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29 July 2011

What Should We Do to Wrap Up Affiliate Summit East 2011?

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We had to juggle the agenda for Affiliate Summit East 2011, due to a keynote speaker being unable to make it, and now we’ve got some open time.

Let's Make Some LemonadeThe time slot from 3:30 to 4:30 on Tuesday, August 23, 2011 is open and we need your help to take this lemon and make some lemonade.

What would you like to see for the closing session at Affiliate Summit?

Some ideas we were throwing around…

  • Moderated panel that is a speed round with panelist having short, timed segments to share opinions on industry issues
  • Cocktail hour
  • Keynote tryouts where anybody can sign up for a five minute spot to speak for a chance as a keynote next January in Las Vegas

Got something better? We’re all ears.

  • http://whatdoesjoethink.com Joe Sousa

    Some sort of expert panel with a lot of Q&A would probably be a good option. Get 5 or 6 experts in different aspects of affiliate marketing and open the floor for questions.

  • http://knowem.com Michael Streko

    One thing I have always learned from going to *many* shows is that you never can hear the best parts from all of the sessions and when you get back to the “office” there is never enough time to sift through the blog posts and tweets… Why not do an audience / cocktail party where attendees can say what were the best take aways from sessions they attended? my 2 cents…

  • http://www.adamriemer.me Adam Riemer

    Cabaret and cocktail hour! Or Joe’s idea.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    We tried that 2 or 3 times, and each time, despite our explanation of the intent of it, it ended up being a lovefest for the conference itself.

    While nice to hear, it wasn’t constructive. Have you seen that sort of thing come off successfully?

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    We’ll have plenty of cabaret the night before.

  • http://knowem.com Michael Streko

    I havent, which is why i suggested… How hard is it to quickly take the session reviews and take the most commented about speakers and throw them on a panel? Could that work?

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    It could be nice if it’s unfiltered – if it’s the right people, it could be really good.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins
  • http://route53.wordpress.com Erik Hom

    Love fest and Multimedia cocktail hour.

    Perhaps you can have some kind of slide show playing catching fun moments from the weekend. Usually a getaway hour time anyway.

    There is also a lot of publishing that is going on. Perhaps a book fair where you can speak with authors and get their books signed, etc. Your chance to casually talk with people such as @chrisbrogan @jimkukral and the like.

    Just a thought..please don’t shoot the messenger

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    That could be fun, but we usually don’t get our “official” pictures until days later. I take 100 or so that would be available, but that’s sort of minimalist.

  • http://www.mybargainbuddy.com Karen

    I vote for a dance off!

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    Definitely a possibility – are you also volunteering to be in the dance off?

  • http://www.mybargainbuddy.com Karen

    I can’t make it to ASE11, but I will absolutely be at ASW12. How about the winner at ASE11 gets a crown (or belt if you want to go WWF style) and has to defend it at ASW12?

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    You’re getting all Hulk Hogan and you won’t be there to face off?

  • http://www.buy.at/us Amy Ely

    To prevent it from turning into a love fest – what about taking a cue from the “things we need to fix” idea and have a session on “what can we do to make the next Summit even better?”

  • http://www.buy.at/us Amy Ely

    Another idea would be to bring back the triathalon. At the close of the show, it’s fun to gather for something goofy/relaxing.

    -Amy :)

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    The tricky thing for us is that the exhibit hall and other things are still going on, so Missy and I can’t be sure we can be there.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    The was meant as a charity fundraiser, but unfortunately it turned out that we were paying a good amount more to rent the stuff than the total we collected from participants to give to charity.

  • http://www.mybargainbuddy.com Karen

    Hey, man. You asked for suggestions. ;) I will be more than happy to participate in the ASW12 Dance Off so long as there is an open bar.

  • http://FatCowBusiness.com/ Dave Cupples

    Hi Shawn and everyone!

    Well this session was meant to be a keynote so let’s keep it like a keynote! Your idea about keynote tryouts and giving up and coming speakers a chance to strut their stuff for 5 mins for a chance to keynote at the next Affiliate Summit would be awesome! Especially in the Grand Ballroom in front of everyone … WOW, what an opportunity! A fitting way to bring the conference to a close, and what a great way choose the next keynote speaker by letting the people vote and decide what they want!

    Would be a great fit as Affiliate Summit is renowned for having such a democratic selection process for speakers (with the panel and voting) and for giving up and comers a chance with the scholarships / newcomer mentor program. Having a competition would be a great media story too and says great things about the summit.

    I entered a similar competition “SMX idol” which was the closing session of SMX Sydney this year where the audience voted – was absolutely fantastic. Imagine “Affiliate Idol” …

    I’ll put my hand up and throw my hat into the ring right now for that :)

    So my vote is for a keynote competition! Who else would love to see this too? What do you guys think?

  • http://thelostagency.wordpress.com David

    Hello Shaun,

    I vote for a public sacrifice on stage, the worst affiliate network/advertiser is given a open slaying… similar to a roast where they get open and public feedback from their peers on their platform/products.

    What’s in it for them? Massive amounts of feedback on how they can improve themselves and become a better network/advertiser.

    What’s in it for everyone? A chance to suggest new/unique issues/limitations/bugs their publishers/affiliates want fixed/implemented to make more money or easier for others. Issue can only be offered/suggested once so should generate a whole lot of new insight for the advertiser/network.

    Other option of the 5 min speaker sessions Dave suggested ain’t too bad.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    Open bar, as long as we can put it on YouTube.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    I like this a lot if we can get enough people to go up and take a chance.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    I think it would be great to have such candid feedback, but I wonder if any companies are willing to do it?

  • http://thelostagency.wordpress.com David

    Maybe not all would be willing but of those who are physically attending it would be awesome to see. Maybe an anaymous vote during the previous week, or which ever advertiser/network had the most discussions/threads/complaints on the AS forums over the last year…

  • http://www.mybargainbuddy.com Karen

    Ok. I fold!

  • http://www.mybargainbuddy.com Karen

    Why only network and advertiser? Shouldn’t there be an affiliate or 2 up there as well? Surely there are some affiliates out there that the networks and merchants would love to go off on in a public forum.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    We would only do it if a company volunteered to participate – we’re not going to enable people to make complaints and claims that are unchallenged.

  • http://www.etreheureux.fr Heureux

    A French Expert ^^

  • http://www.buy.at/us Amy Ely

    Ahh – then that might not work :/

  • http://www.devenir-rentier.info/2011/07/etre-heureux_26.html Riche

    Yes a good Q&A session with a few experts would be just fine

  • erik hom

    Lots of people take photos, so have them upload and send them to you…..you’ll get a perspective on other events! You might even have some with you in them….think of them as “hangover” photos

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    > think of them as “hangover” photos

    That’s a really good reason not to do it. :)

  • http://thelostagency.wordpress.com David

    I volunteer Dave Cupples to represent Australia in the dance off!

  • http://thelostagency.wordpress.com David

    fair call on unchecked claims… so is it down to the following options?
    1) Dance off…
    2) Idol Style…
    3) Top take-aways/experts

  • http://www.pocketyourdollars.com Carrie Rocha

    I really like this idea too because folks that are more newbie, like me, can hear a variety of people for a few minutes each – which will be good, plus it creates ownership and buy-in for ASW12.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    We want to do something constructive – this sounds like mud slinging.

  • http://www.experienceadvertising.com Evan

    Speed networking or some kind of mass business card exchange…

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins

    Just added it as an option.

  • http://blog.affiliatetip.com Shawn Collins