Reflecting on Affiliate Summit, I had a great time. For me, having worked in this industry for so long, it is a highschool reunion, except fun. I met dozens of old friends, and made some new ones. What is truly amazing to me, however, is the people who were (apparently) there, but I missed completely. I was at pretty much every event, milling around between sessions, and took many laps through the exhibits. And still I can name off several people I didn’t get a chance to talk to. I guess the conference is too big now to leave those things to chance.
Further, it seems to me that Affiliate Summit has turned a corner. The sessions are no longer the focus. The exhibits are. While the sessions were poorly attended, the exhibit hall was continually buzzing with activity. And networking more than ever, though I think that’s what it’s always really been about.
Again, the sessions were pretty poorly attended. Most were mediocre at best, with a few really good ones. A few presenters and panelists didn’t seem to take it as seriously as they should have, which I think reflected pretty poorly. Dozens of people up and walked out on one.
The Blog Aftermath
ASW is an affiliate marketing blogger’s dream. There have been dozens of blog entries written during and after the show.
Can’t keep up?
Check out the BUMPzee list of Affiliate Summit West 2007 Blogs.
Some discussion subjects have spun out of of the summit as well, which continue on. Specifically, discussions about Web 2.0 and how it relates to Affiliate Marketing, rage on in the aftermath. Check in with Sam Harrelson, Wayne Porter, and Carsten Cumbrowski.
See all the blogs on Web 2.0 and Affiliate Marketing
What else happened this week?
The world doesn’t stop for Affiliate Summit, and a few things happened while we were all paying attention to ourselves.
1. Wikipedia has put nofollow on all outbound links. An interesting move. Is it a slight to the web community? Or is it a statement to Google? Bloggers are lashing back with a Wordpress plug-in to put nofollow on wikipedia links.
Read more: Wikipedia Nofollow
2. The UK Affiliate Census was released by E-Consultancy and Jessica Luthi. Lee McCoy provides a nice commentary.
Read More: UK Affiliate Census
