In typical OffWhiteHat fashion, I traveled to Las Vegas for Affiliate Summit, partied the entire time, and did very little of anything that could be construed as business if I am ever audited for the expenses.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to show up until about 2am Sunday night (Monday morning), so I missed all of the awesome festivities that night. I did however do some gamblin’.

On Monday, I met lots of interesting folks in the exhibit hall and saw some familiar faces. Among some of the coolest peeps that I can remember were the awesome possums from W4 and Audi from Convert2Media who kept the Blue Moon flowing. Here is the one and only photo I took in the exhibit hall, which I feel captures the essence of what was going on at the C2M booth:

Blue Moon!

The Affiliate Ball

Monday night was the night of the Affiliate Ball at the Crown Theater in the Rio. It would be my very first Affiliate Ball. For whatever reason, in past years I have found myself at other events while Affiliate Balls were going on. As the Affiliate Ball conflicted with the party at the Spearmint Rhino hosted by Ads4Dough this time, I was torn. Ultimately, my desire to relive my youth prevailed, and we headed to the Affiliate Ball eager to see the headlining act…none other than Nelly himself.

Darren, the man behind the event, was kind enough to give VIP bands to myself and mah woman. These bands gave you access to the VIP area that had free booze and a little more breathing room.

There were a couple openers, including Wickedfire’s own RobHustle. He did a bang up job. We took a photo together after at some point. I hope he posts it, and I hope my hair looks good.

I didn’t even notice when Nelly had taken the stage. At some point I looked up from my drink and was like, whoa, Nelly is on stage. He performed just about every song you can remember of his and then some. This was surprising as many were speculating that he would only do like one or two songs. The crowd, however, did not seem particularly impressed. While there were some very psyched people at the base of the stage, I got a vibe from the rest of the place that they were just not that excited. I guess internet nerds are too cool for Nelly. Whatever. I thought it was awesome.

Here are some pictures taken in there. Quality isn’t the best, as I still insist on pretending that my Blackberry is a real camera:

Me and mah woman

Josh Ziering aka Enigmabomb & me

Nelly on stage

From there, the lady and I gambled a bit at the Rio. As soon as we got two fresh drinks, we headed to the car, where she was in charge of making sure they didn’t spill while I drove us back to the Mirage.  At the Mirage, more gambling and much more drinking occurred. Also, sandwiches.

Unfortunately I didn’t even make it back to the conference the next day. It’s no fun when you have a 4 hour drive ahead of you. Maybe one of these years I’ll fly.

So, yeah, that’s about it. Affiliate Summit was fun as ever. I only wish I would have got there earlier.

Oh, almost forgot, one more pic:

Told you it would come out in the dark, bro

Howz about a little update?

Just yesterday I returned home from a pretty dang fun New Year’s (and then some) trip to London and surrounding areas. It was quite wild, if I do say so myself. I was in the company of a dear friend of mine who actually has a nifty travel blog. His adventures are generally much more exciting than mine, so if you’re into that sort of thing, you should check it out.

Here are some choice photos from my journey (taken with my high-tech Blackberry Bold 9900):

Me in Picadilly Circus

Happy New Year

The hustle and bustle of Cardiff, Wales on a weeknight

Goin' home (business class cause I'm a srs businessman)

Now I only have a couple days to rest before I must drive out to Las Vegas to do further irreversible damage to my body. This will be my fourth consecutive Affiliate Summit West. Crazy how time flies! Seeing as how I didn’t book my hotel until last night, I’ll be at the Mirage. Room number available upon request (send nudes first, plz).

See you there!

Generally, Affiliate Summit West is the only large-scale conference I bother attending in any given year. However, this month I just needed to get my nerd conference fix. Sure, there is Affiliate Summit East, but that’s in NYC, and I just got back from NYC last month. Also, I needed an excuse to go to Vegas (just a few days after my last Vegas trip). The solution? Black Hat!

True, the conference has pretty much absolutely nothing to do with internet marketing. But…it’s got a lot to do with internet! It would be prudent of all of us to stay up to date with the latest news in cyber security, seeing as how we are all flourishing in this space, right? So, I made the 3hr and 50min drive out to Vegas (got up to 122mph near stateline) and checked it out.

Things that I Liked

Caesar’s Palace
Not the greatest spot on the strip, sure, but it’s up there.The convention area is top-notch. A friend of mine who also attended opened up a tab at the little round bar by the casino one night and we all went nuts. Thanks, buddy. Sometimes you have to make your own open bars.

The Exhibit Hall
My only real basis for comparison is Affiliate Summit. Well, in contrast, the Black Hat exhibit hall is much smaller, maybe a quarter or even a fifth of the size. Unlike Affiliate Summit, there was no beer to be found. Why is this listed under things I like? Well, the people from the various security companies were actually incredibly friendly. Also, the conference issued these little stamp booklets to black hatters which you could use to go to participating booths and get them stamped (in exchange for them scanning your badge). Completed booklets would be eligible for prize drawings. Seemed like a really smart incentive to get people visiting and interacting with more booths. It also seemed kind of fun, since you had to hunt down the booths you needed.

Blackberry Security
You guys were awesome. Even though you couldn’t help me charge my phone, you were still the best booth in the room. I will cherish my flashlight keychain forever.

Lisa @ Lunch
Lunch was provided in one of the conference rooms, banquet style. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. However, a young woman named Lisa that was serving us was phenomenal. She was extremely friendly and helpful. We requested coffee, and even though it was provided already in the hallway (unbeknownst to us), she managed to dig up a pot and some cups for us in the back. The coffee was actually incredible. Someone should give Lisa a promotion. Lisa might actually be my favorite thing about Black Hat.

Things that I Did Not Like

The Dude that Checked me in
…was a dick. Actually he didn’t even check me in, he said I had to come back after 4pm, but he was a dick about it.

Dell/Qualys Party at The Bank @ Bellagio (aka The Absolut Cloud Party)
Their invite system was pretty cool. You had to visit each respective booth (Dell and Qualys) and get a stamp on your little party card, then when you had both stamps, they would give you a wristband. However, the party itself was not so cool. A couple of friends and myself did our darndest to accurately calculate the male to female ratio. Our best guess, and I am being totally honest and not trying to exaggerate in the slightest bit, was about 20:1. That is including club employees. To make matters worse, the bar was only sort of “open.” I first ordered a Tanqueray 10 martini, and was quickly informed that 1) Tanqueray 10 was not on the menu, and 2) Martinis were not on the menu. So, I drank Tanqueray + tonics all night. Still, not the worst drink the world.

I’m not trying to complain about the quality of the free booze. Well, I guess I am. Perhaps I am just spoiled by the excess of Affiliate Summit parties. Maybe that is not a fair basis of comparison…but that’s all I’ve really got! Plus, this thing was in Vegas. How can you expect me to not be confused?

The Badges
They were pretty dumb looking. That is an area that could really use some improvement.

—-

I didn’t stick around for DefCon. From what I hear, it was way better than Black Hat, but I really have no idea.

All in all, it was worth the visit. I can’t say I learned a whole lot about cyber security, but I did win like $850 bucks on craps at the Bellagio. I’d call it a successful trip. I’m sure that those who were spending all day at the trainings/briefings must have been getting something out of it as well.

Well, I’ve been home since Tuesday, but drinking/partying for nearly 5 days straight pretty much destroyed my immune system and I immediately got incredibly sick once I got home. I’m finally feeling a bit better now.

As far as I’m concerned, this was the best Affiliate Summit yet. I spent more time both in the conference area and at conference related parties than I think I ever have before.

Here are some pictures to prove that I showed up:

Gratuitous exhibit hall pic.


With the Patron girls at the Saveology booth.


At the Shareasale 10 year anniversary party at Tryst nightclub. Great party.


Amanda Orson (aka phillian) and myself at the Zen Mansion party put on by Wickedfire and Elite Clicks Media.


With Lauren (aka Turbolapp) and Josh “EnigmaPhotoBomb” Ziering, also at the Zen Mansion.

Srsly don’t even try to hate on my scarf.

Sorry, no pictures of the A4D “Dough for Hoes” party at the Spearmin Rhino. But I heard it was a great party.

Non-pictured highlights:

• •Morgan (aka HeavyT) threatening strangers at Parasol bar with bodily harm
• •Rob(aka Bofu2U)’s antics after enough jager bombs to kill a mortal man
• •Random CES guy tipping me $200 for a favorable roll at the craps table
• •Losing Rob somewhere in exhibit hall, getting text from him soon after that read: I iz in a limo moths fucka layin down and shit
• •Emergency Blankets

If you didn’t make it out this year, shame on you. It was a hoot and a half. I actually attended a few of the sessions this year, and even TOOK NOTES, so maybe I’ll make another post about useful stuff once I have made a full recovery.

See you next time.

In exactly two months it will be time to make the short trip out of Los Angeles, through the desert, and into the magical oasis of Las Vegas for Affiliate Summit West, the only affiliate marketing conference you need concern yourself with (because it’s the only one I really go to).

I was going to put these codes at the end of this post, but then I figured I shouldn’t punish the people that actually read my posts and reward the ones that just scrolled down to get the codes, since they would get them way faster…and there are only three! So act fast. Each one of these codes is good for one GOLD registration. Please note that these passes are not transferable, and if you register and then no-show, you won’t be eligible for complimentary passes in the future. Also, if the event somehow sells out before these three promo codes are used, they will become invalid. Without further adieu…

Gold pass promo codes:

1. ASW11OWH1
2. ASW11OWH2
3. ASW11OWH3

Register here. If the code doesn’t work, that means some jerk beat you to the punch.

I hope I just saved you $549 with them codes. Wish I could have given out more passes. In case you were wondering, the gold pass includes: Admission to meet market, exhibit hall, keynotes, Sunday educational sessions (minus the Monetize Summit track); access to all recorded session videos; PowerPoint presentations; and Affiliate Summit Social Network. Does not include Monday and Tuesday sessions.

If you have followed my blog for a while, you’ll know I had a good old time in 2009 as well as 2010 at previous ASW shows.

This year is expected to be better than ever, for several reasons. One reason in particular that I’m quite excited about is the change of venue. Prior to this year, ASW has called The Rio its home. Nothing against The Rio or anything…but this year the conference is being held at The Wynn, which of course is one of the nicest resorts this side of the Prime Meridian.

Why the Hell Should I Go?
I hear this question a lot. I also answered it recently in a thread on Wickedfire. To sum it up, there are a ton of benefits associated with attending, but in my opinion, these are the most important:

• • Seeing the world and scope of internet marketing in real life
• • Making invaluable contacts
• • Free booze
• • I’ll be there, silly

Sure, you may pick up a couple things in the sessions that hadn’t occurred to you before, or get inspired with a new idea for your business, but don’t expect attending the conference to somehow push you into a new tax bracket overnight. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this show to anyone that takes their business seriously.

If you’d like to hang out with little old me at the conference, you can most likely find me at the Parasol Down bar…or screaming at some poor lady in the casino cage about needing another marker. See you there!

I am now home safe and sound from ASW in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I missed the beginning of the show, but the time I did spend there was of course fantastic.

Were you there? Yes? No?? Well, I will now take you there. Here are some photos I took in the exhibit hall, for your enjoyment:

As you can see, the Exhibit Hall was alive with the hustle and bustle of the internet marketing community.

Here I am with Mr. Ralph Ruckman, co-owner of Convert2Media, a network you should already know about, if you know what’s what. Yes, those are complimentary beers in the background. Yes, I took advantage of this.

And here I am with Mr. Daniel Bisacco, my AM over at Copeac (one of my favorite AMs…don’t tell anybody). Please forgive the goofy look on my face. I was just that happy to see him.

All in all, although my time at ASW this year was brief, it was definitely a success. After dropping business cards in so many bowls in the exhibit hall, it is now only a matter of time before the phone calls to alert me about my prize winnings start rolling in. Actually, some dude I was playing roulette next to at the Rio won a Macbook Air at the conference. He must have cheated and dropped two cards.

Last year, I traveled to Vegas with my buddy Lucas and his cousin who was visiting from Argentina. This year it was just Lucas and myself. We managed to have a pretty good time in Las Vegas, despite the cold weather and generally quiet time of year. We drunkenly did so well on roulette and blackjack that in total we ended up only spending about $90 on the entire trip. Including this bad ass suite at the Luxor and the overpriced room service on the table:

Yes, I am cheers-ing him with a shrimp.

Remind me to write off that 90 bucks.

See you in New York.

Well, I am home and safe and sound from Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas, NV. There are still trace amounts of booze in my system but I am sober for the most part.

To be honest, I probably spent about an hour at the actual Summit. If they really wanted me to be more involved, maybe they shouldn’t hold the thing in the most distracting city in the world. I spent the vast majority of my time drinking and swearing like a sailor as well as donating large amounts of cash to various casinos.

Sunday and Monday night were the highlights, due to the fantastic open bar events. Traveling with my partners in crime, Lucas and Franco, we headed out Sunday night in search of this mysterious “Red Rock Mansion”. Here we are attempting to hail a cab. Lucas is the seemingly already drunk one drinking that disgusting Miller High Life, and I am behind him.

Thanks to our awesome cab driver, Ritchie (from Long Beach!), we managed to find the Red Rock Mansion. Actually also thanks to Crack who got the address for me. The venue was in a residential neighborhood and pretty low profile from the street.

So, when we finally got there, we were greeted with complimentary cigars. What a nice touch! Here is myself and Franco living the life with our cigars and some sort of grey goose concoction.

I got to meet lots of people that I know from Wickedifre/Cakes Chat, which is awesome. More than I can really remember actually. Something about free booze makes me drink at an absurd pace. I kinda feel like we left this party prematurely, but my gambling itch just needed to be scratched. Since we had got Ritchie the cabby’s phone number (since we knew we wouldn’t find a better cab driver), we called him and had him come chauffer us over to Fremont St (old school Vegas!).

After Fremont St robbed me blind, we drunkenly stumbled into some foreign non-Ritchie cab driven by a woman, and headed back to the hotel.

Monday I popped into the convention to see what was going down, and also to snag a bunch of beers from Max Bounty. I should probably sign up with them now…I’m sure I’ll get around to that. Tangy was hanging out at the Shoemoney exhibit thingy. He appeared to somehow be equally as drunk as he was the night before. Impressive! No pictures though. After all, I had just rolled out of bed and had yet to do my hair.

I heard a lot of people talking about how they were burned by Copeac and didn’t get an invite to their fancy exclusive party at the Sky Villa Suite at the Palms. I had no hard feelings towards them, however, mainly because I was invited. Heh! However, I really wanted to show Lucas and Franco a good time. Lucas is a great designer, but doesn’t have much to do with affiliate marketing. Franco hardly speaks English (he is visiting from Argentina). How was I supposed to get them in?

Well, pretty easy. We just strolled in around 9:30 and hung out. Thank you everyone for your kind hearts and hospitality. Here is some documentation of all the fun we had:

I probably should have taken more pictures. If anything, it would probably jolt my memory and help me remember all the stuff that happened that I’ve completely forgotten about. There are still some folks that I didn’t get to meet in person, but hopefully next time I won’t be so preoccupied with abusing my liver and more proactive in the meet and greet department.

Until next time…

Since I planned to head to this year’s western Affiliate Summit with two of my cohorts who are considerably less interested in the summit and substantially more interested in the debauchery of Las Vegas as well as the deep weekday discounts, I was not able to arrive at the start of the conference yesterday. However, fear not, I will be leaving in a matter of hours for Sin City.

My suitcase is open on my bed, half packed, and my cat is resting comfortably on top of my clean clothes. Oh, to be a cat.

With all the free passes that were going around this year, I decided that the best method of obtaining a pass to ASW would be to snag one of the freebies. It is for this reason that I am relegated to my Silver pass. There are some restrictions that come along with having such an economy pass, but none that I feel will remotely affect my experience (at least not significantly). After all, networking doesn’t happen in panels. It happens in bars. Preferably the “strip” variety. Yes, I’m talking about bars on the strip.

I will surely report upon my return on Tuesday.