I spent the last week like a degenerate gambler/drunken sailor super affiliate rockstar – and it was one of the best weeks of my life.    Here is a recap the way remember it (barely).

It’s a long post but the week had a big impact on me and so I have a lot to say.

ASW 2010 started Sunday and ended Tuesday.  I added a couple days so that I could check out the Vdara and Aria for a site I am building out.

Friday – Pregame

I arrived in Las Vegas at 10:00 PM and jumped in a cab with Michael Martin and Steve Ratson who were also in town for ASW.  I checked in and rushed over to the Rio to have a drink with some people who were in early as well – Missy Ward, Sean Collins, Brian Clark and Jim Banks.  Later on, a few of us made or way to Aria to meet NickyCakes and play some craps and black jack.

I ended up at a table with a group of nice people and by nice I mean sexy of course.  We gambled, shot patron, and drank double vodka sodas like they were going out of style.  Before I knew it was 7:00 am-ish and so I trekked back to my room at VDara and requested a late checkout.

Saturday – Party Time

The conference started Sunday but the official parties and networking started Saturday.  I spent some time in the afternoon hanging with Jim Banks who I have known for a while.  It was really nice to join him for a drink and chat outside of a chaotic night club or ultra busy atmosphere.

At 6:00 I went to a great dinner at Daniel Boulods in the Wynn hotel organized by DK of Purpose Inc.  The dinner was amazing.  I highly suggest you attend DK’s events when you can.  They are always open to everyone and DK, who is making a name for himself by mastering Facebook advertising, is a superb networker and a genuine good guy who will go out of his way to introduce you to the people you want to meet and to help you out.

I enjoyed the world famous DB burger which is stuffed with truffle-and-foie gras-laced short ribs.

It was great connecting with John Holloway, Ruben Orozco, Robert Drysdale, and others.

Following dinner it was back to the Rio to play aggressive (I mean that in more one way) poker in a tourney hosted by DK and Missy Ward in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  Robert Drysdale, 6X world Champion in BrazilianJiu Jitsu choked me out and threw me in a couple of arm bars on top of the poker tables at the Rio. It was awesome.

After Poker a group of us headed over to an unreal party at Rain night club in the Palms hotel.  Huge thanks to Jim Banks for lining us up and Buy.at for hosting.  Buy.at rented out the entire top floor and opened the bar for us which would have been cool enough.  But there was more, world famous DJ Paul Oakenfold was on the decks and there were thousands of people going crazy on the dance floor and probably about a thousand people waiting outside trying to get in – all of sudden you start feeling lucky to be an unreal party.

The night ended late and by late I mean early morning.

Sunday – Show Time

The show started late Sunday.  I bumped into John Chow and checked out the exhibitor hall with him for a while.  Later I caught up with Shoemoney and we socialized and made some plans for the big blackjack hand.

It was very cool to be hanging out with Shoemoney, John Chow, Missy Ward, etc.

Monday we hit the ShareASale party for a few drinks and laughs with Carolyn Shelby, Kate Morris, Kristy Bolsinger, Christa Watson, Raven Jon, Taylor Pratt, Michael Martin, Joe Laratro and Jeff Randal.  Later in the evening we made our way to Double Play party in the Hardwood Suite at the Palms Hotel.  It was another one of those nights that makes you say wow, I’m lucky.  The style of these parties backs up the idea that performance marketing is thriving in the midst of a recession. The party was inside a two-floor suite that included a basketball court on the main floor and of course an open bar.

After the Party the group headed over to the Playboy club and finally Moon joined by Joseph Morin, Rae Hoffman, Streko, and Brooke Murphy.

Another late night, things winded down somewhere between early and mid morning.

Monday – Black Jack Time

Monday morning came quick – I got up early because I had to grab my camera from the Palms hotel (I had to check it and I ended up forgetting it there).  After retrieving my camera I attended Dr. Robert Cialdini’s keynote which was awesome and then bounced around some sessions, grabbed lunch, and hit the Killer Facebook Tactics session which had the top Facebook advertisers speaking.  The room was packed, so packed they actually stopped letting people in as there wasn’t room to sit OR stand.

Unfortunately the audience asked guideline related questions for the most part (the same stuff you see on the forums).  I didn’t get a chance to ask if 5 Cent clicks are a thing of the past or if they are still attainable. I was killing it with 5 cent clicks back in the “Facebook Flyers” days.

After the Facebook session we were off  to the tables as it was my time to lay down $2500.00 on a single hand of black jack.  If you don’t know what happened read this post.

After the killer Black Jack hand, while on a huge high I went for a dinner that was organized by DK at Okada a very nice, high end sushi restaurant.  The food was great and the company was phenomenal.  After dinner it was off to the world famous Hugh Heffner Suite with Tim Ash and Steve Poland for an “Epic” party hosted by Epic/Azoogle Ads. For obvious reasons it was a blast to hang out at the Playboy Party which was loaded with beautiful woman and sat on top of the Palms hotel overlooking the strip from a patio that featured a swimming a pool.  Unfortunately I didn’t shoot as many pictures as I should have.  Huge thanks to Shoemoney and Azoogle Ads for lining me up.

After the party I made my way back to the Rio where I partied with Streko, Kristy, Christa, and John Jordan until the early morning – again.

Tuesday – Get some sleep dude

Monday night was late and I wanted to get down to the conference hall early again.  I checked out of the hotel as I had a booking at Aria for Tuesday.  I made it down to the theater in time for the Affiliate Summit Awards where a couple of homeskillets won– Nicky Cakes took Affiliate of the Year and Shoemoney walked away with Affiliate Blogger of the year.  Next I listened to Tuesday’s Keynote by Brian Clark of Copy Blogger and then went to sit in and watch some my close friends Kristy, Kate, Carolyn, Christa, and new friend Jane host the Woman of SEO panel.

That session was followed by laughs and socializing in the blogger room which HeatherInBC had organized for speakers and guests who needed to get a little work (or socializing) done.

Chaos ensued when we were challenged to drink 20K worth of booze in an hour and a half and everyone around me was going nuts (I almost got involved in the debauchery;)).

More drinking and dinner followed with many of the names I’ve mentioned earlier and then before I knew it I was playing black jack with Rae Hoffman and Kristy.  Things became crazy quick.  When we couldn’t get a drink fast enough Kristy went to order some from the bar.  She told Rae that some men from the military were there.  Rae insisted we buy them drinks and then the next thing I know Kristy was sent with fistfuls of money to take care of them all night.  Kristy ran back and forth partying with both groups while Rae and I played blackjack like it was going out of style.  People were going for lunch by the time we finished playing blackjack, I was already supposed to be checked out of Aria (and I hadn’t even made it there yet), I was still wearing the clothes I had put on the previous morning, and I had to rush to the airport.  Needless to say it was great way finale to a great week and a terrible flight.

Conclusion – Wow

The week was amazing.  There were so many highlights.  I could go on and on.  Reuniting and spending time with great friends.  Meeting, getting to know, and spending quality time with some of top internet marketers in the world, hitting blackjack on a $2500 hand, visiting the Playboy club, watching Paul Oakenfold spin live, meeting and getting submitted on poker tables by Robert Drysdale, being surprised with Team Mama Reid T-Shirts, enjoying fine food, okay I’ll shut up now.

Best of all I’ve returned home motivated, excited, confident, feeling fortunate, and with a few new ideas that I am sure you will be hear a lot about in the coming months.

A huge thanks to Shoemoney, Azoogle Ads, and the entire Affiliate Summit team (spearheaded by the infamous Missy Ward and ShawnCollins) for an amazing week. Love ya guys!

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