LinkShare Symposium 2007

The Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards and the LinkShare Symposium 2007 was held June 19-20, 2007, respectively, in New York City. These sold-out events brought together more than 650 affiliate marketing leaders.

The $350/person Golden Link Awards invitation-only event on June 19th featured formal attire and is the most glamorous event in affiliate marketing. Bringing together more than 300 affiliate marketing leaders, merchants and LinkShare executives and staff, it was held in the beautiful Cipriani in New York City and featured a luxurious mixture of dazzling awards and fine dining. Special guest host and Emmy Award winner Kevin Meaney provided entertainment before and during the awards presentation portion of the event.

The LinkShare Symposium, hosted at Chelsea Piers in New York City, included Golden Link Awards highlights, a welcome address from LinkShare President Steve Denton, a keynote address from Don Tapscott (best-selling author of Wikinomics), several panels and seminar sessions, a luncheon reception, and lots of networking opportunities including the Cocktail and Networking Reception. A 3-hour long LinkShare Symposium Boat Party was also available for a limited number who had registered in advance. The cruise provided a spectacular evening view of the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline.

LinkShare is well-known for their LinkShare DealMaker sessions. These sessions can be scheduled in advance and provide face-to-face opportunities for private meetings between affiliates and merchants. I feel they are extremely valuable to the success of the Symposium.

LinkShare knows how to throw a party and put on a classy event. The hours set aside for formal and informal networking made these events even more valuable. LinkShare has a lot of great talent on three continents. Their events are well organized and well-presented. I could heap compliments on many individuals within the company.

My only complaint about the Symposium was that I had to miss some of the panels and seminars to attend DealMaker sessions. I also felt that Kevin Meaney was less than stellar given that he was at an awards banquet and not an HBO comedy show. (When it takes profanity to get a laugh out of something then you’d better go back to the drawing board and find something that’s actually funny. Also, I felt he went beyond good taste in roasting Walmart.com who was an event sponsor and nominated for two awards.) In balance, though, Meaney about brought the house down with his hilarious “We Are the World” lip-sync using only his facial expressions and some glasses as props (see a similar rendition on YouTube).

I’m glad to have attended the LinkShare Symposium 2007 and all related events. I feel that LinkShare has been a driving force in bringing affiliate marketing to the place of global acceptance and prominence that we see today. I look forward to continuing to work with LinkShare and attending their future ndustry-leading events.

Here are a couple of scenic pictures I took during the Boat Party. A few more are posted on my company blog.