Better Quality Direct link: http://nickmattern.com/EPNQuestion.mp3

Steve Hartman, Sr. Director of EPN was the gentleman answering the question. You can actually feel the chatter in the room from the MP3, lots of folks want to know this stuff!

The convention started with a golf tournament on the 17th of June.  Lots of folks were confused and thought there was an exhibit hall opening that day too. I met at least 6 affiliates who flew in on the 17th so they could see the exhibit hall, only to not have it there.

Walking into the Korbel Ballroom in the Denver Convention Center was a little out of the normal for a convention.  Most conventions I’ve exhibited at or attended are massive, with hundreds of exhibitors and a long rows full of t-shirts, pens, and business cards.  Walking into this one made me wonder if I walked into the local VFW for a craft fair.  I’m not kidding when I say there were less than 2 dozen exhibitors, and only 3-4 major networks (Neverblue, Copeac, XY7, and that’s about it.) were exhibiting.  Then you had some 3rd tier service providers who were selling solutions geared at the guys doing $100K+ a month in sales/traffic, a vastly different audience than the largely beginner population who actually attended the conference.

In addition, it seemed to me that some of the companies sent their B teams.  A number of the exhibitors were obviously not used to trade show formalities and subsequently acted like total jackasses on more than one occasion.

The keynote comprised of the CEO of Pepperjam, Kris Jones, with special moderation conducted by Jeremy Shoemaker.  This was actually a nice presentation to listen to.  I did not know that Pepperjam was a $100 million dollar company, that Kris had a law degree, or that the word Pepperjam came from his grandmother’s gourmet jelly (She called it Mississippi Mud) which he sold commercially.  This session was the one I most wanted to see, and I found out 2 minutes into it that they were streaming it over webmasterradio.FM for FREE, which pissed me off, and rightfully so, because there is nothing I hate more than wasted time.  I’d have paid a $300 fee to catch the sessions live streamed had that been an option, but instead I spend $1K coming in person.  Kinda miffed..

The conference had 1000 people preregistered and I counted approximately 300 people at the keynote.  A quick once-over of the checking station outside the conference main entrance indicated a LOT of badges had not been claimed.

Not everything about the conference was bad, this is what I actually liked:

1. The conference was uber organized.  These guys obviously know what they are doing.  Top notch experience in that area.
2. Things started on time
3. Sound/display equipment WORKED
4. Free broadband Internet (hard wired) in our rooms and it was actually pretty damn fast.  Not sure what company sponsored this, but it was VERY much appreciated.
5. The exhibit hall had plenty of sit down space for one-on-one meetings
6. The party hosted by Wickedfire, Shoemoney, and others was OFF THE HOOK fun.  No drama/fights, just a lot of boobs and booze.
7. The conference hotel was SUPER pimp and VERY affordable at $150/night
8. Hotel was next door to conference
9. The session rooms were very spacious and sound was not an issue.

What I did not like about the conference:

1. The keynote broadcast for free.  Seriously, I’d pay a few hundred for an “online pass” to pretty much every conference if I could listen in to the keynote/sessions.  I’d get a shitload more work done as well.
2. The exhibit hall was painfully lacking, especailly for a conference with 1000 preregistered.
3. The conference was just too void of content to justify a 4 day stay.  I chose to come on the 17th and leave at noon the 19th because though the sessions on the 19th/20th would have been interesting, they did not seem to have the deeply targeted content that one would find at other conferences, specifically Affiliate Summit.  When I come to these things, I expect to find new perspectives, see how other people interpret topics such as how negative rebill offers are being developed, etc., and the sessions at this conference, though interesting, did not warrant an extended stay past the first day’s agenda.
4. At the pre-conference party, the average age was 24.  During the KEYNOTE, the average age was at least 46 and there were white/bald/grey heads EVERYWHERE.  Wasn’t sure if this was a Vietnam vets meetup or a tech-heavy affiliate conference.

Overall, I’d rate the conference a 6/10.  There were an assload of beginners, old people, and ebook/clickbank geeks.  That in and of itself made the conference pretty intolerable, but thanks to a few hardcore workaholic friends, I got a lot out of the conference and depending on the session content, may attend the next Affiliate Convention, scheduled for December 3rd-6th in Los Angeles, California.