The 2005 Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas should be the exclusion to the saying, “Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” As a first time attendee of the Affiliate Summit, I had no expectations, just hopes that my time away from the office would be a good creative retreat so I could return with new partners, innovative ideas, and reinforcements of best practices. I was not disappointed.

Declan Dunn, CEO and Founder of Dunn Direct Group, kicked off Monday morning with a lively and thought provoking presentation. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing him speak, you are missing out. He presented an “Internet with Integrity” Affiliate Manifesto that laid the backbone for the rest of the summit. Fredrick Marckini, CEO and Founder of iProspect, was also exceptional. His presentation was what all internet presentations should be – fast, interesting and useful. I watched him shake hands with everyone that approached him after he spoke – he looked everyone in the eye and emitted a genuineness that is unfortunately lacking with too many of us caught up on the hamster wheel of internet lifestyle. Integrity was in action.

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.

I leave Vegas today with tremendous appreciation of affiliate marketing and the great people who drive and work to validate it. The future is bright. Let’s not let what happened in Vegas stay in Vegas (unless some of you got too crazy after hours!) – Let’s keep communicating, challenging, and coordinating.

Kudos and thanks to Shawn and Missy for coordinating a great event.

Lorrie Thomas
Internet Marketing Manager
Affinity Group, Inc.
lthomas@affinitygroup.com

Affinity Group Affiliate Programs include:
Good Sam Club
Golf Card
Trailer Life Directory
Woodall’s
Rider Magazine
ATV Sport Magazine
Motor Home Magazine
Trailer Life Magazine

NOTE: Thanks for the great post Lorrie. It sounds like Sean and Missy put on another great event!!