Affiliate Summit West 2008

We love Affiliate Summit. And, if this were the movie "Summer School" we’d simply fill the rest of this page with a bunch of "very, very, very,…much" to reach our normal word limit. Intrepid readers shouldn’t let its 5.9 rating out of 10 dissuade you from watching "Summer School." Thinking about, the movie makes for an apt comparison of Affiliate Summit West held at the Rio Hotel from Sunday, February 24th through Tuesday, February 26th. Let’s start with the movie. For those unfamiliar with this late 1980’s B-Movie, the story holds remarkably true to its title. It focuses Mark Harmon, a high school gym teacher assigned that the very last second to teach summer school English to a particular cast of characters, with an emphasis on characters. Kirstie Alley stars as the love interest, so unlike Skinemax movies, this romantic comedy takes a much more platonic route. "Summer School" has immense flaws to go along with its loopy plot that requires much suspension of disbelief, but similarly it has a spirit and genuineness that movies costing hundreds of millions more cannot match, a fun approachability that makes the movie watchable time and again. The movie offers the visual equivalent of comfort food, something you turn to with frequency and nostalgia instead of their more upmarket equivalents that while truffled or dusted with any number of exotic ingredients serve a much more limited and infrequent need. When it comes to trade shows, our meat loaf and mashed potatoes, mac and cheese too, favorite is Affiliate Summit.

There are a lot of things Affiliate Summit is not, but focusing on those items assumes that Affiliate Summit wants to be those things. Apple Bee’s will never be The French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s Northern California gem that has only fifteen maybe sixteen tables and web sites dedicated to advising gourmands on ways to obtain a reservation. Then again, Apple Bees has no desire to compare with the likes of it or Le Bec Fin or any other number of other restaurants about which people rave. Apple Bees, Chilis, and the eight or so other chains that dot highways and newer strip malls appeal to the masses. They provide a welcome environment that doesn’t judge, intimidate, or in any other way remind the person they lack something that others at this restaurant might have. Baltimore offers the same charms. Fans of crab and crab cakes can find some of the best in this city, but those expecting or needing a haute couture environment in which to appreciate this feast, will find themselves dismayed at the locals that offer the best tasting examples. And, no matter in which venue you dine, it’s no bargain, much like the Affiliate Summit trade show. Like an Apple Bees or a good crab shack, at Affiliate Summit your money doesn’t go towards fine materials, impeccable presentation, or obsessing over the minutia. It’s comfortable and a little quirky, much like the venue itself, which made the jump from tear down ready Bally’s to "Summer School" weird Rio.

I love Affiliate Summit, but the Rio scared me. Perhaps it’s the off strip location that has it more exposed to the elements, or the large mask that haunts the ceiling of the Masquerade Village, but so much of the hotel felt like it was hanging on for dear life, more like the ghost of Carnival. Those performing, whether a seemingly impromptu performance on a small stage or the much larger multi-night production of stage dancers and their counterparts in ceiling, track-mounted, moving parade floats, had about as much energy, enthusiasm, and talent as Ms. Spears at the MTV Music Video Awards. For a place that sends its best gamblers to a sister casino, I suspect it’s all the talent can do to try and look happy. Given that the casino does host the Chippendales dancers, you might have thought, for these guys and everyone else’s sake, for a slightly more vibrant group of hotel goers (translation: not as old or ugly). Then again, this is the place with "The Buffet that everyone talks about." What exactly are they saying, I wonder; although, I imagine the buffet no doubt mirrors the rooms themselves – very large and decidedly lacking quality ingredients. The famed magic duo who perform at the Rio, Penn & Teller, couldn’t have made the room attractive or the couch comfortable. As an "All Suites" hotel, it did offer the requisite my-three year old made a Jackson Pollack style design that covers the quilts and dare we call them matching curtains. The small frosted glass window from the shower which allowed you to see out the Vegas skyline came in only second to the two paneled, free standing table-side food menu featuring Pizza Hut on the left and wine, including Dom Perignon on the right.

Once attendees traversed the winding corridor of Convention Way and stepped into the Exhibit Hall of Affiliate Summit, they entered a different Rio Hotel. Unlike the perhaps more maligned Bally’s, which hosted the show last year, the Rio has tremendous conference facilities. It’s easy to see why Shawn and Missy would choose it. Unlike the claustrophobic and Hall of Mirrors inspired Ad:Tech NYC trade show floor, this one felt like the DC Metro – clean, well thought out, and idiot proof. Perhaps due to the cathedral-high ceilings, the floor felt smaller than the total number of exhibitors might have implied. Any question as to the size of the event though disappeared after stepping into the adjacent seating area which housed lunch. During lunch, hardly a seat could be found in this vast array of ten-person circular tables, during which time only full conference attendees could enter. The whole area was a dream in which to spend time, a sentiment shared by a first time exhibitor who spoke quite nervously about the cost of attending. When asked on the second day how he felt, he beamed. Even without ideal placement or a super large booth, he said the show was more than worth it and proved to him the value of exhibiting. There is no better ringing endorsement than that and no better explanation for why again and again we call Affiliate Summit the 1+1 = 3 show, even with a few -1’s thrown in there. As for the Earn150kPerMonth or was it Earn150kMonthly.com guys, never mind. Check out the latter of those two domains. Why wasn’t he in the booth instead?