‘Voting with your feet? ‘
Then I can promise you there will be plenty of votes at the Las Vegas event. Attendance is NOT down. We were hoping that Las Vegas would exceed last year’s numbers (750 people). Because of the BOS incident, we expect attendance to be the same. We expect 200-300 affiliates as well. That translates to 400-600 affiliate feet.
Don’t believe me? We’ll have photos and video’s on the site to show afterwards, just like the previous events over the last 4 years.
As for paying for the event, clearly you do not understand the dynamics of running an event like this. No hotel would provide an event with its prime convention space gratis for desire of charity. Oh yes, we forgot – someone has to pay for ALL THAT FOOD. And those who have been to previous events know we give you ALOT of food. There are MANY costs. These costs add up. There is an entrance fee to help defray that cost. It is one of the lowest conference fees in the industry for a conference this large.
I have publicly stated on stage at previous Casino Affiliate Conventions that AFFILIATES SHOULD NOT BE PAYING to attend these events. Yes, I am conference organizer and I just wrote the above. Your affiliate managers should be comping you, (a) as a thanks for the business and (b) to help improve their conversions with you.
We have taken many steps, including the ones on this thread, to get new affiliates and existing affiliates comped. In Amsterdam next year, ALL affiliate programs with a presence at the event will have additional affiliate passes. There will be no excuse for them.
You say …. ‘Grasping at straws?’ …. ‘On its’ last legs?’ You’re vantage point of my business is from Mars, and clearly not on planet Earth. We are projecting CAC to be MUCH bigger next year in Amsterdam (over 1000 people).
My suggestion is simple: Get on the phone with your affiliate managers. Explain the business from a dollars and cents point of view. You percieve that CAC will improve your conversion rates with them, and subsequently, raise your loyalty with them.
A ‘there’s nothing we can do’ answer needs to be evaluated. If you are a PERFORMING AFFILIATE, then it is simply an excuse and you need to perceive it that way. They are telling you to ‘bugger off’ (as they say in England).
If you are not a performing affiliate, you have nothing to ask for. You need to earn this. However you’re in luck as new affiliate programs are looking to meet with you and giving out free passes. See the following thread:
http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com/bb/free-passes-available-for-cac-las-vegas-2006-become-a-sponsored-affiliate.14126.html?
Plenty of Programs at this event are dying to do business with you. Some comp & bring in ARMIES of affiliates at this event. You can’t miss them. The affiliates are wearing purple ribbons that say “Affiliate of ….”
You can get comped. You just need to be resourceful and get on the phone.
As for Engineer, my suggestion….call some other affiliate programs…. say “I am affiliate of ‘X’. My #’s for the last 6 months are ‘a,b,c,d,e,f.’ I am a performing affiliate and are interested in sending my traffic to YOU. I would like to go to CAC and improve these #’s. I requested a pass from my existing affiliate program. They’re not participating and are not providing me with one. What can we do together?”
You may need to provide proof of your numbers, but I imagine you are already getting PM’s from Affiliate Managers now. 
Marc Lesnick
Conference Organizer
http://www.casinoaffiliateconvention.com
September 14-15, 2006
Las Vegas