The affiliate dinner was fun. Our Summit co-host Shawn Collins was roasted by Corey Newhouse, Brian Littleton, Brook Schaaf, Missy Ward, Todd Crawford and some hired actress/comedienne playing old girlfriend, a music executive and John Kerry supporter.

The dinner was great way to kick off the event as about 100 affiliates and merchants gathered to network in Bally’s. Then it was off for gambling and a private party at Pure for U.K network Buy.at and Andy Rodriguez and then on the luxioursous (insert wink) Barbary Coast with a colorful cast of ReveNews notables including Jim Kukral, Wayne porter, Sam Harrelson and others. The gonzo journalism experiment was in the full swing, so was the twitter experiment ShareASale CEO Brian little has conducting.

Day two for me was kicked off with an uplifting morning. It was the gospel brunch at House of Blues; thanks to Wade Tonkins of ChristianAffiliateMarketers.com for putting this together along with Andy Rodriguez and IBS bibles. It was a rousing good time of singing, feasting, clapping and enjoying.

The afternoon’s meet market was also filled to the gills. Tables of merchants and affiliates all got a chance to talk about their programs outside the exhibition hall. There was also plenty of football for the day. Thanks to ShareASale for providing the TV and the In N Out Burgers.

Later that night it was all about more networking with an icebreaker session and then the highly anticipated (at least by me) Jam Session. Brian Littleton wore several interesting things (including a sparkly thong) that he was paid to don in an effort to raise funds for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Southern Nevada. A representative from the organization was on hand to receive the generous check for more than $23,000.

Brian then tickled the ivories for several hours, while super Scott Hazard played the drums (This was also after the discovery that there were no drumsticks and a trip to Target was required). Josh Brady from Pier Media was fabulous on guitar and sang great. His mid-set replacement Justin Johnson from Sierra Trading Post was also a very, very talented musician and singer. Many folks got up to belt out a tune with the impromptu jam band.

Even Shawn Collins, whom Brook Schaaf paid $202 to prevent from singing got up after spending another $203 dollars to insure that he could take the stage and sing a Toby Keith tune.

Today was day one of the conference sessions. They were informative, but again it was the networking that stole the show for me. The day concluded with several events at the Wynn hotel, including a delicious dinner with SnapFish and a Digital River party at Tryst that featured the first ever Affiliate Summit Pinnacle awards: drum roll please…Scott Hazard was the affiliate of the year, Todd Crawford the affiliate marketing legend award winner, Brian Littleton most vocal advocate, and Jim Kukral was the best blogger. Congrats to all. You deserve the recognition for all your hard work. Check Shawn’s blog for the full list.