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Although I’m suffering through a nasty cold and still behind on sleep, I couldn’t let the day go by without recapping the incredible experience that I had at Affiliate Summit West. Life’s about choices and here are some that I made in the last few days about which I am most happy.
Time With Friends
Affiliate Summit is about business, but for me that business is about working with friends. Whether we were chatting over a meal, bonding over sports teams, shaking it on the dance floor, singing along to karaoke, or just reconnecting in the hallways, the time that I spent with friends (both old and new!) at Affiliate Summit was invaluable to me. I especially enjoyed all of the time that I spent with my mom (Cindy Ballard) and Ashleigh both from a personal and a professional aspect. It’s always an adventure!
Meeting New People
It’s easy to get into a rut where you only talk to people you already know or work with people you have worked with before. Affiliate Summit is the place to refresh old relationships but also start new ones. I am busily sending LinkedIn connection requests, following people on Twitter, and friending people on Facebook today.
Mastermind Groups Presentation
Working with Eric Nagel and Todd Farmer was one of the best decisions that I made in all of 2011. I sincerely hope that came across in our presentation. My Mastermind group was at the root of much of my success this year, and I know that it can be the same for people who learned from us and try it on their own in 2012. I was grateful for the chance to share what we have learned with the people who attended our session. And I was especially grateful to be on a panel with two of my favorite people!
AWeber Session with Hunter Boyle
I don’t attend a lot of sessions because I figure that I can watch them later on video, but I wanted to attend this one because I know that I can’t wait for the video to come out to stop being lazy with my AWeber account. Hunter Boyle did not disappoint. He gave some great examples about how to make the most of my newsletter. If you have an AWeber account (and you should), you need to be sure to keep an eye on what he is saying because there isn’t any reason to do it if you aren’t going to do it right.
Newcomer Program
I consider the Affiliate Summit Newcomer program to be one of the best kept secrets at Affiliate Summit. Even though they publicize it a lot, not nearly enough people take advantage of it. I was teamed up with a great newcomer and enjoyed seeing Affiliate Summit through her eyes. I also enjoyed the meetup on Sunday where 80+ veterans and newcomers could get together in a laid-back atmosphere and talk about the conference and our industry as a whole. If you haven’t participated in this before, you need to add it to your list for Affiliate Summit East. Kudos to Daniel Clark in taking it over this time!
Using Available Technology
One great way to make the most of Affiliate Summit that people often overlook is to follow the hashtag on Twitter. I was able to see what was going on in other rooms, figure out who speakers were, and be more of a part of the whole conference by keeping my eye on it. You can now see everyone heading home and following up if you follow #asw12. When will we make the switch to #ase12?? Foursquare was also helpful because I could see where people were heading, who was in the same place as me, and who I needed to connect with.
Staying at Caesar’s
I know I have said it before, but I truly love staying at the conference hotel. I like being able to pop up to my room between sessions or meetings. I like being in the same place as the majority of the attendees. If you can get reservations in time and your budget permits, I definitely think it is worth it. Thankfully there were also some really good options right around Caesar’s this time, too.
Dancing Upstairs at the ShareASale Party
I’ve been to a lot of ShareASale parties, and I have to say that this one was definitely a classic. The view from upstairs while we were dancing was amazing! I heard that there were desserts somewhere, but I couldn’t bear to leave the dance floor long enough to find them. Thanks to Brian Littleton and his crew for again throwing a memorable event. And thanks to everyone who shared the dance floor with this midwest mom.
Leaving Time Open in My Schedule
At some Affiliate Summits past I have scheduled everything down to the minute. If anything ran over, I was thrown off track. This time I scheduled just enough to have a plan but also left myself time for setting up last-minute meetings and even just hanging out in the Blogger’s Lounge. I felt much less frenzied and was also able to talk to people that I might not otherwise have been able to.
Eric Thomas’s Keynote
I don’t usually attend a lot of keynotes, but I am glad that I went to this one (and not just because I received a Pinnacle Award!). Although I never faced the adversity that Eric Thomas did, I still appreciate his optimism and spirit. I love that he stressed that you have to visualize what you want and then work to achieve it because no one is just going to hand it to you.
Thanks on a very personal level go to Shawn and Missy for all that they have done for me (minus the country music). You truly make Affiliate Summit what it is, and my business and brand would not be what they are today without Affiliate Summit.
What did you do at Affiliate Summit that you are glad about in retrospect? Sessions, parties, presenting, people you met?
Run affiliate for 2month feel like wasting my time but your story give me new motivation…..goood
Hi Tricia,
As a first timer to ASW12, I have to say the first day is a bit overwhelming, and I wish I had been a part of the newcomer group and recommend signing up for it if anyone plans on attending Affiliate Summit for the first time. I came home with so much knowledge from the event and made new contacts. Your mastermind session was great! Your group seems to work very well together, even when presenting on stage. The session was enlightening, fun, and all three of you are a joy to be around. Thanks to Affiliate Summit for awarding me a platinum pass for the essay I wrote. Without that happening, I probably could not have budgeted this trip at this time. Missy and Shawn I am so grateful and many thanks. I look forward to attending Affiliate Summit again in the future and advise others of doing the same. The knowledge and ideas you go home with are well worth it.
Thank you for coming to Vegas – I am glad to hear you learn some things and look forward to seeing you at a future Affiliate Summit.
Hmm it appears like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for beginner blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it.
You seem to have a very good time indeed. It’s always good to have fun while doing the job of promoting our business. I never get a chance of attending an affiliate summit but i do hope to be part of one sometime soon.
You forgot skipping the ketchup on those hot dogs.
;o)
It was great seeing you & congrats again on the
award! I can also attest to yout not leaving the dance floor at the SAS party. Good times. 🙂
Glad you had a great time, Tricia! One year I’ll be there again.
This was certainly a fun one for me. It was great to hang with you as my daughter and not be all about work (even though we did discuss it a little). You also introduced me to a whole lot of really neat people AND I got to sit at the Rockstar table with you. Heres hoping we have many more Affiliate Summit adventures.
Rockstars!
Even tho it’s only been a day, thanks for the memories Tricia! It’s so overwhelming – like trying to do all of DisneyWorld in 3 days – that when I read other people’s posts I say “Oh yea! That was cool too!” Best/Billy
I hardly saw you at all!! Read your post on the Affiliate Summit forum that you were doing double duty with a lot of stuff on your site. Hopefully it was still a good show for you. 🙂
As an affiliate summit virgin, I was glad I:
1. Went to Shawn’s first timer meeting.
2. Actually, went period. I only did because I had the pass from All About the Cookies. I am a blogger as a hobby, I am shy, I dislike crowds-I had many reasons I was nervous.
3. Went to Eric Thomas’ speech. It was amazing.
4. Did my research ahead of time-reading your posts, downloading the app, etc.
5. Brought my iPad. I was double-fisting it and my phone a lot, which it let me do a lot.
I wish I had:
1. Brought more business cards-I brought 50, and was out by Sunday night.
2. Planned more “fun” days-I really only had Monday to play.
3. Made plans to meet up with you/ashleigh.
Thanks for coming to my session, and I hope to see you at future Affiliate Summits!
You must have been very busy because I hardly saw you at all!! Glad that the show went well for you. ASE will be even closer to home. 🙂
Dancing with you at the SAS party was one of my highlights too! Loved meeting with you and Ashleigh as well and agree with your list. Nice work on the post and thanks for sharing.
Wonderful post! Affiliate Summit is great and we look forward to attending again. You learn a lot and have fun doing it. Tricia is the best Newcomer Mentor someone can get. 🙂 I am so lucky to have worked with her and met fabulous people thanks to her. I’ll never forget this experience and look forward to growing my business thanks to the knowledge and contacts I got through ASW. Just about everyone I met gave me an ‘Aha’ piece of info. Encouraging more newbies to attend.
I am so glad that we had the chance to meet and look forward to seeing what you do with your sites. I really think that Todd’s information is perfect for your next steps. You and your husband are just delightful!
Tricia, thanks for a great panel session, this recap and the very kind feedback.
I enjoyed meeting you and agree 100% on the importance of making new connections. That’s where I think Affiliate Summit really stands out. It’s tough to squeeze everything in, but what you really come away with is just what you said: a ton of good relationships. (And I highly recommend the CardMunch app!)
Looking forward to seeing you at upcoming shows, and hearing all about your double- and triple-digit email and site gains this year!
I will report back. Already started making changes within 12 hours of getting home!!
Tricia, what a great write-up. Sadly I had to do booth duty so wasn’t able to get to the sessions. I’ve seen both Todd and Eric present, you are in good company with both.
Shawn, to get people to keynotes they should start after 11!! Just kidding. Awesome exhibit hall, great meet market, mixed feelings over the hotel, $25 per device, per day was excessive, and the water round the side, while useful, was often empty or no cups, so $5 for a tiny bottle at the bar was expensive IMHO. Plus, sore feet, but that comes with the territory.
Thanks for the information, Jim. Were the other things besides the Internet and water you didn’t like about Caesars?
There isn’t anything we can do about the Internet pricing, unfortunately, and it seems every decent hotel charges an outrageous amount per day for Internet (you should see what they charge us for WiFi!), but we’re addressing the water issue with them. That should not have happened.
It was great seeing you and I’m so happy that you got that award! I swear I started tearing up for a few of the winners!
I’m all in for a Pajama Jean tweetup next time!
Terrific recap! Congratulations again on your award, and for putting on a great panel. I’ve already started approaching people about a mastermind group.
Now, let’s hear more about these pajama jeans … what was the link for that post??
Fantastic post! This was my second time to be gifted with the opportunity to attend Affiliate Summit, but my first Affiliate Summit West, and it was wonderful. Thank you Tricia!
It was such a pleasure to meet new people as well as to see and get to know people I had met through Tricia at the last Affiliate Summit.
The Eric Thomas Keynote was truly inspirational!
I agree so much with this. I just love reconnecting with friends and meeting new people. I had a wonderful time hanging out with you.
The Eric Thomas keynote was a highlight for me too. Have you spent your 5 minutes yet today?
It was wonderful to see you – now what do we have to do to get you to more keynotes?
By the way, I get the impression you like that country music. Don’t be bashful. There’s nothing wrong with it.
Will there be a post about the 1 bad choice you made… not bringing the pajama jeans?!