Affiliate Summit in Vegas is just a few days away. Not only does this mean thousands of internet marketing will be flocking towards the same destination to connect, network and learn some insider tips, but it also means some of the biggest industry parties of the year are going to soon take place.

Whether it’s your first or 10th Affiliate Summit conference, it’s important to understand the value in attending network parties and not just having a killer time. Every attendee should know the top tips for get the most out of Affiliate Summit.

Before shipping off to Vegas in the next few days, remember these pointers when attending your favorite conference events and parties.

Meet with the Big Wigs of Online Marketing

As mentioned, there are thousands of attendees at Affiliate Summit conferences and you might not get a chance to meet up with everyone you planned to. Fortunately the biggest attractions at these events are the after parties. You never know who you might be standing next to, so make sure you have a pocket full of business cards and your iPhone camera ready!

Experience Events that Would Usually Cost You $1,000

There aren’t many other jobs or industries where you could go to a conference events and enjoy the whole time you are then. Even more crazy is the thought that you could attend killer parties that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and have celebrity names and music artists performing at them!

Unlimited Free Food and Drinks

To go along side with having a great time at huge parties that you get free access too, you also will get to experience nearly an unlimited amount of free food and drinks during the parties. Once the parties end it’s not over. Networks love to have their own private dinners through out the conference days.

Form Better Relationships with Sponsors & Networks

The ad networks have all the money and they are willing to sponsor up with other big name networks to make these killer parties possible. In the end the ad networks want to help make more money for all of their party attendees. Don’t forget to take the time to talk with some people from the companies hosting the parties and how you can get hooked up with some nice payouts and tips on how to run their best offers.

Motivation to Get the VIP Treatment!

Why is every one going to Affiliate Summit in the first place? To better themselves and their business of course. With ad networks spending all of this money on mega parties for everyone to attend, imagine how they treat their top affiliates and partners!

Take what you learn this year at Affiliate Summit and come back even more excited and motivated then ever. Not only will your motivation be to improve your business and make more money next year, but you might even make the VIP list at many of next year’s conference parties and events.

This year’s Affiliate Nation party is definitely one that should be on your list. ClickBooth, CPAWay and MaxBounty have all partnered up as the major co-sponsors of this year’s Affiliate Summit Vegas 2013 “Affiliate Nation:The Future is Now” party. Be sure to get on the RSVP list before leaving for Vegas.

There are lots of internet and affiliate marketing conferences in the world today, but only a handful of them are really great. Affiliate Summit is one of those events that continually brings together the most well known  and talents collection of people, brands and agencies.

Affiliate Summit East 2012 came to a close today, and of course it was another success. Next year will be the 10 year anniversary of Affiliate Summit, and it will also mark ten years of myself attending and speaking at these events. I vividly remember back in November 2003 when the first Affiliate Summit took place in New York City, then the following year when we all went on a fun cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2004. There was around 200 attendees to the event, and now you will see anywhere between 4,000-5,000+ attendees at Affiliate East or West. The end count for attendance at ASE12 was 4,279 attendees, which is the biggest yet for ASE.

This year’s Affiliate Summit was another success. The best way to measure how well a conference went for you, is by how many killer contacts and business ideas you’ve gained as a result of attending the event. Getting the most out of Affiliate Summit is easy if you know what to do and where to go. Sometimes you will leave with decent information and contacts, and then there are other times when you just can’t wait to get back home so you can start working on your new ideas. This time I was able to connect with some really amazing people and had a great time that will be sure to result in lots of new business.

Attending Sessions

The majority of business and networking will be done in the exhibit hall and networking dinners and parties, but there is still a high demand attending sessions at Affiliate Summit. There are always going to be people who are just starting out and want to learn how to make money online or individuals that companies send out to learn new stuff at these events.

My session was the first one on the first day and it went extremely well. John Chow, John Rampton and myself were speaking on the importance and power of branding, and creating an identity and brand for yourself on the internet. I only attended a few sessions during Affiliate Summit, but from the ones I did attend, ours was the most packed. The Q&A continued through out the session til the very end, leaving no wasted time… which is something many other sessions may come across.

I was surprised to see that many of the other sessions were quite low in attendance. This could be because of the sessions I chose to attend, or just lack of interest from others. Either way, attending sessions is a great way to see case studies and ask Q&A with some of the big names in the industry that you might not be able to link up with if you were to just roam around the conference hoping to randomly meet up with people. It’s also a great way to get some one on one time with the speakers at the end of their sessions.

The Meet Market and Exhibit Hall

As mentioned earlier, the exhibit hall is always one of the best places to meet and network with new people for potential business and deals. This year the meet market was quite large in size and was full of excellent companies to work with. I remember just a few years back there was a limited amount of companies in the meet market, but the selection and growth to this year was excellent.

The exhibit hall opened up on the second day of the conference and was on two different floors. Again, lots of quality companies and agencies were present. Lots of affiliate and ad networks were present, along with a massive amount of dating networks this time over previous events.

If you were ever hesitant to attend Affiliate Summit because of the pricing for a full pass, you should definitely take advantage of the Networking Plus Pass, which give you full access to the exhibit hall, meet market and other areas. Many of these passes are also given away as prizes through various blogs a few weeks/months before the actual conference takes place.

Networking Parties and Dinners

The parties held during Affiliate Summit are never to disappoint. The ad networks and sponsors just love to throw massive parties for their partners and brands, while also signing well known performers and offering complimentary drinks the whole night. I didn’t get a chance to make it to any of the parties, as I had other meetings and stuff going on. Whether or not you are attending parties, dinners or private meetings with people… these types of networking connections are what lead to real business and deals after Affiliate Summit takes place. It’s always good to meet up with people and not have a business setting, but also talking about whatever you feel like and getting to really know some of the people around you.

I did have a chance to attend an invite only dinner which BrainHost put together at the Spark Steak House in Manhattan. They bought out the whole basement and had around 50 guests, many of which were well known and big name players in the internet marketing space. It was a great atmosphere where everyone could talk and enjoy their time without the massive noise and distractions that the party atmosphere usually comes with.

It’s always questionable how any of these events, dinner and networking parties can have a positive return on investment for the companies, but when they are done right, there is no doubt that many of the attendees will remember who they talked with and where they were at.

For more pictures (like the ones in this post) and recaps on the Affiliate Summit conference and future events, be sure to check out their blog.

We are now less than a week away from the start of Affiliate Summit East in New York City. Not only is Affiliate Summit currently sold out, but it’s also one of the most sought after conferences to attend and always one of the best to rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in the industry. Pretty much all of the ad networks you already work with will be there, along with everyone else you should be working with.

I don’t always make it out to Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas, but it’s no problem at all to attend when it’s in New York. This time around I will be speaking on an excellent panel with some great friends and well known marketers. We will be providing some excellent case studies and tips on how you can start building your own brand online and turn it into a real legitimate business.

It’s time more people stopped relying on ad networks and affiliate commissions and start building their own businesses. I will be covering pretty much everything I’ve done over the past several years to bring ZacJohnson.com from a domain name sitting around, to the amazing power house it is today.

If you will be attending Affiliate Summit, it would be great to meet up with you and see you at our session.

The Power of Blogging and Branding
Sunday, August 12 – Session 1a
Location: Gramercy Suite
Time: 11:00am-12:00pm

Case studies and break downs of how to build a business through blogging and branding. The beginning phases, content management and becoming profitable.

Experience level: Intermediate, Advanced
Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers, Other
Niche/vertical: Blogging

• Lisa Picarille, Content Director, Performance Marketing Association (Twitter @lisap) (Moderator)
• John Chow, Founder & CEO, John Chow dot Com (Twitter @JohnChow)
• Zac Johnson, President/CEO, MoneyReign, Inc. (Twitter @moneyreign)
• John Rampton, Founder, Blogging.org (Twitter @Jsrampton)

I hope to see you there!

It’s that time of year again, it’s Affiliate Summit time! Next weekend New York City will be loaded up with the world’s greatest affiliate marketers who will network, create new business deals, share stories and of course party the nights away.

As always ClickBooth will be throwing one of their massive parties for every one to have a great time at. This time around Juvenile will be at the event, and sure to put on a killer performance. As one of the sponsors of the event, I would like to make sure that you get to attend the event if you are in the area!

Check out the flyer below and all of the contact details at the bottom of the post. I will see you there!

If you haven’t already signed up, be sure to get on the list.

What: Clickbooth presents Empire: It’s Good to be on Top featuring Juvenile and open bar for all!
Where: Hudson Terrace Rooftop Lounge, 621 West 46th Street New York, NY 10036
When: Monday, August 13th, 9pm – 2am
RSVP: http://www.affiliatemarketingempireparty.com

Also, if you are attending Affiliate Summit for the first time this year, don’t forget to check out the “8 Ways to Get the Most Out of Affiliate Summit East” post that went live a couple years back. It’s still loaded up with great content that every new attendee can benefit from.

A couple weeks ago I gave a little teaser about a sweet looking party that ClickBooth is throwing during Affiliate Summit West 2012 in Las Vegas. While other parties might be dying down as the night comes to a close, Affiliate Fight Night is just beginning, and live fights will go on all through the wee morning hours!

The party will take place at the Xtreme Couture MMA with Randy Couture on Monday, January 9, 2012 from 10:00pm until 3:00am.

The RSVP process for the party has just opened up, so make sure you get on the list asap!

In addition to getting access to some premium fights and rubbing shoulders with Randy Couture, you will also be in good company along side some of the best marketers in the game. Through ClickBooth and their awesome line up of sponsors (including myself), you can expect to leave the party not only with killer entertainment, but also some new business contacts and deals to fatten your wallet during the new year!

Join in on the action at the Affiliate Fight Night Facebook Fan Page and RSVP now!