Just a week away from the kickoff of the 2011 London Affiliate Conference, CAP spoke to head organizer and LAC mastermind Alex Pratt about what affiliates should know about this year’s event — expected to be the gaming affiliate industry’s biggest ever.
We’ve been hearing a lot about record-breaking attendance numbers. What’s that figure at now?
To date we have 2,200 registered but we’re literally getting 75-150 a day … interestingly, 1,800 of these are affiliates, which is obviously huge and provides an incredible ratio for the event which is unmatched by any other affiliate event in the market, gaming or non gaming!
We’ve also noticed a lot more registrations from mainland Europe, particularly Spain and France, which hopefully reflects the growth of affiliate marketing as a key acquisition tool in those countries.
How do you expect the 2011 London Affiliate Conference to be different from previous years?
I get asked this a lot, and if I am honest the only ways we want it to change is in the small areas where we can improve it as to be honest the model works and as my dad always says “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Saying this we have made quite a few improvements such as introducing an affiliate issues panel where affiliates can openly discuss trends, issues, and rogue programs as well as brainstorm ideas to make the industry a better place to work in.
We’ve also changed the set-up of the event — we have more stands, two conference rooms plus, for all those people that didn’t manage to get lunch last time, we have ordered more food!
What can you tell us about the iGB Affiliate Awards?
Another big change for 2011 is the iGB Affiliate Awards, where we have changed the judging, the number of awards and generally focused on how the night can be an incredible experience for the attendees.
Awards nights can often be very ‘samey’ and often the winners are questionable so we wanted to make sure we are as far from this as possible.
Can’t miss ’em!
And here’s a rundown of some of the conference’s key events:
- Facebook UK & Ireland Representative Nikki Lannen will speak on the topic of advertising using social media;
- The return of the Demon SEO Panel — an advanced SEO session from some influential SEO experts;
- Paul Coxhill, Marketing Director for Ukash, will talk about the crossover between online gaming and online banking;
- Yoast.com Founder Joost de Valk will discuss advanced WordPress themes;
- And CAP’s own Product Manager Arjun Jolly will speak on the topic of building and monetizing an online community.
CAP will be at booth 66. We’ll see you there.