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Affiliate Summit East 2009 recap
By Laurie | August 19, 2009
I returned to work the day after I got home from Affiliate Summit East in New York last week, so I have been neglecting updating my blog and resizing/uploading all of the photos I took. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a fabulous time- I did! I am actually going to break this down into two posts. Today’s will include photos from the conference, and then I will post about New York itself on another day. No promises that it will be tomorrow!
That’s Corrin and I. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that we never met until I arrived in New York. We have been online friends for a long time- way before either of us started blogging and before either of us were old married ladies. When I got married five years ago, she actually sent me her Tiffany earrings as my “something borrowed” because I was bamboozled by a scammer on eBay. She said that once she got them back is when she realized I was okay. HA! I didn’t know that part of the story until the other day when we were talking about it in the blogger’s lounge.
We met @HeatherinBC and ConnieFoggles at the Meet Market on the first day and chatted like old friends. It is always fun to put faces with names and blogs that you enjoy. They were both really sweet, and it was nice to finally meet them. Below is a shot of myself, Heather, Connie, and a new affiliate marketing friend posing for a photo with our XShots.
From the few industry events and conferences I have been to, I have learned that the networking and relationship building seems to be one of the key priorities of most attendees verses attending the sessions. While I did attend a quite a few sessions, I made it a priority to meet and talk to different people about what they are doing and share ideas and get feedback on what I am doing. I spent a lot of time talking about IZEA, and not just because they helped sponsored my trip since I am an Insider. A lot of the companies and marketers I spoke to were very interested in their platform. Coincidentally I also spent the whole three hour plane trip from DFW to NYC chatting about the company (among other things) with a woman and her business partner who were also going to ASE.
Here is Corrin in one of the sessions we attended:
Some of the information in the sessions wasn’t exactly geared toward publishers, but I still learned quite a bit about affiliate do’s and don’ts. It was interesting to hear about how things work on the other side of the industry. Oh, and I also spotted a lot of big industry web celebs such as Chris Brogan, John Chow, and Jeremy Schoemaker.
In addition, Corrin and I volunteered to work the booth for the Affiliate Marketers Give Back team, captained by Missy Ward, who will be participating in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in Los Angeles in September. We met a lot of nice people who dropped by to make a donation. Obviously that is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, so I was very glad to help out. I also appreciate that Shawn Collins extended me an invitation and Platinium Pass to the conference several months ago after seeing a tweet that I had sent on Twitter. I did see him a few times, but he was always engaged in conversation. I would have liked to thank him in person.
We finally were able to get all of the IZEA Insiders at the event together for a photo in the blogger’s lounge on the last day of the conference before we went our separate ways.
Drew, myself, Corrin, Heather, and Brett.
There were quite a few outtakes, as we were all trying to maneuver our fancy camera equipment at the same time. Here is one of those, for fun:
Corrin and I also took a photo with Connie, our honorary Insider, and had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with her husband and daughter, Peanut. That was a lot of fun because of course I read all about them on her blog.
I think the conference was a good learning experience, and I am glad that I was able to be apart of it and meet so many great people in the process. Affiliate Summit West will take place in Las Vegas in January if there are those of you out there that missed the event in NYC.
Topics: Insiders Super Crew | 3 Comments »
I could do without the photos of me, but we did have a great time! It was a nice surprise meeting as many people as we did!
Posted by: corrinIt was fantastic meeting you. Peanut (Samantha) was thrilled to meet you too. She felt like she was meeting a celebrity because of reading your blog and seeing photos of you. I can’t wait until IzeaFest to spend time together again!
Posted by: ConnieFogglesThat’s a neat story about the Tiffany earrings. I had never heard it before. Great pics also, and I’m glad you got to attend and meet everyone!
Posted by: Julie