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Again…. Marc, please check your PMs and Emails.:colgate:
I also disagree with jack_n_jill
I have been to the last 6 CAC conferences between Amsterdam and Vegas
Most people work in relative isolation. CAC is the only conference other than GIGSE that gives affiliates exposure to the greater world out there. I thought I was pretty ambitious until I met other affiliates who were making millions of dollars. then I realised that my success – on a relative basis – was insignificant.
Forget about the agenda or the exhibitors, at the end of the day that is just extra. The meat is meeting new people, getting new perpectives, realising how big the industry is and that you are just one of many smart people out there. For more experienced operators you can sign up sub affiliates. I did that successfully in the past and made a ton from it (i.e. sub affiliates bringing in 100+ players per month to a program).
The fact Mark organises this and is marketing to affiliates and appealing to the casinos to pass some of their profit onto affiliates and participate in affiliate education is good. If you have “experienced Mark” you will know that he is a good guy who has the best interests of the industry at heart.
Now if you guys want to sign up as sub affiliates then I know just the programs for you
Devendra
‘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 VegasMarc,
Many of your points are valid, but just as you suggest there are many costs to running your event – just as there many costs to running an affiliate program and your suggestion that programs comp affiliates that are making $1k a month shows that your vantage point of on an affiliate program business is from Mars.
Look at the title and content of your posts on this thread – it’s nothing more than spam. There is no doubt that if an affiliate program posted similar self serving posts on this part of the forum they would be flamed off CAP. So why are you so special?
jack_n_jill wrote:Marc,Many of your points are valid, but just as you suggest there are many costs to running your event – just as there many costs to running an affiliate program and your suggestion that programs comp affiliates that are making $1k a month shows that your vantage point of on an affiliate program business is from Mars.
Look at the title and content of your posts on this thread – it’s nothing more than spam. There is no doubt that if an affiliate program posted similar self serving posts on this part of the forum they would be flamed off CAP. So why are you so special?
I think that Marc is seeing it as a solid investment for future growth for those
programs that sponsors affiliates. I would have to agree with his viewpoint.
:satisfied
Correct Aleph. A forward thinking business manager would think the following:
“My affiliate makes $1000 a month and desires to be a superaffiliate.
I pay for his pass – $500.
Worst case scenario? No improvement. The next month the costs for the pass are absorbed by the revenues generated.
But the affiliate should improve 20-50%. Most do. That’s $200-500 extra each month for the affiliate. The cost will be absorbed within 1-2 months. In addition, I now have a better relationship with my affiliate that may one day become a super affiliate.”
Existing superaffiliates don’t switch everything over to new programs overnight. They take time to develop. Its the same thinking here: An affiliate manager WANTS to develop a super affiliate from ground zero. Why? LOYALTY. Which translates to tremendous revenues.
Look at some superaffiliates today. Some do not switch programs. Period. Some only have 2-3 programs that they deal with and won’t work with others. For those superaffiliates, some Affiliate Managers beg for their business and find it like trying to pull teeth from a horse’s mouth. This is LOYALTY.
The conference pass is only a small token, but for many affiliates it a major symbol of an affiliate program’s desire to support their affiliates as well as illustrate the affiliate program’s business ethic.
Marc Lesnick
Conference Organizer
http://www.casinoaffiliateconvention.com
September 14-15, 2006
Las VegasIn my opinion, I think that if you are large enough to warrant a free trip, you shouldn’t ask/beg for one since you can afford it.
What if a large affiliate program has 300 affiliates who “deserve” a free pass? You really think they are going to see a great return on an investment that size? If you give it to one affiliate, you have to give it to all who are on that level.
Although I appreciate what you are doing Marc, I do not think you have the position to push affiliates to beg their AM’s to fill your convention. It is obvious you are in need of attendees, but do not put it on the affiliate programs, do it yourself. Just my opinion.
With that said, I look forward to seeing everyone there!
Hey Everyone,
I do not ask am’s for free anything. If a program offers to comp airfare and a room I will accept. No one is comping my trip to Vegas this year and I don’t really expect it. No offence to Mark, but I don’t ever attend CAC except for a drop by to chat for an hour or so. The networking and making friends is the best reason to come. For newer affiliates CAC can be a learning experience.:capmiami: :capmiami: :capmiami:
I don’t think that affiliate managers appreciate a public thread like this. I know that they want to give exposure to their affiliates and all, but to be called out and nearly expected to pay for the passes is just plain wrong.
Personally, I was offered to go in 2004, and this year I asked nicely. Even though I send my fair share of players, they aren’t covering as much as they did last year.
But I should say thank you to 888 and PokerAffiliate.com for their continued support and personal assistance.
Dan
888? Ugh.
888 and Cpays have seriously damaged the industry by allowing unethical webmasters to spam, scrape, and steal content from hard working, ethical webmasters. :banger:
AdioKing wrote:I don’t think that affiliate managers appreciate a public thread like this. I know that they want to give exposure to their affiliates and all, but to be called out and nearly expected to pay for the passes is just plain wrong.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.
Well said greedygirl… As I’ve already mentioned, this thread is nothing other than spam generated by Lesnick and is generally attacking the hands that feed him.
at first, when this thread started, i thought, “wow,Mark is right!, i have to contact my AM asop”.
I’m happy i slept a few nights over it, so i was able to read the other points of view also.thanks guys :hattip:
I don’t like the way this thread went either, and I think to pressure the AM’s for tickets is just plain wrong, if I were an AM I would be greatly offended by Marc and his comments. Can you imagine how many affiliates are demanding tickets right now? I think it is shameful to treat the AM’s like that and put them on the spot. It’s not like each program could send 100 affiliates to CAC, I can bet it sucks for them to decide who to send and who not too send.
Thank you to all AM’s for all you do for us!
888 bites they are EVIL!!!
Hey guys … if you all want to pay your way because you
feel bad … go ahead and make my day.
