I’m excited.  First of all, because I’ve never been to New York before (a layover on my way to Orlando hardly counts).  Second of all, because it’s that time again – time for Affiliate Summit!  We’re flying JetBlue, which I LOVE!  So comfortable on a cross country flight!  Last week on Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 12, Mike and I did a pre-show review of the sessions we’re thinking of going to.  I can’t wait, but there’s other things I’ll be doing while in NYC!

• Seeing Avenue Q
• Eating New York pizza at Famous Original Ray’s Pizza
• Walking through Central Park
• Hopefully seeing the Empire State Building
• Wandering Times Square
• Trying to survive on the NYC Subway

And more – Dominic and I have tacked on two extra days to sight see.  I can’t wait!  We’re leaving today and will get in LATE tonight and then brave the subway to get to the hotel if we’re feeling adventurous – if not, swallowing cab fare.  Of course come Sunday, it’s all business.  Affiliate Summit East 2009 starts off with a bang – my panel on Getting Noticed FAST!  I know I’ve shamelessly promoted this panel, but seriously, you’ll learn a good deal if you’re looking to make a name for yourself.  It’s in Classroom C at 12pm so stop by – you’ll get an awesome sticker courtesy of Sticker Giant!

After that, Dominic and I will split the difference so we can cover the most sessions for you here.  I’m also going to encourage Dominic to write up a post of his views of Affiliate Summit as an outsider/newbie, so stay tuned for that.  I’ll try to post them as timely as possible – some of that will involve reading Dominic’s writing   I’m sure there will be plenty of time for me to wander around and talk to folks so if you see either of us walking around, stop us and say hi!  And feel free to badger Dominic about his model railroad or school!

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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

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I’m down here in lovely Santa Barbara for Commission Junction University, and day one is in the can.  The weather has been nice…although living in California I’m generally used to this weather, but being in the Southern end of the state there’s a distinctly different feel that I can’t quite put my finger on.  But I enjoy it.

I flew from Oakland to Los Angeles on a puddle jumper, and from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara on a pack of gum.  Between flights and layovers and cab rides, I arrived at my motel at 12:15am.  The room is your average motel fare: 70’s floral bedspread, translucent yellow cords on the lamps, inmate furniture.  The room also has a mini fridge, microwave, nicely sized TV, free wifi, and a surprisingly comfortable bed & pillows – not too shabby for $77/night.  This makes me glad I’m staying at a real hotel for Blog World Expo this coming weekend.

Because of the high cost of cab fare ($25+), once I got the conference hotel I didn’t want to leave until the end of the day.  I ran into Lisa Picarille and Wade Tonkin almost immediately in passing after I registered and headed to the first session, which I’ll cover later.  Jeremy Palmer from Quit Your Day Job lead the first “course” as CJU calls them, and Olivier Chaine from Magnify 360 led the second.  On a personal note, I read his name in the program and knew the pronunciation would be something like “o-live-e-ay shayne” and was confused when the emcee pronounced it very phonetically (olive-er chain).  I was disappointed in CJ when Olivier pronounced his own name at the end of his session much like I’d imagined it was properly pronounced…if you’re going to introduce someone, learn how to pronounce their name.

I digress.  Both courses were informative and well done, and I’ll be posting a bullet point review of both later on.  After the courses were done I took a quick break and then headed out to the CJU Expo, a small area of tables nicely held outside under umbrellas that more closely resembled the Meet Market at Affiliate Summit than your typical trade show.  It was mostly merchants and different CJU programs with tables, with the exception of an OPM (Schaaf Consulting), a couple affiliates (SurfMyAds.com), and a table for the Performance Marketing Alliance.

It’s a good thing I saw that PMA table, because  it made it easy to run into some familiar faces in the form of Connie Berg & Brad Waller.  Also was able to say hello to Michael Brucker from RingCentral at their table, one of the organizers of the BAAMC whose quarterly meetings I attend.  (By the way if you’re an affiliate manager with a company in the SF Bay area interested in getting involved and possibly hosting about 20-25 ppl for lunch some day, let Michael know).

After the expo it was zoo time with the welcoming event being held down the street at the Santa Barbara Zoo.  As much as I wanted to go, my phone was practically dead for some reason and my stomach was a bit upset, so I opted to head back to my motel.  Tomorrow is a day full of sessions that look pretty good, and a keynote from Guy Kawasaki…who I think may literally be giving me the nifty orange Alltop shirt off his back afterwards.  More about that if/when it happens

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