Day 3 of Affiliate Summit West 2010
Tuesday January 19th
The final day of Affiliate Summit started bright and early with the Pinnacle Awards scheduled before the last day’s keynote by Brian Clark. This was a change for the conference agenda, which usually puts the Pinnacle Awards in the afternoon after other sessions. I like the change because it gets the awards out of the way, and didn’t interfere with any other sessions or independent parties planned in the evening. I seem to remember last year that some of the award winners had to jet quickly after the awards to get to a charity poker tournament, among other places.
The winners have been blogged all over, but here’s a quick recap just in case this is the only blog you read (unlikely): Affiliate of the Year – Nicholas Koscianski. Affiliate Manager of the Year – Matt McWilliams. Exceptional Merchant – eBay Partner Network. Affiliate Marketing Advocate – Angel Djambazov. Best Bloggger – Jeremy Schoemaker. Affiliate Marketing Legend – Scott Jangro.
Next up was Brian Clark’s keynote. He admitted at the beginning that it was his first keynote, so I guess he did pretty well all things considered. Of course, I have a whole post devoted to the keynote that I’ll go into later.
Once again, I intended to go into more sessions on Tuesday, but got sidetracked with all the networking possibilities. As well, I was given a demo of a new affiliate network of sorts, Impact Radius. It gives merchants and affiliates a way to also reach out and work with more traditional media partners. I had an opportunity to interview one of the founders, Lisa Riolo, about the launch of the new network, which will also be another blog post coming up soon.
I made it a point to get to Jim Kukral’s session How To Get Motivated For Success!, which I’ll of course be posting a recap for. It was a great kick in the pants to get going with projects that have been stalled for awhile. I know Eric Nagel wrote an entire post about Jim’s kick in the ass.
While in Jim’s session, I heard via Twitter that Daniel M. Clark of Geek Dads Weekly was invited to speak on the GeekCast.fm Live panel. I was bummed since I wanted to participate with that panel/group like I did at Affiliate Summit East 2009, but happy for Daniel. I went into the session for a moment, but left in favor of running back up to my room for a few things. As I understand, the session was some industry talk followed up with a lot of “how to podcast” type questions, so it looks like I personally didn’t miss much information that I didn’t already know.
The evening ended with a fail on the part of the Rio. A BlogUp mixer was planned at the VooDoo Lounge, which was official and everything, not just 100 people crashing the lounge for a mixer. Unfortunately, it was raining and since the lounge has an indoor and an outdoor area, the lounge ended up double booked with another much larger group of people. So we tried cramming into the bar at the steakhouse for awhile, overwhelming the poor bartender on duty. Finally, the Rio moved the charade down to the iBar and served complimentary champagne as a mea culpa.
I stayed for awhile, the it was on to another Las Vegas tradition – the buffet! A large group of us went to the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio, one of my favorite buffets ever. Then again, I haven’t been to many. It was good times and good food with good people – one of my favorite activities! After dinner, I went and hung out with Heather Smith & Julie Vazquez, who were still at the iBar. Had a very pleasant last night of Affiliate Summit West 2010!
Read MoreTips & Tricks for Affiliate Summit
I believe I mentioned before, I’m participating once again in the Affiliate Summit Mentor program. I sent these same tips and tricks to the person I’m mentoring, and since people are starting to filter into town today for the show, I’ve decided to share these last minute tips with everyone!
Now, some are just general conference/trade show things that a first timer might not really be aware of. Some are probably common sense, but hey, they’re there for good measure. So take my advice here, don’t take my advice, it’s up to you. But some of this might help!
If all goes well and my flight is on time I should be in the air soon, so I hope to see you in Las Vegas! If you want to meet up with me at any point, send me a Direct Message on Twitter – I’ll have the SMS updates turned on so it’ll be as good as texting me 🙂
General Conference Tips
- Business Cards – Bring plenty! I can’t stress this enough. It’s the best way for people to remember to contact you when they get back to “the real world” of work after the conference. Also, if you’re the type of person that likes to enter booth drawings for prizes, most want you to drop off a business card to enter.
- Added Personalization of Business Cards – For an important contact that you definitely want to get back to you, write something distinctive on the back of the card when you give it to them. It could be your cell phone number or some other bit of contact information that’s not already on the card, or just a note about who you are, like “Met at lunch on Tuesday”. That will give the person a reminder when they get back that they actually wanted to later connect with you.
- Comfort – wear comfortable clothes and shoes that won’t slow you down or make sitting around in sessions unbearable. As well, it’ll help to fully assess the conference bag and its contents to know if they’re suitably comfortable for you. For example, despite being provided a notepad in the bag, I don’t usually use it. I prefer to use a Composition Book to take notes – not only because the cover is thick and it’s easier to write in when there’s no surface to write on, but also I keep my notes when I get back, so it’s easier to keep them in the same notebook than loose all over. Be aware of these kinds of personal preferences.
- Literature – don’t be afraid to grab literature from booths & meet market tables. What I do is take it up to my room and unload at the end of each day. Then I can fully read more into stuff and decide what I’ll be taking back with me. I also find that taking stuff back with me does help me remember who I wanted to do more research into working with, more than a business card necessarily.
- Leave Luggage Space – it’s Vegas, and there will be booth people wanting to give you knick-knacks and t-shirts and you may just want to bring home souvenirs, so remember to leave space in your bags for any literature, paperwork, goodies, souvenirs, etc. that you may be bringing home with you. Buying another bag for that stuff to bring home isn’t fun (trust me, I’ve been there).
Affiliate Summit Specific Tips
- Conference Bag – you’ll be provided with a bag when you register. Mostly it’ll have literature inserts that businesses have paid to have included. I recommend going through the literature immediately and removing anything you know you have absolutely no interest in. Added papers will just bog you down when you’re walking around. The bag usually also contains a pad of paper someone has sponsored and a pen, amongst other random goodies.
- Registration – Register earlier, that way you have time before anything important starts to get rid of the excess in your bag & get comfortable to embark on more important stuff. If you go to the conference area just to register before any intentions of going to the Meet Market or sessions, that will give you time to examine the bag itself, pen, notebook, goodies, etc. to see if you’ll need to grab your own supplies to be comfortable and effectively meet your conference goals.
- Meet Market – GO! I admit, my first Affiliate Summit I didn’t go because the description made it sound like it was a row of merchants sitting around waiting for affiliates to approach them in a creepy way. But it’s a huge networking opportunity. There’s drinks, wandering, and yes, you can have some good conversations with industry colleagues. There are often companies that just get a Meet Market table (they’re less expensive) and won’t have a booth during the exhibit hall, so take the opportunity to talk with anyone you’re interested in doing business with – that may be your only opportunity.
- Water – I don’t know if hotels and conference centers do this for everyone or if the organizers have to request it, but there’s almost always pitchers of cold water and glasses in all the session rooms or just outside. Carrying around a bottle never hurts either if that’s more your style.
- Timeliness – being on time to sessions will greatly help your comfort level and learning. I usually try to get there at least a couple minutes early. That gives me time to find a good seat, get a drink of water, and get settled before the panel actually starts. That way I’m not interrupting anything by trying to get comfortable or by walking in late.
- Meals – if you have a full conference pass, they provide a continental breakfast & light lunch (usually sandwiches, soup, burgers, that kind of thing). It’s nothing gourmet but it’s a good chance to talk to some people casually, approach speakers you want to follow up with, things like that. And you’ve already paid for it with your conference registration, so you might as well take advantage of it, that’s my theory.
- Business Meetings – you may have already scheduled some. Don’t schedule too many though – you want ample time to explore the exhibit hall and attend panels and sessions. Also – I made this mistake at the last Summit held at the Rio – make arrangements to meet your appointments near to the conference area. The conference center of the Rio is at the back of the hotel, so if you’ve made arrangements to meet in the lobby or closer to the casino area, it might be incredibly out of your way to go all the way out there to meet the person. Besides, you’ll have a more professional meeting anywhere in the back near the conference center than you would out by the casino floor anyway.
- Agenda – take a few minutes now to check out the agenda for the show online. It’ll save you time now to decide on some of the sessions/events you definitely want to attend than to have to make those decisions on the fly. However, being flexible isn’t a bad thing – sometimes you hear things from other attendees that you can’t know by reading the description on paper.
- Session/Event Recommendations – these are a couple of sessions that are geared more towards affiliates than merchants. You might want to check out:
- The Black Ink Session, Sunday 1:30p – 2:30p Classroom C (Miranda 5-6). Jeremy Palmer is a great guy and successful affiliate and really takes a basic “this is how you do it” approach.
- Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing, Sunday 3-4pm Classroom D (Miranda 7-8). There was a session just like this with almost the same lineup of panelists in Boston, and it didn’t turn out that great, to put it politely. I’m really hoping that they took the feedback given then and will put out a more productive and well run panel this time.
- Mentor Program Meet Up, Sunday 6:30-7:30pm Brasilia 1-3. You’re probably already planning on attending this, but it’ll be a great mixer and balance amongst new attendees and old hat attendees, so the networking will be great.
- Opening Remarks & Keynote, Monday 9:45am-10:45am, General Session Room Brasilia 1-7. For one, the keynote will set the tone and you’ll be sorry if you miss it. For two, Gary Vaynerchuk is the keynote and he’s a fantastic speaker!
- Advanced Optimization for Landing Pages, Monday 2-3pm Classroom C. I’ve heard Olivier Chaine & Lisa Crossley Hunter speak before and they definitely know what they’re talking about, so with just them the session should be good. I’ve never heard Trevor Claiborne speak and I’ve spoken to Beth Kirsch before but never seen her on a panel so I can’t vouch for them.
Las Vegas Tips
- If you’re staying at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, take a cab from the airport. The shuttles, while less expensive, take at least an hour to get from the airport to the Rio since it’s off the strip, so usually it’s the last stop before they return to the airport. If you’ve been traveling all day, you’ll thank yourself for saving the hassle.
- Chapstick is your friend! If you’re not used to a relatively dry climate like Las Vegas, be sure to carry around some good chapstick or lip balm. Even if you don’t leave the hotel at all to expose yourself to the elements, the recycled air & smoke in the casino area can be a lot to take with repeteitive exposure.
- There’s a café down the hall on the way to the conference area of the Rio called the Sao Paulo Café – avoid it! Terrible service, mediocre food.
- There’s also a Starbucks next to that cafe, so if you need your morning latte fix, it’ll be there, but the lines may be long so plan ahead.
- The conference center is in the very back of the hotel, so from the guest elevators and gaming area, it’s a 15 minute walk if you’re taking your time, 5-10 if you’re booking it. Remember that when planning out your arrival times and any other events during the day.
- The Carnival World Buffet is really good; I highly recommend trying it at least once while you’re there. Don’t let the $27 price tag scare you – it’s worth it.
- The All-American Bar & Grill is a good option for a decent burger or fries at any hour.
Affiliate Summit West 2009 is Fast Approaching!
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
Harry Reid International Airport
Meet Me at Affiliate Summit West 2009!
Holy smokes, I leave in a week for Affliate Summit West 2009! Once again at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, I’m looking forward to a trip to the Carnival World Buffet and some networking madness! This will be my 4th summit, so I’ve begun to know what to expect – at least enough to once again take on a conference newbie through the Affiliate Summit Mentor Program to help them to know what to expect.
I’ll be arriving the afternoon of January 9th with a bag or two and some tentative dinner plans under my arm! I’ve been anxiously loading sessions I want to be sure to attend and other auxiliary events into my Tripit account to keep track of everything. If you want to chat with me I’m sure I won’t be hard to find, but you can always drop me a line too.
If you want to go and haven’t registered for the conference yet, DO IT NOW! They’re close to a sell out, as usual, by about Monday the 5th with only a couple hundred registration spots left.
See you there!
Read More
