In addition to talking about the parties, I want to share with you some great pictures. I have gotten a sneak peek at the official Affiliate Summit picture gallery and the pictures are awesome! Thanks to Debbie Carney assisted by Billy K. for the photographic talent and the time she put in covering the event! You will be able to see a lot of the party pics there, as well as put a name with the faces of many of the affiliates, managers and service providers that were at the show. The gallery is not quite finished so I will be adding Part 4 - the Official Pics with some commentary about some of my favs, as soon all the event pics are uploaded.

PART 3 - PARTIES, PICTURES and RECAPS

Fun at the Splash Bar at the Riviera, the Tiki Party - The Profit in Paradise Party sponsored by PartnerWeekly and a bit of luxury on the way to the Palms with Stephen Messer and Linkshare. Night 1 - 3 pages, scroll through. Photography by Debbie Carney.

Pics from the XY7 All Nighter Party. From the last night. 3 Pages to scroll through. Great shots by Debbie Carney.

I whipped up a little collage of the “All Star PartnerCentric Team” in action for your viewing pleasure. We had a wild and crazy time, as you can see, met a ton of great people and came home thankful we could all be at this event! Included are pics of our VIP Affiliate Party, all of us working the booth and “some” of us hamming it up for the cameras. ;-) Check us out!

THE PARTNERCENTRIC VIP AFFILIATE PARTY - Since I had bronchitis and was tired from meds, this was the only party I attended because it only went from 5 - 7:30. Due to the fact that the sessions ran late, we did not invite any affiliates in advance, just passed out invites at the booth and other competing parties were happening simultaneously - I was afraid we would not have a very good turn out. Was I ever wrong! We had such a good turn out with lots of great affiliates and quite a few of our clients. The party followed our booth theme of “Let PartnerCentric take the Stress Out of Affiliate Marketing.” Soft lighting, Spanish guitar music, free chair massages, tapas, top shelf drinks and TONS of great people. The soothing atmosphere was a welcome change from all the flashing lights and noise of Vegas and was much more conducive to networking and relaxing after the show, than the wild parties than happened later that evening.

Check out the X10 VIP Party Pics! You can also read Heather’s report about the party and her view of the Summit over at Top-Affiliate.

One of the best party recaps I have found so far is over at the RevenueToday Blog. They hit ALL the parties and must be a heck of a lot younger than I am. I was such a party pooper! Read their party comments and Summit recap.

Adbumb didn’t mention any parties, but shared some observations about the event itself, in the edgy writing style Adbumb is famous for. They summed it up quite nicely though and their parting comments echo my sentiment that the people met and connections made, were the most important part of the event.

“Still, in the end, Affiliate Summit did exactly what it set out to do, which was bring us all together. Affiliate managers, affiliates, publishers and the gamut of online marketers all set aside their differences and came to the Riviera to shake hands and make connections. For better or for worse, it was a place where we could, for a change, quit the IMing, hang up the mobiles and actually sit down face to face to move forward into a prosperous future. And for that alone, it was worth the trip to Vegas.”

Another Summit blogger had something to say that I really resonated with. Lorrie Thomas, Internet Marketing Manager for the Affinity Group, Inc. said this on the Goyami blog.

“I felt, however, like the summit lacked something…it wasn’t until today that I realized what that “something” was - arrogance. Unlike so many industry events, where there is a separation of the big guys and the little guys, the affiliate summit did a great job of uniting a breadth of businesses, sans ego, to share ideas about a lucrative marketing medium that we all feel passionate about. We were all there for the love of affiliate marketing regardless of our company size, competitors, or ad budget. The lack of arrogance that radiated from the attendees and facilitators at the affiliate summit is the differential that will allow affiliate marketing to grow healthily and emerge as one of the internet’s most powerful marketing mediums. Integrity will sustain us for the long haul.”


AUDIO COVERAGE of the SUMMIT - For those of you who are tired of reading all the recaps, now you can listen to a really good overview of the event. Linda Woods and Laura Lake from PartnerCentric did a great audio blog titled: Affiliate Summit 2005 - The Year of the Affiliate!

Stay tuned to the 5 Star Channel for Part 4 – The Official Pictures.
I will post the gallery link when it’s ready, comment on some of the pics and may even blog some more, if I discover a new recaps or other pics worth mentioning.

Until next time…
Happy Selling and Remember to Market with INTEGRITY!