The Inside Guide to Boost your ROTS (Return of Time Spent) at ASW Vegas 2020
“Largest meeting place for the affiliate marketing industry.” -ASW
A must for any professional or company in the performance marketing industry is Affiliate Summit West’s (ASW) conference hosted at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. ASW’s conference series is the largest in the United States, expecting a total of 6,000 attendees from 80+ countries. The magnitude of this kind of conference allows performance marketers to catch up with worldwide partners, clients, and industry people in efforts to launch or communicate business opportunities and industry trends. The conference includes 75 influential expert speakers such as media owners, traffic supporters, bloggers, advertisers, global brands, technology firms agencies, and other types of solution providers. Keynote speakers include important people such as the Co-CEO of ASW, Shawn Collins, and the director of ESPN & Disney streaming services, Aaron Wegium.
The experience promises premiere experiences that will provide performance marketers with inside knowledge and development within the industry going into 2020. We want to prepare you for the expected loud, big, and celebratory Las Vegas experience. With the help of publishers, bloggers, advertisers, and fellow marketers, we have created an inside guide to ASW Vegas for you to have the most successful and healthy journey, with the highest ROTS (Return of Time Spent)!
Your Las Vegas Pre-game
You will have to prepare a few things before the conference. Organize meetings with prospective clients attending the conference around three weeks in advance. Take full advantage of your brief time surrounded by global partners that otherwise wouldn’t be as easily accessible. Brian Adams, an avid ASW attendee, also suggests allotting free slots on the agenda for last-minute meetings that your team might plan based on encounters at the conference. The meetings do not need to be longer than 30 minutes and the follow-up should be done no later than two days after the conference. Important meetings should be followed-up immediately, even during the conference, in order to assure traction with new prospects.
In a city with thousands of hotels, where will you stay?
Paris Las Vegas | Approximately $184 per night (where the conference is held)
Bellagio | Approximately $129 per night – 9-minute walk
The Cosmopolitan | Approximately $390 per night – 7-minute walk
Too much to see but not enough time to do it all?
The Pareto principle is very important here; 80% of the results will come from just 20% of the action. While you may feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the conference, know that this kind of network building is the 20% of action that will lead to highly favorable connections, business deals, and overall professional success. Vegas days will be long and the nights even longer, but it guarantees an irreplaceable opportunity to obtain new clients. It will also be advantageous to make personal connections as ASW attendees most often return to the yearly conference.
Business casual, but business.
Samantha Lynn, an important advertiser, says that a conference “must” are the industry mixers sponsored by ASW. Although they might seem dull, these parties are very effective for hustling new partnerships as well as maintaining already existing relationships in a more casual tone. There are two parties and two happy hours that are scheduled and sponsored by ASW, we suggest RSVPing to all of them in advance and attending at least one once there.
January 27th, 2020 | 8:00 p.m. – midnight | Awin + ShareASale Party | RSVP required!
January 28th, 2020 | 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. | Happy Hour
January 28th, 2020 | 9:30 p.m. – Midnight | Affiliate Ball | RSVP required!
January 29th, 2020 | 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. | Happy Hour
Although not a part of the conference, we also recommend assisting the following event located at the Ling Ling Club in Hakkasan at the MGM Grand Hotel:
January 26th, 2020 | 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. | Ad Buyers Vegas Meetup 2020
The “Ad Buyers Vegas Meetup 2020” is where you can find conversations with industry-leading experts, such as Tim Burd, about online advertising and other related topics. Similar to the previously mentioned events, this industry mixer is a really good opportunity to be in a more informal environment surrounded by high-level professionals. This kind of exposure and relations can lead to partnerships, new business ventures, and more. They have a special sponsorship package if your team is interested in investing more in the experience.
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. But what about your hangover?
It will be important to establish a daily routine that accounts for possible hangovers, jet lag, sensory overloads, or overall exhaustion. The Las Vegas atmosphere is charming for the same reason that it’s overwhelming; it’s always go, go, go. Those who have previously attended the ASW have provided us with a couple of suggestions on how to feel your best and be your best as you present yourself to potential clients. Although we don’t recommend drinking a lot, it will be difficult due to the amount of good networking opportunities that are centered around alcoholic beverages. Make your decisions and don’t forget to drink a lot of water!
Hangovers
If you have money to spend and a dreadful hangover, call Hangover Heaven for an exclusive in-room hangover treatment. Their services include at least one Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, or Doctor, at your disposal, as required by Nevada Law. There is a $100 fee as well as the different salvation treatments available, it could all amount up to $232 per person. We recommend this only for extreme cases.
Revivme is only a 7-minute walk from the Paris Las Vegas Hotel where the ASW conference will be held. They offer both IV therapies and vitamin injections that range from $29 to $279. Revivme sometimes provides to-go services and visits hotels nearby. Keep an eye out for them!
Turmeric juices are essential hangover remedies because of the anti inflammatory curcumin that it contains. Within only a 23-minute walk from the conference, you will find the nearest Pressed Juicery. They offer a variety of juices that are very healthy and are recommended by many locals. Juice aficionados say that the best Pressed Juicery hangover juices are: Citrus 1, Vitality Shot, Activated Charcoal, and the B-Complex Supplement.
Hungover and in a hurry? Get a delicious breakfast sandwich at the egg-stravaganza restaurant called Eggslut at the Cosmopolitan. You can never go wrong with carbs, eggs, and bacon for a hangover. Additionally, it’s only a 10-minute walk from the conference.
Jetlag
Melatonin
Some of you will be suffering terrible time differences, it’s important to remain well-rested and fresh-faced for your expected one-on-one interactions with professionals. First impressions are important. If you do not have prescribed sleeping pills from a doctor, we recommend buying melatonin gummies. Melatonin helps boost your natural sleep hormone, making you feel calm while it supports a healthy sleep pattern. CVS is a popular pharmacy in the United States, in fact, there is one located only a 2-minute walk from the conference. At CVS, you can purchase melatonin gummies for $10 or less.
Water
The lack of humidity in the air of airplane cabins can lead to dehydration, hence why sometimes traveling leaves us feeling depleted and dried out. If you want to prevent a drawn-out jet lag, especially considering your short trip to Las Vegas, make sure to nourish your body with the water that it lacked from your long flight. The average adult should be drinking 2 liters of water a day, so get on it!
Sensory Overload
Las Vegas is infamous for its casino and resort life. Most of your colleagues, and probably yourself, will be integrated into this scene at one point or another during your trip— especially considering the location of the conference. We understand that those foreign to this climate might experience over-stimulation from the environment that they are in. Below are ways to decompress if you are ever feeling overwhelmed by the big and bright Las Vegas.
A massage can help with overwhelming feelings, if you have free time in between meetings and events, maybe it would be beneficial to get a massage. Spa Mandalay is a crowd favorite, is only an 8-minute car ride from the conference, and can be as cheap as $95.
With a tagline like “Sleep more, Stress Less, Live Better”, the Calm app promises reduced anxiety, increased happiness, lower stress levels, improved performance, better sleep, and special meditation guidance.
Check in how you’re feeling with the help of Stop, Breathe & Think, a free smartphone application that provides guidance in a series of 5-minute meditations. It’s free and worth a try if you’re feeling overloaded and have spare time in your hotel room.
Partying isn’t your priority? Indulge in savory experiences.
Breakfast: Bouchon Bakery | 20 min walk | $$$
Lunch: Mon Ami Gabi | Paris Las Vegas Hotel | $$$
Dinner:Momofuku | 12 min walk | $$$
or Hakkassan | 20 min walk | $$$$
So, why ASW?
After collecting results from several different industry experts such as publishers, bloggers, advertisers, and fellow affiliate marketers, it has been made apparent that ASW is one of the most important shows for engaging with global companies— especially American ones. ASW’s keynote speakers, industry mixers, and overall networking opportunities are notoriously irreplaceable and extremely beneficial to your business. The benefits mostly include the worldwide traction that it receives and in turn, the number of global attendees that you will have complete access to. Additionally, the conference’s agenda is packed with extremely educational events that will help you develop a holistic perspective of the industry going into 2020, helping you focus on taking your current business to new levels. We recommend the following events:
January 27th, 2020 | 2:30 pm. | How I increased my affiliate program’s revenue by 30% in one month | Talk by Stephanie Robbins, Owner of Robbins Interactive
January 28th, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. | Keynote Session: [Hot Seats] Get your toughest affiliate challenges worked on LIVE, with the team that has couched and closed $363 Million in Affiliate revenue | Talk by Amber Spears & Alona Rudnitsky, Co-Founders of East 5th Avenue
January 29th, 2020 | 11:30 p.m. | Keynote Panel: Partner vs. Affiliate- Is it one or the other? | Panel: Robert Glazer, Mark Walters, Julie Van Ullen, Stephanie Harris, David A Yovanno & Brian Marcus
January 29th, 2020 | 3:00 p.m. | Why affiliates should be every advertiser’s largest paid marketing channel | Talk by Aaron Wegium, Director of ESPN + Disney Streaming Services
Powerhouse blogger, Josh Edwards, assisted ASW’s conference in 2018 and said, “In terms of return of investment (ROI), the ASW conference is the best of its kind.” Purchasing a flight to Las Vegas, a ticket to the conference, a hotel room and spending on other expenses, is a guaranteed ROI for your business. Since this kind of opportunity only comes around once a year, don’t think twice and book your trip to Las Vegas.
