.
Or, you can read the reviews I did on Yelp after my stay there last year:
Sao Paulo Cafe
Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino
Carnival World Buffet
McFadden’s
McCarran International Airport
Free Toolsday 11/25 – Time Sled
Tuesday
Nov 25, 2008
Most of the tools I review are online tools that require no download, or like Giftag.com last week, just a browser add-on. But today’s tool is a program available for free from Download.com that has been invaluable in tracking how much time I’m spending on tasks so we can report that to our clients at New Edge Media. The program I’m talking about is called Time Sled. From the developer, FineApp:
Time Sled is a time tracking utility that will allow you to account for the time spent on one or another task. You start it when you begin working and you stop it when you finish working. The tasks you are working on may be grouped into projects. Using such grouping, you may set an hourly rate (the cost of the work performed for the project per hour) for each project. Time Sled will be calculating the time spent on one or another task (project) as well as the total amount according to the indicated hourly rate
This is a trial version that you’re downloading for free, so it does have some limitations. This is a great tool for me to track how much time I spend, but since the free trial version only allows you to track 4 hours with of projects, I can’t log and archive my time spent within this program (for that, we use Basecamp). What I like about this program is that you can nest by Client (in my case). So what I do is I call the overall project the client’s name, then I add the individual tasks and track the time as I’m working.
The program doesn’t take a lot to run and does its job quietly in the background. The one issue you have to remember is to stop the task or pause when you get up to take an extended break from the computer! There are reporting features too, although since I use the free, limited version I honestly haven’t explored them much. The full version is available for purchase through the FineApp website for $34 and has no limitations in reporting or time, so if you’re looking for something a bit more robust after you’ve used the free version and want for more, that is a very affordable option.
This is overall a great tool for any freelancer or firm working with multiple clients. And I’ve found that additionally it assists me in staying focused since I’m subconciously aware that I’m tracking the time I’m spending. It’s a great way to help organize your day!
Who would you donate $5000 to?
Monday
Nov 24, 2008
I’ve been asking this question of myself for a long while tonight, after reading about the contest that John Chow is having, sponsored by tiny url service XR.com. In his contest, he’s giving the winner $6000 – $5000 will be donated to the charity of the winner’s choice and $1000 will be given to the winner directly to do with as they wish.
XR.com is a great service that allows you to shorten a URL and create a custom extension. For example, if I wanted to shorten the URL of this post I can enter it in at XR.com and create http://xr.com/donate5000. The beauty of signing up for a free account with XR is that you can keep track of all these redirected tiny URLS so you can use them repeatedly. That URL went from 62 characters to 17! It’s perfect when you’re not allowed a lot of characters to work with, like on Twitter.
The $1000 isn’t that easy either. My gut immediately says that I want to buy Guitar Hero World Tour & use the rest of the money for the Bahamian cruise I’m taking with friends in February. But then there are bills that could be paid off. Hand-me-down furniture that could be replaced. But since I’ve already committed to this trip, I believe I’ll use it for the cruise bills. That way I don’t have to put too much on my credit card.
Back to the donation to charity. A few worthy causes come to mind immediately – The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund, American Diabetes Association, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Make a Wish, the list goes on. These are charities that I believe in and believe that they could do a lot of good things with $5000. But, maybe I should stick with something closer to home? Make my community a better place, eh? So I did some Googlin’ for local charities, and I wasn’t overly impressed by anything. It also occurred to me that deciding to donate to charity based on a quick read of a mission statement isn’t very responsible.
So I’ve decided to donate the money as a way to give back to a non-profit organization that did so much for me in my youth – The San Francisco Bay Girl Scout Council. Specifically, I will donate the money to a fund that helped me continue my membership for 12 years, go to summer camp in the sierras of California, and attend many other trips and activities that provided vast opportunities for me to learn new things and grow into a confident young woman.
The Opportunity Fund provides financial assistance that helps girls go to camp, covers their Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. membership, and allows them to participate in Girl Scout activities regardless of their families’ financial resources.
I can’t think of a better way to give back to an organization that gave me so much. This donation will give young girls the opportunities to expand their horizons, built their internal strength, and learn how to be better citizens in this global community.
That’s what I’d do… so I’m hoping that I win so I can fulfill that desire to give back.
Who would you donate $5000 to?
