Affiliate Summit West 2011 Day 1 Observations
- Lots of old fogie corporate types seem to be infiltrating the affiliate space – they must have heard there’s money here
- Affiliates flaunt their money way too much – who cares what you have?
- The affiliate industry is smaller then people realize – people know a lot more about you then you may think they do
- Eric Nagel is extremely intelligent and enlightening to speak with
- If you are having dinner with one affiliate network & another affiliate network sends drinks to your table – i think you should turn down the drinks but thank them for the sentiment – what do you think?
- The Wynn has the worlds worst free pens
- Ready for the next HOT media source that everyone is talking about?…..SEO
- Speaking at a conference really isn’t very hard at all
- John Chow LOVES attention, even if it’s bad attention
- Amanda Orson & myself sound good on a panel together – it jives
- A lot of people have disappeared from this industry
- ShareaSale must BANK because they put on some serious parties
- I like the comrodery among people who have been in this industry a while
- Some companies that have tables at the Meet Market are awful at branding themselves
- The Wynn is a nice place for a conference but the size makes it a bit less intimate then the Rio was.
What were your observations for day 1?
Good observations, I agree with most of them. A few more:
-The meet market is getting worse every year, there are more third tier networks than affiliates there now
-The industry is incredibly cyclical- lead gen and dating are the next big thing all over again
-There are a lot of new people who have never run a single lead of traffic showing up to conferences hoping to learn some kind of traffic secret
Other than that, it’s still a lot of fun. It’s great to see industry friends and make new ones and learn from some incredibly successful affiliates.
I’m hearing lots of great feedback on your session with Amanda – thanks a lot for doing it!
Those pens we’re truly awful! But great to finally meet you and Coop at the ECM party… and thanks again for the pass!
How is SEO the next HOT media source? It’s been around for a solid 16+ years…
SEO comment was pretty obvious sarcasm pointing out “what’s old is new again.”
Hey, It was great to meet you in person!
I attended some of the sessions and found more value in yours than any of the others.
See you next time!
Danger
Hysterical list. The Summit was great and I’ll definitely go again. I loved all the sessions (didn’t get to yours-sorry). The Meet market and exhibit hall seemed like it was half legit companies, have “list scrapers,” kind of annoying.
I’ve been called many things, but never before “enlightening” 🙂
Love your “observations” posts – great way to recap without dragging it out
Liked the Huster/Orson talk myself. Came away really excited about not being in the local ad business, strange.
I had no idea who you were before your presentation.. And when I saw you, I was like “who is the dude in the leather jacket trying to be?”…
Then I saw your presentation. Wow. I was in the back and even from there Amanda looked much hotter than you (sorry) – but damn, your presentation was awesome. The creatives you showed were amazing and loved the fact you actually used real examples. I had sat through 2 of the worst presentations EVER before yours and I had almost talked myself into never coming back to AS again. But you and Amanda restored my faith.. Seriously – it rocked.
Now if I can just get my hands on a jacket like that and your creatives I would be SET!!!
Hey Kevin – which presentations didn’t you like?
Heh, I didn’t even see these observations until just now.
I agree 100%, we really seemed to really flow by the end- as I knew we would.
The free pens at the Wynn were the worst things ever.
The camaraderie absolutely gets better every year. Affiliate Summit becomes something more like a reunion and a mastermind group; despite it’s continuous growth.
If another network sends you drinks, I agree, thank them but send it back.
Really wish I could have made it to your session. Can’t wait to see the videos.
I think you went 15 for 15 on your observations here. Those Wynn pens did suck, Nagel is enlightening, and SAS does put on great parties.
Good talking to you briefly at breakfast and we will have to make more time in NY.
The old fogies were probably younger than me, maybe you should call them “suits”, there were a lot more of those.
Trying to get a drink in the bar at the Wynn was a joke.
The walk was even worse than it used to be at the Rio, I am seriously going to get a Segway or a gimpmobile to get around or start training for the show.
In the clubs, all the tables with bottle service were our industry, so we are kicking the ass of CES and AVN.
Good to see you all, was over far too quick.
Shawn – sessions I did not like: Both were on Sunday.
Web Redesign by the Numbers. This would have been a great session if I were hired to redesign a BANKS website. I know the description said that the presenter was from a bank, but I made the assumption that since I was at an affiliate conference, the site redesign tips would have had something to do with affiliate networking. Nope. She talked about using analytics, etc to find out where your visitors were going, but still could have / should have used affiliate related examples.
Then there was:
Step Up Your Revenue With Lead-Gen Expertise.
The title made with think we were going to delve into lead-gen. Nope. The tips I paid for were: Ask the network for a higher payout.. Tell them you are maxed out on your credit card and they will pay you faster.
I know both of these presenters tried their best and perhaps it would have been better if these were labeled as for beginners only.
All of the others were very good and this was because everyone else used real life examples to show you what to do better..
Thanks Kevin – one thing I’d like to point out is that I contacted Lauren (lead-gen presentation) at the last second, because the speaker cancelled.
She had no time to prepare, and we really appreciated her knocking out what she could as the conference was starting.
Hey man it was great to finally meet you!
Those pens were pretty terrible..lol.
I wish I could’ve made it to your session – but with all the reviews I won’t miss it next time.
It was great to run into old friends, potential clients, current clients and trusted affiliates. Special props to everyone I met who is trying to grow our booming industry as a collective unit vs. being an evil eye competitor. You never know, your competitors could be your next great partner.
Good stuff here….nice seeing all of you at Summit 🙂