My Experience at One of the World’s Top Events for Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate Summit East is one of the biggest annual shows for affiliate advertisers, networks, and publishers. Each summer, the event attracts several thousand attendees spread across three tradeshow areas, all for three jam-packed days of networking, educating and sharing ideas.
Affiliate Summit—an Overview
Affiliate Summit East, the Atlantic parallel to the annual Affiliate Summit West, is one of the nation’s premier events for affiliate marketing professionals. More than 5,500 individuals involved in the affiliate marketing space were on-hand for the convention.
This year’s keynote speaker was Scott Stratten (President, Un-Marketing), an individual who helped revolutionize the way in which the industry viewed the concept of marketing. In addition to Scott, Affiliate Summit also hosted the SEO All Stars keynote, a panel session featuring:
- Bruce Clay (President, Bruce Clay Inc.)
- Duane Forrester (VP, Organic Search Operations at Bruce Clay, Inc.)
- Stephan Spencer (Co-Author, “The Art of SEO”)
Affiliate Summit is definitely one of the most vibrant and colorful events on my calendar—in fact, at some points this feels more like a giant party than your standard networking event!
Official Chargebacks911-Sponsored Events
Chargebacks911 had a booth prominently displayed near the front of the main exhibition hall. One of our main draws was our new prize wheel, which featured everything from free Chargebacks911™ hats to complimentary services and cash prizes.
Few things say “Affiliate Summit” quite like the Ad Buyers Catch Roof Meetup—and Chargebacks911™ was happy to sponsor this year’s event. The annual rooftop party invites advertisers of all kinds to the top of a historic 9th Avenue building for three solid hours of fun, drinks and networking. We at Chargebacks911™ were one of the official sponsors for this year’s meetup—along with GrabAds Media Group, Quantum Electronic Payments, PayPer Trail, RevGuard, and iballers—which ran from 3-6pm on August 1.
In addition, Chargebacks911™ participated in another time-honored tradition, the Affiliate Summit East Pub Crawl. On the last day of the event, from 2-4pm, we were one of several booths in the exhibition area offering complimentary beer and wine to attendees.
Engaging After-Parties
What happens during the day is really only half of the event—each night, after the exhibit halls close up, thousands of attendees head out to different events to network.
On the first night, ShareASale hosted the “Under the Stars” party at famous Howl at the Moon piano bar around the corner from the hotel. The party featured an open bar, as well as a piano sing-along and “kamikaze karaoke”—definitely a bit livelier than your average networking meetup.
The next night was the Affiliate Ball, featuring a live set by none other than Snoop Dogg, performing as DJ Snoopadelic.
Bringing the Solution for Affiliate Fraud
As fun as Affiliate Summit East was, I wasn’t there just to party. We had the whole Chargebacks911™ team out in-force to raise awareness of one of the eCommerce industry’s greatest, yet least reported threat: affiliate fraud.
In order to stand up to these fraudsters, advertisers will need a solution designed specifically to address affiliate fraud—namely, Chargebacks911’s™ Affiliate Fraud Alerts.
Given the widespread impact of affiliate fraud on the eCommerce environment, it’s now more vital than ever that merchants develop a plan to take a stand against dishonest marketing tactics. This event allowed us to showcase our totally unique and unprecedented technologies directly to the advertisers who need it.
Affiliate Fraud Triggers You’re Ignoring, But Shouldn’t
I hosted my own breakout session at Affiliate Summit East this year, titled Affiliate Fraud Triggers You’re Ignoring, But Shouldn’t. After a 20-minute presentation on the dangers of affiliate fraud, I was able to take questions from the audience, as well as offer a few useful tips on how to take a stand against affiliate fraudsters.
The session had a great turnout, and I’m really looking forward to working with Affiliate Summit organizers again in the future. See you at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas next January!
