Affiliate Marketing Events in 2015

The following is a non-exhaustive list of top events in 2015 for affiliate mangers to consider. Deciding which events to attend will depend on whether your primary goal is to learn more about affiliate marketing in general, or to meet and recruit new affiliates.

Industry Wide

Affiliate Summit West
Date: January 18-20, 2015
Location: Las Vegas
Main Purpose: Learn about affiliate marketing and meet affiliates

Affiliate Summit was launched in 2003 with the purpose of educating both affiliate managers and affiliates about industry issues, and to provide a productive networking environment. The first of two shows, Affiliate Summit West, takes place in early January in Las Vegas. Affiliate Summit East occurs every August at an East Coast location. Both are three-day conferences that bring together affiliates, merchants, vendors, and networks, and provide multiple tracks of educational sessions covering the latest trends and developments in affiliate marketing. Keynote speakers include Chad Hymas of Chad Hymas Communications, and Noah Kagan, founder of AppSumo.

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Affiliate Management Days
Date: March 30-April 1, 2015
Location: San Francisco
Main Purpose: Learn about affiliate marketing

Launched in 2012, AM Days is a conference for affiliate managers and marketing executives. Topics include affiliate recruitment techniques, communication with affiliates, and affiliate marketing fraud. There is also an “Advertiser’s Crash Course in Affiliate Marketing” workshop scheduled for March 30, prior to the start of the conference. This is an interactive and case-study-based half-day workshop that will walk merchants through the entire process of researching, setting up, launching, managing, and building an affiliate marketing program. Keynote speakers include Ben Edelman, an associate professor with Harvard Business School, Kerri Pollard, president of CJ Affiliate by Conversant, and Declan Dunn, CEO of Dunn Direct Media.

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BlogHer
Date: July 16-18, 2015
Location: New York City
Main Purpose: Meet affiliates

BlogHer is one of the largest conferences geared toward women in social media. In November 2014, the conference was acquired by SheKnows, a digital-media company that publishes articles and videos aimed at women. The acquisition expands the base of female influencers and writers, so we could expect to see a larger conference this year. In 2014, BlogHer had approximately 2,500 attendees, and counted more than 130 brands, such as Coca-Cola and Samsung, as sponsors.

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Affiliate Summit East
Date: August 2-4, 2015
Location: New York City
Main Purpose: Learn about affiliate marketing and meet affiliates

Like Affiliate Summit West, which occurs in January, the objective of Affiliate Summit East is to educate both affiliate managers and affiliates about industry issues, and to provide a productive networking environment for all.

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Type-A Parent
Date: October 8-10, 2015
Location: Atlanta
Main Purpose: Meet Affiliates

The seventh annual Type-A Parent Conference brings together moms and dads who blog and the brands that want to engage them. Brands that have attended include Disney Parks, Johnson & Johnson, Beech-Nut, iRobot, and Little Debbie. The Type-A Parent network counts over 10,000 bloggers, but conference attendance is capped in the hundreds to create a more intimate experience.

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Network Specific

The events below are sponsored by various affiliate networks, and are designed to facilitate in=person engagement between affiliate managers and affiliates, as well as to educate all entities on industry and network-specific issues.

Linkshare Symposium San Francisco
Date: January 28-29, 2015
Location: San Francisco

Linkshare (now Rakuten Marketing) hosts multiple symposiums around the world throughout the year. Events run from January through October, and are held in locations such as Toronto, London, and Tokyo. Two of these events are in the United States: San Francisco in January, and New York in June. Events are designed to facilitate networking between Linkshare advertisers and affiliates.

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Linkshare Symposium New York
Date: June 29-30, 2015
Location: New York City

This will be the second event hosted by Linkshare (Rakuten Marketing) in the United States in 2015. The Symposium brings together Linkshare merchants and affiliates and provides education, business planning, and networking opportunities.

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AvantExpo
Date: June 18-20, 2015
Location: Park City, Utah

Hosted by AvantLink (an affiliate network) AvantExpo limits attendance to top affiliates within the AvantLink network. The agenda is designed to encourage the growth of existing relationships and establish new ones for merchants, affiliates, and agencies within its network. The conference is limited to 70 attendees, to allow for maximum face-to-face time between retailers and top affiliates.

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CJ University by Conversant
Date: To be determined (likely September 2015)
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.

This annual event debuted in 1998. Registration includes access to an online social community so networking can begin in advance of the event. CJU also enables conference participants to schedule one-on-one consultations with Commission Junction experts for program reviews and platform walkthroughs. In 2014, the keynote speaker was Magic Johnson.

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ShareASale ThinkTank
Date: To be determined (likely October 2015)
Location: To be determined

The ShareASale affiliate network has hosted this event since 2006 with the intention of connecting retailers and affiliates, educating all parties on new network tools, and to gather user feedback to help drive network development. Attendance is limited to fewer than 200 attendees, who are selected through an application process to ensure a diverse mix of affiliates, bloggers, and retailers.