I made it though day one of the Affiliate Summit, which is technically day two, but really the first official day with a keynote and session. It’s not really all that confusing unless, you haven’t eaten in three days and have consumed lots of adult beverages.

The sessions were informational and educational and very well attended. It was standing room only in many. The exhibit hall also had a lot of foot traffic. One booth, I forget the company name, was attracting a lot of attention with its group of hired blonde both bunnies wearing red spandex racing short/outfits.

The keynote was a hit. I wasn’t quite sure that the attendees would love hearing from an old major league pitcher, despite his entrepreneurial success with Big League Chew. However, everyone I talked to afterwards seemed to enjoy Jim Bouton’s inspirational messages of persistence and loving what you do – or at least finding a way to do what you love.

There was no lack of parties last night. Digital River’s big party sounded like blast. I never made it over to there even though Revenue Magazine was a sponsor. But the rest of the Revenue crew was on hand to spread the love in my absence.

Instead, I hung out at the ShareASale party at Howl at the Moon. The company’s CEO Brian Littleton, who is widely regarded as one of the good guys in affiliate marketing and is extremely well liked and well respected, is also a hell of a piano player. He took the stage to show off his stuff and had everyone dancing and many of the ladies swooning.

There were also some other affiliates that belted out tunes. One, Scott Hazard, rocked the house. His singing was far better than the guys the club pay to be there. I was very impressed.

The night ended (at least for me) with Brian Littleton playing piano in the lobby of the Hilton with 30 Summit attendees belting out tunes and peppering him with requests.

Earlier in the day, I suggested to Affiliate Summit co-host Shawn Collins that the next event include a jam session, where the talented folks of this community could bring their instruments and rock it out. After seeing many of these people perform last night, I’m even more convinced that it’s a good idea (even if I say so myself) and I’m going to remind Shawn about it.

I heard there were also some people that jumped into the pool fully dressed around 4am. I have not confirmed it, but one of them is reportedly a shoe-loving, sassy Canadian, whose lucky number might be 436,797.

I know there’s more to share (Networking Bingo - congrats to Zac Johnson, Performic’s “I heart Affiliate Marketing” t-shirts, etc.), but I have to get to today’s sessions.

lisap@revenuetoday.com