I named this post “Part II” because as I thought more about what happens at the Affiliate Summit, I became more and more amazed at all the activities and experiences going on.

There’s so much to learn and do, I thought I’d write a little more about the events that took place at the Summit.

First and most importantly, the Affiliate Classroom rolled out their new AC Certified Program. This program will certify Affiliate Managers so they will be recognized as experts in the Affiliate Marketing field. This will be good for both Merchants and Affiliates; Merchants will now be able to find qualified help, and those who would like to be Affiliate Managers will have a place to go to be recognized (and hired). In the future, a job board will also be available which will help put Merchants and Managers together and lessen the learning curve for both.

It was interesting to find out how much demand there was for this product. In fact, people were literally chasing Anik down the hall wanting more information.

The Affiliate Classroom had a booth at the event, so I didn’t attend many of the seminars, but there were eight each day! They covered such a wide variety of topics that everyone attending had a big decision to make on which one to attend. I did manage to get to “Super Affiliate Strategies that Work” and I’ll be posting some of those strategies in the future.

Then, the networking is AMAZING, as I said in Part I. There were about 400 Exhibits in all, and just under 3,000 people (including the exhibitors) attended. There was a lot of chatting, and contacts made that will last far into the future.

Also, there are parties scheduled for more networking opportunities! ShareaSale had a big party on Monday night, and then there was a big AffiliateBash on Tuesday hosted by Pepperjam and a few others. There was an appearance by the Blue Man Group at that party also. The Blue Man Group just set up an affiliate program through Partnerfusion. If you have a travel or entertainment site, you might want to check that out.

So, all in all, between the contacts made, networking opportunities, and great informational seminars, I’d say that the Affiliate Summit was a BIG success – in more ways than one!

When I go to the Affiliate Summit, I always expect that there will be a lot of people to meet and vendors to talk to, but this year the Affiliate Summit is HUGE!

The Sunday Meet Market, which used to be the “small” event, is now almost as big as the first Summit I attended two years ago! It really made me wonder how big the Exhibit Hall would be.  Well, today I found out – it was even bigger!  About twice the size of the Meet Market, and filled with happy people ready to network and chat.

I’ve got some great pictures to share, and I’ll post them soon.

If you’ve never been to a Summit before, be sure to put it on your list to attend one.  It’s a great opportunity to meet a lot of companies with great affiliate programs and products, and be able to chat with their Affiliate Managers in person.

Are you attending the Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas? It starts on Sunday, February 24th, and if you’ve ever been to a Summit before, you know that it’s fast-paced, with a lot to see and learn.

But this year, Converseon is adding a little stress-relieving fun to the conference – with a scavenger hunt called “Where in the Summit is Converseon,” and over $3,000 in prizes.

Participants will be challenged to hunt for Converseon team members at the Summit, take photos and answer trivia questions to earn points.

The “Where in the Summit is Converseon” game is a social media scavenger hunt, where you’ll use social sharing sites Flickr and Twitter to help track and solve clues at various locations during the Affiliate Summit. Then, just upload your photos of people and locations to the game’s Flickr account and win points toward prize packages.

Clues for bonus prizes will also be sent through Converseon’s affiliate Twitter account.

• The game takes networking to a whole new level, beyond the usual cocktail party schmoozing, by adding a little friendly competition and great prize incentives to the mix.
• Game winners will receive prizes from Converseon clients Edmund Scientifics, Relax the Back, MyWinesDirect, GetOrganized and Mikasa.
• Everyone attending should play! It’ll be easy and fun!

Oh, and BTW, the first place prize is one of the best office chairs money can buy – I’m IN!

Find out more here.