Article
A Sort of Affiliate Homecoming
By Shawn Collins
Feb 22, 2005, 09:05

In the beginning, I thought I had this great idea when I conceived the Affiliate Webinar. It was a free affiliate marketing conference that took place in December 2000.

It sounded sort of neat on paper -- a conference that would bring together affiliates from all across the world. There was a virtual exhibit floor and presentations (in the form of unmoderated chats) from five of the biggest names in affiliate marketing, including Brian Clark and Dan Gray.

But the execution didn’t quite match the enthusiasm. The thing was a mess. While my featured speakers were trying to share their wisdom, random clowns would pop in and out of the chats posting non sequiturs. It was helter-skelter on a 28.8 connection.

Evolution Revolution in online conferences

In “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,” Al Ries and Jack Trout explained The Law of the Category where “If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.”

That seemed to be the objective of the organizers of eComXpo, an online tradeshow for the affiliate marketing industry that took place February 17-19. They’ve innovated and learned from conferences past, while applying current technology to carve out a whole new place for themselves.

"eComXpo's mission is to create a series of big tent events that bring together all the players in the performance marketing industry. The events will have all the benefits of a traditional trade show, including education, networking, marketing and fun,” commented John Grosshandler, Event Director of eComXpo

Grosshandler continued, “The difference is that by being a 100 percent online virtual event, these benefits are opened up to everyone in the channel, not just the heavy hitters who are accustomed to traveling to the excellent traditional trade events that already exist. The result will be a better educated, more profitable and broader base of effective performance marketers."

Come on, a virtual conference?

I know what you’re thinking; there is no way that an online conference could replicate the atmosphere of a dirt world conference.

Of course, there wasn’t the face-to-face networking that is customary at offline events. But eComXpo facilitated interactive chats among the speakers and attendees, as well as forums throughout the conference.

They are planning another eComXpo for next October, and one consideration for that show is to incorporate Skype or VoIP to add to the interactivity.

And there was an exhibit floor with networks, merchants and vendors staffing “virtual” booths throughout the event, where attendees could gather information, ask questions by email or chat, and pick up or drop off their vCard.

But the thing that really struck me was the nature of the presentations. They ran over 100 educational sessions led by the leaders in the space, including yours truly. These presentations could be viewed at scheduled times or on demand after the scheduled run.

Industry luminaries like Declan Dunn of Dunn Direct Group, Daniel E. Hess, Senior Vice President of comScore, Doc Searls of IT Garage, John Battelle, and George Garrick of wine.com presented. Exhibitors included companies like Overstock, Lands’ End, Travelocity, Home Depot, 1-800-FLOWERS, Dell, Commission Junction, LinkShare, Performics, ArriveNet, and many more.

The keynote speaker for eComXpo was Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and he presented the Project’s most recent findings.

The presentations (see sample presentation) were traditional Power Points with narration converted into Macromedia Breeze. Throughout the presentations, there were poll questions with live results, and the ability to submit questions for the presenter to answer at the conclusion of the session.

Location, location, location

I’ll admit it, I was initially skeptical about the concept. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Most affiliates cannot make it out to affiliate marketing conferences, because of cost and time limitations.

After all, a great many affiliates are moonlighting in performance marketing while they tend to other careers, families and assorted obligations.

eComXpo addresses the needs of the majority of affiliates by running the event online with a low price-point of $89. It was the first (hopefully not the last) event of this magnitude in the industry, and as far as I was concerned, it was a great success. I managed to recruit some affiliates, share some ideas and learn a couple or three things.

History never repeats

As Oscar Wilde once wrote, “The only duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.” So do me a favor, if you missed it this time around, pencil in eComXpo for next October. Then we can collectively bury the relic that was the Affiliate Webinar.

Shawn Collins is CEO of Shawn Collins Consulting, an affiliate program management agency, and an organizer of the Affiliate Summit 2005 conference, taking place June 13-14, 2005 in Las Vegas. He authored the book Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants and the AffStat affiliate marketing benchmark reports.

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