Affiliate Classroom Blog

Affiliate Summit - Vegas Update

Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 8:26 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

I just flew back from the Affiliate Summit and boy are my arms tired! (Sorry, I just had to say that.). Actually my feet are really tired. The Affiliate Classroom had a booth at the event, and I’ve never seen so many people! I overheard one person say that this was the best attendance they had ever seen.

There was a Meet and Greet (cleverly called the Meet Market) late Friday, which was the first networking opportunity of the event. A lot of people attended, and were given a preview of some of the companies that would be exhibiting the next day. Again, I heard people say that at the last Affiliate Summit, this was not a popular event. I guess it pays to try again – even if there is a football game going on!

The Event Hall opened on Monday and lasted through Wednesday. There were a LOT of exhibits to look at – three long rows, with exhibitors on each side. Everyone had something to give away, or something to attract people into their space. I enjoyed the little person dressed up like Elvis, and was more than a little annoyed when I missed the fresh Pretzels that were given away while I was at a seminar

I was surprised to see some very big names staffing their own booths. It’s hard to believe the President of the company would want to stand and talk to people all day, but that’s what I found in some places.

It was a great opportunity to meet some of the people who are making big money in this business, and sneak in a few questions during a discussion.

It was nice that everyone was available and eager to tell you what he or she knew. Even though we had a booth at the event, we were openly greeted by other vendors and freely given their cards, toys and food. I’ve been to some events where the exhibitors think other vendors are just the competition; this was a nice change.

Everyone made the best of the networking opportunities and I’m sure there were a lot of connections made.

There were seminars throughout the entire day. The only thing I didn’t like about them was that there were several going on at the same time, so I had to choose between them. The nice thing though, was that it was very clear whom the seminar was targeted to (Merchants or Affiliates), so I could at least narrow it down to the ones that would be of most benefit. Unfortunately, the big-wigs were not speaking at the seminars, but I guess you can’t have everything.

There were also networking events planned after the exhibits closed. This is nice because it provides something for everyone. If you aren’t an exhibitor, you can go to one of these events and meet other people in a relaxed setting. There are games to play and mixers that require everyone to shuffle around and make the best of the time available.

Overall, I would have to say that the Summit was a success! As an affiliate, I now have a lot of new ideas to add to my web sites. And, as an exhibitor, there are a lot of new merchants and business partner connections that will definitely be useful in future projects.

I can’t wait until the next one in July!

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