I took a 450 mile road trip down to Camarillo, Calif. in the middle of last week. There’s nothing like a long drive to clear your head. I find it relaxing to hit the open road (although, that was before I reached the Los Angeles area later in the week).

I had several items on my agenda for the trip – to rent a car that I might consider purchasing in the future (a Toyota Prius); to try and do my weekly Affiliate Thing Podcast while driving down to my destination (don’t worry I used a headset); and to think about the broader issues that I would like to see an industry association address and bring them up at the dinner in Camarillo (which was really the main reason for the trip).

I think all three things worked out really well. I loved the Prius and will seriously consider it when I finally decided to dump my very old vehicle. As for podcasting on the go, I only dropped out once during the 30 minute show and my fast thinking co-host Shawn Collins was easily able to fill in while I was off line for two minutes.

But the best part of the trip was definitely the dinner, which was put together by a bunch of great folks include Affiliate Dinner (Brook Schaaf and Forrest Schaaf) along with Rebecca Madigan, a former Commission Junction executive who is now with Affiliate Classroom, and Brad Waller of ePage. There were about 20-25 people in attendance and I was thrilled to hear all the progress that had been already made during the exploratory phase. This group had really done their homework. Impressive.

I could give you the details, but Brook Schaaf already had a comprehensive report. I like getting behind the wheel, not reinventing it.

However, t I will say that the formation of a trade group in the online marketing (performance/affiliate) space is much needed. The group would work to help establish standards, best practices and represent the online and performance marketing industry. Everything is still in the very early stages of planning but I’m very pumped up to participate in any way that I can. I hope you will also do the same. As soon as the group has an online presence, I will give out the details so you can contact them to get involved.