Well this post may seem a bit late but the truth of the matter is everyone else was posting about Affiliate Summit West 2009 right after the conference ended, and I figured there wouldn’t be much interest in another post at the time. Because of that I thought I would save the post for awhile after when things have tamed down. I didn’t quite mean to put it off THIS long but here it is!
Affiliate Summit West always seems to be the bigger of the summits, so this year was no surprise when things were bigger and better then ever. The exhibit hall was packed with affiliates, merchants, cpa networks, and about anyone else related to the industry you could imagine. I have been to the last few summits so a lot of the booths contained the same companies and people, but there were still many new contacts I made at the convention.
This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to me about these conventions: the networking opportunities. Not only is almost anyone that you would want to meet coming to the exhibit hall and meet market, but everyone is pretty damn open about wanting to talk and open new doors for opportunities in the future.
The speakers I saw this year did a really good job and it was enjoyable to bring in information on some of the areas of affiliate marketing that I don’t play around with as much. I had a bunch of videos and pictures from the convention and the speakers, however my memory card flaked out on me and I lost EVERYTHING related to the actual convention! 🙁
Just like before, the parties were again awesome this year. Advaliant and Copeac both had great shindigs going on. I didn’t go to the company parties I would normally go to this year, instead I checked out other company parties that I hadn’t ever experienced before. I would have to say although I had a really good time at them, I wish I would have spent my time at the more “popular” ones. They really seem to know how to show their affiliates a good time!
Besides the parties, I met up with a few different companies for dinner and drinks which was great. I ate at so many great restaurants this time around I just couldn’t believe it. That is one GREAT thing about Vegas, there is such a great variety of AWESOME restaurants to indulge in. This is a pic of one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas…
I have to admit, with a name like that I can’t resist the place! 😛
I have stayed at many different hotels in Vegas, and instead of staying at the Rio where the convention was held I stayed at Planet Hollywood. This seems to be one of my favorite places to stay. Prices are reasonable, its a pretty modern style hotel, good music is always playing, and its a perfect location on the strip because its within walking distance of everything. I would have to admit though, if you plan on going to an Affiliate Summit in the future, I think your networking opportunities are much better if you stay at the hotel where the convention is held. It seems most of the people take this option and you are surrounded by a lot of smart minds you can BS with at any point.
Besides the actual convention, I had a blast just doing the usual things people do in Vegas. I have really been digging blackjack since last years ASW convention and decided to spend a bit more time this year at the tables. That was a really great idea but I ended up pretty much not being able to ever leave so I spent WAY more time playing good ol’ 21 than I should have. The good thing is I came out over a grand ahead which paid for the few expenses I did have for the trip, so it was a win-win except it ate up a lot of my time. 😛
Last of all I have to thank Affiliate Summit once again for supplying me with a press pass for the convention.
The next Affiliate Summit will be held in New York on August 9-11, I hope to see this one succeed as much as all the past ones and I hope to see you all there!
