Top 5 Must See Sessions at Affiliate Summit

Affiliate Summit East is only a week away and the conference has grown quite a bit. Before you get lost in the conference chaos and inevitable Boston pub crawls, I thought I should give my top five picks for sessions you can’t afford to miss:

1)NY Tax Laws – Issues and Solutions

The so-called Amazon Tax has set the industry abuzz since it ambushed everyone in May.Since then several legal challenges have been launched against the law with Amazon itself weighing in. On a more grassroots basis, New York affiliates have come together to try to provide mutual support and discuss strategies to overcome the impact of the law. Whether you are a New York affiliate or an affiliate in another state the fallout from this ruling is bound to impact you. Same goes for merchants, especially since states like Texas are considering similar laws. I also have to wonder about merchants who are using one of the dozens of CPA networks in conjunction with the more traditional affiliate channel and how this tax might impact them.

The session should be quite informative with Google Affiliate Network, a lawyer specializing in internet law and NY Affiliate Voice all participating.

Panelists include:

-Melaine Seery, Affiliate from NY Affiliate Voice
-Chris Henger , Group Product Manager, Google Affiliate Network
-Clarke D. Walton, Internet Lawyer, Walton Law Firm, P.C.
-Kim Rodgers, Affiliate Manager, 4Checks.com
-Adam Riemer, Director of Marketing and Client Relations, Downtown Ecommerce Partners

2)Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing

If it wasn’t for the timeliness of the Amazon Tax, this session would have been my number 1 pick. It almost feels like a heavyweight fight.Very few in our industry don’t have an opinion about this topic and many have made it out to be a good v. evil contest between the vocal constituency at ABestWeb.com versus the aggressive sales tactics of certain affiliates.

Despite the billing I don’t see things as black and white. Personally, rather than this falling into a session of verbal fireworks, I would like to see an in-depth discussion of the issues at hand. I think few are more qualified than this panel to delve into topics beyond the emotional response in order to get to the heart of the matter. Whatever your opinion, be it laissez-faire or the ethical high road, this is not a session to miss.

Panelists include:

-Haiko de Poel Jr, Owner, ABestWeb
-Paul Nichols, Director of Sales, Ebates
-Brian Littleton, President/CEO, ShareASale
-Michel Jones, COO, Pepperjam
-Connie Berg, CEO, FlamingoWorld
-Chuck Hamrick, Affiliate Manager, AffiliateCREW

3)Performance Marketing Alliance Q&A

In many ways my number 3 pick can be seen as logical fallout from my first two picks. The Performance Marketing Alliance was born out of a long standing need for an industry association and the catalyst of the Amazon Tax. Since its birth some very public and bitter fights have broken out on various forums, including ABW, about the purpose of such an agency. Factions seemed to pop up everywhere, egos were bruised, and very unprofessional attitudes were displayed. Of course, the ubiquitous conspiracy theories regarding the “true” purpose of such an association followed.

At the center of that storm has been Rebecca Madigan, who has taken on the administrative tasks of putting such an organization together. Hopefully this session will provide a productive forum to discuss concerns and clarify the purpose of the association.

Panelist:

-Rebecca Madigan, Performance Marketing Alliance

4)How Social Media is Changing Affiliate Marketing

Well, my first three picks were kind of heavy however, this one is focused on what I believe will drive a lot of growth in our industry. I think you would be hard pressed to pick a group more in tuned to what’s hot, and more importantly what works, in the social media space than this panel. They are a bit of a dream team: Chris Brogan or Stephanie Agresta could hold a session all by themselves; the fact that Rob Key and Ted Murphy are in the mix just makes it that much more relevant for merchants.

If you are a merchant planning to launch a social media campaign or an affiliate planning to employ social media tactics then this is a session not to miss.

Panelist include:

-Chris Brogan, VP Strategy & Technology, CrossTech Media
-Rob Key, CEO, Converseon
-Stephanie Agresta, Owner, Internet Geek Girl
-Ted Murphy, Founder / CEO, IZEA

5)State of the Ad Networks

There are plenty of changes in the options and tactics merchants can employ in online advertising. One of the biggest has been the slow transition of display inventory moving from the traditional CPM model to a CPA or CPV model. Much of this change was driven by the success of companies like DrivePM. Ad networks have plenty of new opportunities, publishers and merchants alike. The fact that Todd Crawford is moderating this session just means that it will be insightful and filled with some razor sharp wit.

Panelists include:

-Todd Crawford, Owner, ToddTalks
-Aleck Schleider, VP of Marketing, AOL’s Platform-A Division
-Bob King, CEO, ClickBank
-Don Mathis, President, Epic Advertising
-Michael Jenkins, CEO/Founder, MarketLeverage

That’s the rundown of my picks for Affiliate Summit East in Boston. What sessions are you looking forward to?

About Angel Djambazov

Born in Bulgaria, Angel Djambazov has spent his professional career in the fields of journalism and online marketing. In his journalistic career he worked as an editor on several newspapers and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Wyoming Homes and Living Magazine. Later his career path led to online marketing where while working at OnlineShoes he earned the Affiliate Manager of the Year (2006) award at the Affiliate Summit, and In-house Manager of the Year (2006) award by ABestWeb.

For four years Angel served as OPM for Jones Soda for which he won his second Affiliate Manger of the Year (2009) award at Affiliate Summit.

Currently Angel serves as OPM for KEEN Footwear and MedicalRecords.com. His former clients include: Dell, Real Networks, Jones Soda, Intelius, Graphicly, Chrome Bags, Onlineshoes.com, Vitamin Angels, The Safecig, and Bag Borrow or Steal.

Angel is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher for ReveNews.com and ReveNews.org.

Angel lives north of Seattle, spending his free time reading up on obscure scientific references made by his wife MGX, while keeping up with a horde of cats and a library of books.

You can find Angel on Twitter @djambazov.

Website: http://www.revenews.com