I couldn’t make it to LinkShare’s annual gathering for affiliates. As a Bay Area resident, I’m not sorry to have missed out on the winter weather of New York City, but I do regret not hearing Kwame Jackson (of “The Apprentice” season one fame) speak at the luncheon. The second place finisher in the challenge to work for Donald Trump was said to be a highly motivational and engaging speaker. But if I was there, I might have asked way too many questions about Omarosa and not enough about nurturing the entrepreneurial affiliate spirit.

My sources at the conference say that several themes emerged from the gathering. At least three speakers referred to click fraud as the “biggest threat” to the Internet industry. Google’s newly changed AdWords policy was also a hot topic of conversation, both in and out of the sessions. While LinkShare’s desire to expand into other geographic markets, including Japan, Canada, Germany and the UK, was also discussed at length.

Stay tuned for more about that expansion. We’ll be focusing on that topic and much more about global affiliate marketing in our next issue of Revenue. Meanwhile, why don’t you start blogging and tell me what you learned, talked about or overheard at the LinkShare Executive Marketing Symposium.