Get your Summit On…

Affiliate Summit East 2009 is right around the corner and this year’s conference is packed with tons of great speakers, events, parties, and great networking opportunities. If this is your first time attending a conference, it’s understandable if you feel somewhat overwhelmed trying to take it all in. With so much going on, it can be frustrating trying to figure out all the events that are happening, which ones are worth going to, and which ones aren’t.

While it really depends on your needs, I thought I’d throw together some good resources to look at that will help you make a sound decision and also help you prepare for one of the biggest conferences in the industry.

• First Timers Guide For Affiliate Summit East, written by co-founder of Affiliate Summit, Shawn Collins.
• Missy Ward, co-founder of Affiliate Summit, put together an amazing list of all the parties (or as she like to say “Pah-tays!”) that are happening at ASE 2009.
• 8 Ways to Get the Most Out of Affiliate Summit East – A guest post I wrote on Zac Johnson’s blog that will help prepare yourself for this year’s event to ensure that you make the most of your time there.
• The Real Secret to Successful Networking, by Neil Patel. A great post on how to effectively network at conferences.
• 27 Things To Do Before a Conference, and Be Sexier in Person by Chris Brogan. The first post is a great checklist to go through before any conference, and the second post gives some great advice on how to present yourself when going up to a new person at a conference.

Now that you have some good resources to look at before the conference, I wanted to highlight a few of the speakers/panels/events that I think will provide tons of value to you and are also ones I plan on attending as well.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

• Affiliate Meet Market: This event is going to be a great place to network, meet merchants, talk business, and close deals. I highly recommend you attend this if you are at ASE on Sunday. (12-6pm)
• Personal Branding 2.0: Led by well known blogger, Stephanie Agresta and Founder of Pop17, Sarah Austin, this discussion will provide some excellent tips on how to create, build, and enhance your personal brand. (1:30pm)
• SEO Site Clinic: Whether you are a beginner at SEO or you have a strong foundation, this Q&A session will give you the chance to grill the experts on any questions, concerns, or ideas you might have regarding SEO and achieving higher organic rankings. (3pm)
• Affiliate Summit Tweetup: Another great place to meet up with affiliates and tweeps for drinks, great conversation, and a chance to network and create new business opportunities. (9pm)

Monday, August 10, 2009

• Keynote: Chris Brogan: This is one keynote I’ve been looking forward to for a while. Chris always provides high quality presentations on community, social media, and using the two to grow your business. Definitely a MUST SEE! (9:45am)
• Social Media Marketing for Affiliates: This is going to be a great discussion on how to leverage Social Media to increase your site’s visibility, build links, drive traffic, and create great relationships along the way. I highly recommend this panel for affiliates that are bloggers, as well as those that use/want to use Social Media sites to drive traffic to their affiliate links. (2pm and also at 3pm)
• Organic Site Review: Have your site picked apart by a panel of SEO experts. (2pm)
• Advertising on Facebook: Hosted by Dennis Yu (Blitz local), Zac Johnson, Jeremy Schoemaker, and Alex Schultz (Facebook), you already know that this panel will contain lots of value for those looking to learn more about Facebook Ads and how capitalize on a network with over 100 million members. (3:30pm)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

• Keynote: Jim Kukral: I’ve been reading Jim’s blog for quite sometime and have always been impressed with his unique outlook on business, building relationships, and internet marketing. I’m definitely looking forward to this keynote. (10:00am)
• Profitable Performance Marketing: More Money For You: This panel will be filled with actionable items on how to use things like Social Media, negotiating, partnerships, and points of sale opportunities to increase your success and make more money! (11:30pm)
• Hot Topics in Marketing Compliance and Enforcement: The reason I encourage you to check out this panel is so that you are fully educated on all the legal issues facing affiliate marketers today. With all the changes that have happened over the last few months, it’s important that you do your due diligence so you are always 100% protected and informed. (2pm)
• GeekCast.fm Live!: If you’ve listened to the podcast before, you know the peeps over at GeekCast always provide tons of great information for affiliates that’s fresh, helpful, and inspiring. This panel should be no different. (3:15pm)

Well there you have it! A complete guide to Getting Your Summit On…If there is something I missed that you think will be really valuable for affiliates to attend or read before the conference, please share it in the comments section!

See you all at ASE and make sure you stop by the Cickbooth booth (#2217) and say hi!