I was chatting with an affiliate manager yesterday, who was absolutely fuming over this thread. This is an AM of a large program, who exhibits at both CAC’s, as well as other industry events. This group also can generally be counted on for sponsoring large parties and other events for affiliates.
The AM was frustrated by the fact that they are now being put on the spot to pony up on anything from CAC passes to hotel rooms to airfare to food dollars. From the AM’s perspective, the company is already spending thousands of thousands of dollars to CAC, only to have CAC put them into an awkward situation which would no doubt cost them additionally.
I’m not going to debate whether it’s reasonable or not for an affiliate to ask a program for passes, etc., or whether an affiliate should expect these perks. What is troublesome is that this thread has been driven by the CAC, which IMO is simply a way to increase the conference’s profits. It’s something I’m not comfortable with and I have a hunch I’m not the only one who feels this way.
And while I said I would not debate the issue of perks, there is one bit people seem to be forgetting about when taking “gifts.” This point being the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch my back” scenario. When a program picks up the affiliate’s cost for attendance of an event, you can bet that the AM will be expecting not only continued results, but GREATER results. It may not be spoken, but it IS to be assumed. Having this sort of “debt” to pay, may not be worth the price of admission, so to speak. From my perspective, paying my own expenses would be far less costly than to be indebted.