So it is Monday morning and I actually got some sleep, sure there was garbage trucks again and some firetrucks but I guess I am immune to them by now. We got a late start over to Summit and missed breakfast, not really a surprise there. Think all the summits I have been to I probably made breakfast three times total. Today is all about catching up on some work and we have a few meetings with affiliates.
We head over to the Hilton and set up in the bloggers lounge for a while and plan out the day. As we get to the Hilton we meet up with an affiliate from Abestweb that we know for years and lives nearby but somehow have never met. How this has happened I have no idea, maybe its time to put together a monthly group of nearby affiliates. We are asked to be a guest on the GeekDads Weekly podcast by Daniel Clark and Debbie says sure. My stomach isn't exactly right and last thing I want to happen is be in the middle of a podcast and have to run to the bathroom lol. We head up and have lunch and sit with a few affiliates talking about the parties that happened.
After lunch we have a meetings with two super affiliates, kind of funny being on the other end of these conversations since I almost know what they are going to ask for before they say it :). Meetings go well, now it is time for my favorite part of Affiliate Summit the SEO site review panel with Sugarrae from Outspoken Media and Michael Gray. Debbie and I trek down to the session rooms and get a place up front. It seems we are a little late but we didn't miss anything as they were having computer issues. I love watching Rae go behind the scenes and breakdown a website and letting them know how they stand and offer suggestions on how to make their site better. I usually pick up some things that they see ahead of time and wait for them to say it. It seems that every time they do this session there is always a website that has too many webmasters over the years fiddling around and they mess up something major. This year one of the sites actually had the Googlebot blocked. I just shake my head every time I think about it. I am glad that Affiliate Summit has had this session the last few Summits I really enjoy it.
Session is over and its off to the bloggers lounge to see whats happening. Glad we decided to come back here because there is beer and a funnel and John Chow is pouring beer and someone is downing it. I pulled out my Droid and recorded it.
We are off to dinner with Kim and Amy from buy.at. We plan on heading down towards Times Square and see what that brings, no plan really just hanging out and talking shop with two of our favorite people in the affiliate industry. (I can hear Kim right now saying aaaah that is so sweet we love you guys too, while Amy is blushing).
We end up at Rosie O'Grady's near the Sheraton on Broadway and have a nice steak dinner. I sat there for a hour as they all talked about how great I am. (it is my site so I can dream sometimes) Actually we catch up on whats going on and it was very nice dinner. After dinner we stroll down to Times Square and then head back up to the hotel where Trivia night has already begun. Kim, Debbie and I head up as Amy had other plans.
Here is where the power of Affiliate Summit happens. As we enter the room we see a bunch of familiar faces sitting around and we start to mingle. Debbie is approached by an affiliate who is talking to a merchant. It seems he needs some affiliate manger stuff done I am not sure, it ends up not exactly our niche but it is in Kim's expertise so Debbie sends me to get her and bring her into the conversation. I stay talking to the affiliate manager that Kim was talking to and telling her whats going on. We both sit there and laugh as we see Debbie and Kim's mind working a mile a minute. A connection is made and I am sure this will end up being a good thing for both the merchant and Kim's company buy.at. I wish I had a nickel for every time I have seen this type of thing happen at Affiliate Summit.
Some affiliates are heading out early on Tuesday so we end up saying goodbye to them and we call it a night. Back to our dump of a hotel. On to Day five of Affiliate Summit
If you missed any part of this recap you can see it from the beginning Affiliate Summit Day One – Day Two – Day Three.
Wow, Vinny. Great stuff. I really wish I was there. Lots of eating and drinking and being Merry.
Hopefully you had fun and I look forward to the final chapter.
Rob