Recap of the 4th Annual Affiliate Marketers Alliance Networking Dinner in Vancouver

Another year, another great event! Attendees for the 2007 Affiliate Marketers Alliance Networking Dinner almost doubled from the previous year. Over 100 participants took part in this 4th Annual Networking Dinner in Vancouver on Feb 21, 2007. Many flew in from out-of-town to join us. There was good representation from not only the local Vancouver area, but from other parts of British Columbia and Canada as well. There were even more US attendees this year than last and AMWSO from Thailand was also able to join us for the networking dinner. This power house get together has grown to be the most attended affiliate marketing related networking event in Canada.

Guests began showing up at 5:30pm even though registration was officially to be opened at 6:30pm. Historically, attendees to this event have always been an enthusiastic crowd. Event staff registered the early goers so they could avoid the later line up. Many simply headed down the hall to Zin Restaurant & Lounge to begin their networking.

The evening began with a quick welcome note from me and then Sponsors were brought up to the podium to speak. All intros were kept short & sweet and dinner began shortly after. Since the event was at capacity, I had to find the most efficient way to bring tables up to the buffet line. Coming from an analytics background, efficiency is definitely high on the agenda. So I asked a few questions and the first person to answer correctly got to bring up 2 tables of hungry people to grab dinner. Here are the questions and answers.

Q: How many years has the Affiliate Marketers Alliance been putting on this event?
A: 4

Q: What city will be hosting the next Winter Olympics in 2010?
A: Vancouver

Q: Who calls themselves the A-Team of affiliate marketing?
A: Millnic Media

Q: I recently spoke at the Affiliate Summit West 2007, what was the title of that presentation?
A: How ad serving technology can maximize revenue

Once everyone was seated and eating, 2 bottles of Ice Wine courtesy of our Silver Sponsor Tourism Vancouver, was raffled off as door prizes. Winners were James Martell & Sarah Villeneuve. Shortly after, Jason Bailey from Millnic Media gave away a Microsoft Zune. The lucky winner of this prize was John Chow.

Networking was plentiful before, during and after dinner. As host for the event, I only had a brief chance to meet most people before the actual meal but it was only during and after dinner that I was able to speak more in-depth with others. In between mouthfuls of good food, I had a chance to speak with David To, a consultant web developer getting into the affiliate marketing scene. David & I sat next to each other at dinner and while I personally thought the short ribs were pretty darn good, David preferred the chicken dish more. I actually also equally enjoyed the grilled mushrooms as well as the polenta.

As more and more people began losing their voices, the crowd slowly dispersed at around 10pm. By 11pm or so, the remaining 25 or so attendees decided to head over to Odouls’ Restaurant & Bar to continue the chatting. It was only after midnight when Odouls closed did attendees headed home, returned to their hotels or were forced to find another venue.

In summary, it was another successful event. Met a lot of new people and connected with some old friends. Good food, great people. What more can you ask for? Perhaps a few videos and more photos of the event. I am sure Stephen Fung will have many great photos for us. Stay tuned.

Who has talked about this event:

• John Chow – 2007 Affiliate Networking Dinner
• Dave To – My night hanging out with Affiliates
• Stephen Fung – Affiliating with Affiliate Marketers
• Brook Schaaf – Recap: Ian Lee Vancouver Dinner
• Geordie Carswell – We’re Back! Vancouver Event Wrap-Up