Purposeinc Affiliate Summit – Where to Roll?
I’m pumped about affiliate summit next week.
It’s a tougher, slicker, smarter crowd than most of the conferences.
If you are going to Affiliate Summit next week, please click on the link at the bottom of this and vote on what events you want me to organize.
Big thanks by the way to those kicking in to sponsor these events. So far we have the Barbara and Greg Boser at 3DogMedia, Danny DeMichele, Neel Greer, and Lyndon Reid.
I am picking Daniel Boulud in Vegas. (Wynn hotel still gets no links from me because you can’t link to specific pages).
I ate there with my wife on Christmas eve for her birthday and unreal food. It feels the way Vegas is supposed to feel. I think most restaurants are lousy for get togethers of large groups, because with big tables in between if there are more than 4 people, you can’t really meet new people easily.
The lounge at Boulud is super comfy, with lots of chairs and booths, and we should be able to pack in around 100 people before it feels crowded. I plan on getting their $30 burger which their NYC restaurant is famous for. The lounge has small tables, couches, chairs and a bar, so those who want to have a drink and eat can order and eat, and those who choose to just drink, can drink and still mingle. It has a very casual feel, so it will be very conducive to good talk, meeting new folks and talking business. It is also very upscale and comfortable where you will be comfortable sitting on the arm of an eating friends chair, staring at their girlfriend, and stealing one of their french fries. Just getting a drink here is totally o.k.
The place is downstairs below all the funny umbrellas right next to the lake. Take the curved escalator down and head to the right.
My first thought for Vegas was club X/S. They spent I believe 150 million dollars building it, and it is considered the hottest club in the world right now. I went there a few months ago with Andy Liu and hung out with his Seattle tech scene friends. This is also where I ran into Mark Wahlberg out in front. Just to get in and have a guaranteed place to sit, works out to be around $200 per person. Hot club, but of course loud as hell and not always the best place to talk.
All of the items on the survey are super flexible and people can just roll in and out. The exception is X/S which is we need to cover in advance so it will require an early commitment.
Affiliate Summit is so bad ass that it is literally exploding with parties. Some of my biggest sponsors are throwing parties of their own, so I don’t want to cross schedule over them, or at least as little as possible. If you have not been before, and are not already on the lists, then make sure to check in early at the booths of the companies throwing the parties and ask for an invite.
I am planning on doing some MMA training at Robert Drysdale’s studio if Robert is available, and possibly at one of the other gyms, Coutures with Randy or one of his guys, or TapOut with Shawn Tompkins depending on who is available. If you want to come and train with us, totally beginner stuff, fire me an e-mail so I can put you on the invite list. Expect to pay around $100 per person. (dk (at) Purpose Inc (dot) com
Please follow the link below to the survey, and let me know what sounds good.
The Conference about Us
Pamela Lund once said to me something like the day that Loren Feldman and myself are both in a room, the walls were going to cave in because of the noise. I haven’t met Loren yet, but his online stuff is funny, and he is quite loud and not afraid to speak his mind. But wait a second, I’ve been told the same thing!
I’ve been hearing wisps of this Audience conference, but really did not get it until I just read Shoemoney’s blog. It sounds amazing. I love the fact that it is intimate. I love the fact that there is no where to put your computer or write notes easily. I love the fact that is has some of the biggest and the best in the business, in the type of setting that will tilt them just a little bit and allow some of their juice to spill out in a different direction than the usual talks.
With Loren’s creativity I can only imagine what else he has in store.
Just the idea of Shoemoney on a theatrical stage if fantastic in itself. The guy is naturally very theatrical, and the setting is perfect for him. I just wish that Jeremy was going to sing too!
The event is very affordable, only $399. I honestly just clicked back to verify that is was that inexpensive and it is.
The Audience Conference is another wonderful example of what we can do when we don’t give a crap about badges, exibitor tables, or conference centers. I just love the idea of finding another unique way to connect the people to the speakers on the subject we all hold dear, the audience!
I just noticed that in addition to having Tech Crunch founder, Shoemoney and T.V. celebs, they are going to have things like a funky harp group playing as well. I love a good juxtoposition!
Not that most people would get it, but this event is literally historical in what it is doing.
I am actually quite excited, just to find out what happens!
Wish Jaime could go with me!
Back when I was taking the prep classes to get into chiropractic college, there was a guy named Jaime who worked the reception desk there, and went to the chiropractic college. He claimed for the entire year I knew him, with a dead straight face that he was in the Michael Jackson video Beat It, and you could see him as the first one who broke away from the group at the end. He also wanted to go to the Playboy mansion. This I am sure about.
Each time I would see Jaime, on a Tuesday I believe, he would tell me about his plans the upcoming week, and the progress he had made during the weekend on his master plan. There were low level celebrities involved, hustling bartenders for introductions, and carefully placing himself around hot chicks so that he could appear cool to the right people at the right time. (I learned a lot about marketing from him L.O.L.)
As a kid, and maybe still, I was entranced by the entire playboy story. The mystique of what happens behind the closed doors, still to this day, leaves me wondering.
Last year when I was talking to Michael Sprouse about Azoogles marketing for this coming year, we discussed Azoogle having an event of their own. And boy oh boy are they. Michael used to be an integral part of the Playboy company before coming to Azoogle, so he is in a position to set something up, that no one else could even imagine trying to pull off.
So what do you need to get in? Just sell some of Azoogle’s affiliate offers, (enough to win). Click on any of the bunnies above, and it will take you the page to read all about it.
I am absolutely thrilled to get to go, so keep an eye on this blog just before the thinktank to see the pics! Shoe will be going too. Click on the bunnies above to find out how to join us!
Glimpes of Elite Retreat
Glimpses from the Elite Retreat, a blurry eyed, quick review of some of my memories.
(Full facebook write up coming soon!) (Pics from We Build Pages field trip to Facebook Below)
Eating at one perfect restaurant after another in Napa, Martini House, Carneros, Bouchon, and on and on over Valentines.
Knowing all the insiders were at Scott Richter’s cocktail party and getting a flat tire on the way back from Facebook.
Realizing I was going to be stuck in the rain waiting for AAA, and getting sushi, pizza, and playing pinball at the pizza place.
Showing up late at Hotel Vitale for Scott Richter’s cocktail party.
Hanging with some of the best people in the world.
Hearing some of Scott Richter’s numbers and having my head spin.
Remembering where I first saw Scott on the Daily Show.
Gary Vaynerchuk answering someones question about who his mentor is, Gary said approximately, “I look in the mirror and say, You are awesome!, then Let’s Go!”
Sitting and talking for an hour with Brian Norgard about my skill set and contacts and what I can do with it, and him uttering simple words of genius.
Being thrilled to hear both Gary V., Brian Norgard, and Michael Brito bring up quality and integrity in marketing and it being the long term play. Remember, these guys were hand picked by Shoe to speak at E.R.
Michael doing a video of me walking through the Elite Retreat.
George at GetAds throwing an amazing party at Waterbar for everyone, buying a world class dinner, best I had all week for all attendees and their guests. George started up the company last year and if you knew the numbers they were hitting after just a few months it would blow your mind. George also is an ex professional hockey player, having played for the ducks and other teams. Him and Scott Richter grew up playing hockey together in Denver.
Justin Goff and Chris Winfield won best hair award.
Chris Jones from Pepperjam buying some extra 6 packs of beer to take on the bus after facebook. (It was legal.) Being impressed by Chris Jones book and how well it is selling.
Standing on the top of the Vitale with an open bar, great food, and an amazing view of the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, and a blimp.
The whole downstairs of Boulevard the top rated restaurant in San Francisco set aside for us for dinner, hearing the stories of Jeremy Hermans childhood traveling through Papa New Guinea and hanging out with cannibals.
Having an hour and a half with Andy Liu who rode shotgun with me when I went to the Airport to switch Subarbans. Realizing he is now in the background of Fail Blog, which is probably my second favorite site on the web.
Watching Nate Whitehill of Unique Blog Designs busting out a hilarious custom theme with a retro 70’s look with a Unicorn, Rainbow and my suggestion, a Leprecon.Hanging out with my wife at the Vitale bar on Saturday night, and within an hour having Slaven, Ari, Chris, Jim and a bevy of girls turning the bar into our own private party. Being the last one to go to sleep on Thursday and Friday night.
Facebook on Friday was life changing for many of us. Get in now or miss out, that’s all I can say.
Being so blurry eyed tired by Sunday on the drive home that I had to pull over and fell asleep in broad daylight in a gas station parking lot.
A lovely drive home with the wife while she did her Italian homework, snacking on good breads, fruit and Cowgirl Creamery cheeses from the Ferry Building in San Fran.
Just being super appreciative of Shoe for creating a masterful event of fun, brilliance, money, business and love. Trainsignal Scott and Search Engine Commander Scott giving me an impropmtu focus group on the ThinkTank and what it should become.
Neil pulling more crazy stuff in more crazy ways involving so many different people that an entire blog could be devoted just to his highjinx.
dk and Shoe at facebook
There is no way I could ever write everything that was packed into those days. It was nonstop for 20 hours per day, no time to sleep or you might miss out. It is like a speeding train, going around the corners on two wheels and nobody wants it to stop. If you can find a way to ever get to attend an Elite Retreat or the ThinkTank, then you don’t want to miss it. Whew!
How to Get Invited to the Insider Dinner? – Throw It Yourself
Left to Right - Jo Klein, Rand Fishkin, Lauren "street fighter" Vaccarello, Geraldine Fishkin, dk, Todd Malicoat
Two years back when I went to Pubcon, I desperately wanted to be on the insider invite list so I could get invited to the insider dinner with the big shots. At any of the internet conferences, there’s a series of private events that you probably won’t even hear about and very few people get invited to. I used to hear about these private parties and small dinners, and wish that I would be one of the people who got invited. I finally figured out how to solve the problem. Throw the dinner yourself.
Saturday, I had dinner with Todd Malicoat, Lauren Vaccarello, Rand Fishkin and Geraldine, Rand’s wife. We all got together, and I was going to take them to a new Mexican place in San Diego, and found out that they already had fish tacos, of which Todd Malicoat is a huge fan, for lunch. So, I talked to the concierge at the Westin and had them recommend a great restaurant, and off we went to Rama Thai Food.
Lauren started getting excited when reading the menu, so I let her along with Rand do most of the ordering.
The dinner was amazing, the crowd was brilliant, my wife, Jo, came along, and hilarious, amazing and funny stories exchanged for hours. By the time we’ve gotten up, we’ve been sitting on the table for about 3 hours, and it felt like only 15 minutes have gone by.
The great thing about dinners like this is that you get the chance to really become friends with leaders of the industry. It’s unlikely that you’re going to get the biggest names in the industry to want to come have dinner with you if you haven’t acomplished much yet, but by being a good friend, being helpful, and following the basic rules of being a person, being polite, and being nice, you can slowly gain friendships with people in the industry over time. You may be surprised who will accept your invitation.
One of the big secrets to all of this is keeping secrets. Things get disclosed to every one of these insider dinners that can cause different individuals a lot of effort and a lot of money. So, in order to be invited back a second time or have people be willing to accept the invitation a second time is to learn how to be quiet at the right times, and how to take the information that’s given to you and keep it absolutely private and locked away in a safe place.
The whole game of the insider information reminds me almost of a bunch of james bond type operatives. Little bits of information can cause people to make or lost vast sums of money. Sometimes the really big shots will give you little bits of info to help you in your goals.
Sometimes the big shots can use this info to gain advantage, stop someones action or work together to accomplish some amazing things.
By the way at this particular dinner, nothing got exposed except everyone’s propensity for repeating the same bad jokes over, and over and over again!
I’ve wanted to get to hang out with Rand a bit for a long time. He is one of the nicest, most positive people I have seen in the industry. By the way, if you ever need really high end copywriting done, Geraldine is brilliant with words. Some of the jokes she made were so subtle, so complex, and just fricken ridiculous that it blew me away!
It’s amazing how when you look at the people at the top of this industry, you’ll consistently find the nicest, friendliest, and smartest people that I’ve ever met anywhere. It’s an industry that tends to reward brilliance, friendship and warmth. More so than in any other industry I’ve ever seen. The people who are on the inside help each other a lot and in fact, it’s very difficult to really be successful online, unless you have a circle of good friends.
Aaron Kahlow’s Online Marketing Summit
I have gotten to spend the last two days at a way fun conference in sunny, (or rainy at the moment), San Diego.
Aaron Kahlow threw the Online Marketing Summit this weekend.
At first I was a little unsure about this event. After all it takes place in San Diego, and other than hearing about it once, I had never heard my circle of internet friends mention it.
It is very different than Pubcon, SES, or the Elite Retreat. I have found myself really digging it.
It is a nice size, with maybe 300 or 400 people I am guessing.
The weird thing for me was showing up for the Keynote and really studying the crowd and finding exactly 0 people that I recognized. If it was a room at Pubcon or SES or Affiliate Summit I might know 5% of the room, or at at least a few people.
There have been fun touches like Jamba Juice on the breaks and bags of pretzels and what not.
The nicest touch was tonight when after dinner I went to meet Rand Fishkin, his wife Geraldine, Lauren Vaccarelloand Todd Malicoat on the top of the Ivy, behind the velvet ropes and all that. The bouncers were hesitating to let me in and Aaron left his party and came down personally to make sure I got in. Very cool, very personal, and won’t be forgotten.
It was really interesting for me too to look at Aarons facebook page.
He has over 1200 friends with only 9 in common with me. Take Shoe’s facebook page with his 1500 friends, I have about 10% in common. It is simply a really different crowd.
The highlight for me of the conference was dinner tonight with Rand Fishkin, Todd Malicoat, Geraldine Rand’s wife and Lauren a brilliant SEO and tough street fighter (She did the fight club at the Couture Gym in Vegas!) We had killer Thai Food to die for!
The other nice surprise was hearing Tim Ash speak. He graciously ripped one of my sites apart in front of 100 people to point out how to improve the landing page. As he spoke, he imediately impressed me with his knowledge of landing page optimization. In a perfect example of marketing that could not ever have been purchased, but happened because of hard work, the following happened.
Sitting behind me was a guy who I struck up a conversation with after the talk. We realized we both train occasionally at the Couture Gym in Vegas, and that he had just had a lesson from Joey Varner. If someone has the guts to train at the Couture gym, it tells me a lot. It is the kind of place where if you are a poser or of poor morals, you will never survive. 
You don’t have to be a great fighter to train there, but you do have to be respectful and polite in the presence of the great fighters who are there. This told me a lot about my new friend.
This guy behind me in the talk was sharp and quick and when asked told me about the online marketing company he works in and I believe directs. He went on to tell me that Tim Ash had come into their company to train the online marketing guys. When he was done the oline marketing guys applied what they learned to the clients sites. I asked this guy behind me what happened, and he said the clients results all improved as a result. He then told me that what Tim taught them was basically contained in Tim’s book Landing Page Optimization. Luckily Tim gave me a copy that is sitting next to me now. I plan on studying it immediately.
This was a perfect example of excellent marketing on every level.
Great event, and a bargain. There is definitely something for the novice and expert.
Aaron thank you for a great time!
