Hey guys, I've never been to Affiliate Summit, but was thinking about going in February to Las Vegas. Have any of you been to the conference? I know the sessions aren't anything special and most of the information can be found online or even on this forum, but what were the networking opportunities like? I also wrote a post about how you can go to Affiliate Summit for free, so check that out if you're interested in going as well.
IT is the Affiliates conference I can honestly say if you are an affiliate an have never been you are really missing out. the networking opportunities are great as long as you go and plan not to be a fly on the wall.
What are you looking for in conference content that you don't see at Affiliate Summit? Always looking for feedback.
Hey Shawn, Nice of you to stop by. I wasn't directly referring to the conferences at Affiliate Summit, but conference sessions in general. Many sites put up "live blogs" so paying thousands of dollars for the content isn't really worth it. Don't get me wrong, the content is great. But the costs are a little high if you're only going for the sessions - which you can get for free afterwards. I think the most value from conferences comes from networking and actually being able to meet some of the people you work with online. That alone makes it worth it for many people.
> But the costs are a little high if you're only going for the sessions - which you can get for free afterwards. I agree that it would make little sense to go only for the sessions - they are only a part of our agenda. There are lots of blocks of time with no sessions to encourage networking, not to mention breakfast, lunch, dinner and after hours. And getting the content free isn't a lock. We made the videos free this time as a test. Anyhow, we've got lots of new faces speaking on new topics this time - people are being added to the agenda often (as we get their speaker agreements).
Shawn, Do you have any numbers you care to share with us in regards to number of attendees, number of sponsors/ booths both at past summits and what you expect at this summit?
You can see the past numbers at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/about.php We're going to have aroud 110 booths and expect 2,500 attendees. In addition to the booths, we do a thing on the first day (exhibit hall opens for 2nd and 3rd days) called the Affiliate Meet Market. This is sort of like a scaled down exhibit hall/job fair. Instead of booths, companies have tables. We've got arond 80 tables for this event.