Internet Geek Girl

I’m incredibly honored to announce that InternetGeekGirl was selected as a finalist for a LinkShare Golden Link in 2008 for the category of Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate. My fellow finalists, Revenue Magazine and Scott Jangro, surely deserve to win this one. I think it should be a tie between those guys.  While I’m definitively *vocal* and I’ve been in the space for 10 years, my evangelistic efforts pale in comparison to the likes of Lisa Picarille and Scott Jangro. I feel pretty darn lucky to be listed among such distinguished nominees. Kellie Stevens of AffiliateFairPlay (last year’s recipient), will be passing on the crown! I thank LinkShare for selecting me and look forward to another great Symposium.

I would like to point out that I have spent a lot of time over the last few years talking about the impact social media and web2.0 is having on affiliate marketing. I work to evolve new strategies and share the power of performance marketing with other communities online that lack understanding about this monetization strategy. More and more people are starting to listen and do something about it. Affiliate Summit is hosting an entire event dedicated to the topic in October!  I hope the leading companies in performance marketing pay better attention. The networks can no longer sit idly by while the online marketing landscape shifts to a more technologically advanced, flexible, user-generated, socially connected infrastructure. Times are changing my friends, it’s best to change with them.

The Affiliate Karma team looks forward to seeing all of you at the Pre-Party to the Golden Links next Monday night at the Monkey Bar at 5:30 in NYC

Ok, ok…I know I haven’t posted in awhile. And I truly feel bad about that. It’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks – jetting from NJ to SF, Silicon Valley, Santa Barbara and back. Stay tuned though, because there are changes in the air for InternetGeekGirl. I got some very good advice from a leading editor in the tech industry, and a re-launch will be happening on my 1 year anniversary – March 9! As a side note, (and I’m happy to have deep philosophical conversations about this), I have been Twittering the whole time.

NB: See all the cool pics and reviews of “InternetGeekGirl and her bub.blicio.us friends Meet in Palo Alto to Fill the GapingVoid and Have a Conversation!” (here and here).

In other news…it’s time for Affiliate Summit! I’ll be arriving in Vegas this Saturday, and excited about the Social Media Panel, which I will be on with the following Twitterati: Sam Harrelson (moderator), Deborah Schultz, Chris Brogan, Tris Hussey, and iJustine. Don’t forget to follow @AffiliateSummit and @asw08 (group account) on Twitter.

We will be giving away t-shirts from cool, web2.0 start ups during our panel – so if you’d like to send yours along to the Rio Hotel – feel free. Here’s the address (make sure it arrives no later than 2/24 and goes to my attention):

Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino

3700 W. Flamingo Road

Las Vegas, NV 89103

1-800-Play-Rio
ATTN: STEPHANIE AGRESTA (AFFILIATE SUMMIT – ARRIVAL DATE 2/23)
Cell: 646-408-3318

InternetGeekGirl will also be the hostess with the most-ess in the blog lounge, so we’ll pass them out there as well.Refreshments provided by B5 Media.

BTW – don’t miss Andrew Wee’s Affiliate Summit Las Vegas Survival Guide!

See y’all in Vegas!

Every week Lisa Picarille, the Editor-in Chief of Revenue Magazine and Shawn Collins, the Co-founder of Affiliate Summit host the leading affiliate industry podcast, Affiliate Thing . Last Wednesday, while Shawn was at Affiliate Summit London, I served as substitute co-host. Our guest was Heather Paulson, long-time affiliate marketing veteran, who recently launched her own company, Paulson Management Group. The Affiliate Thing Ladies Show was a blast to do. Please click here for a listen.

BTW – when deciding to pay homage to my favorite childhood show, Charlie’s Angels, I specifically went old-school. (A dedcication to my cute little twin sisters who spent years running around the house with me, dressed up in our mom’s cloths, with water guns in our little black purses. Yes, I ALWAYS had to be Sabrina). FREEZE!

Today marks the Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Links Awards and my Third Annual Pre-Party to the Golden Links (I don’t know why I missed that first year).

This is a week powered by LinkShare! Tomorrow is the “X” Annual LinkShare Symposium in NYC. I can’t recall exactly how many years ago I began attending, but it was a very long time ago. As LinkShare describes:

For more than ten years, LinkShare merchants and affiliates have convened at the LinkShare Symposium to forge new business relationships and discuss issues facing the industry at large. Experience the power of the LinkShare Network to learn from industry veterans and network with the who’s who of the Internet community. This is the must-attend event for performance marketing professionals!

I couldn’t agree more. I have been part of this community for over 10 years and I value the opportunity to spend time with friends, partners, clients and colleagues. LinkShare has been a catalyst for supporting these connections, and they do so with a huge sense of style and elegance, making this one of the best events I attend each year.

Deb Schultz, my good friend and social media maven, speaks often about the Relationship Economy. We all attend so many conferences every year that it’s easy to forget the important role these events play in fueling our relationships. As Deb points out, it’s important for us to question how we weave in and out of these worlds:

* What is our intention with all these communities?
* How do we interact in a meaningful way with all of these connections?
* What is “meaningful” in this landscape?
* What is the definition of Community when affiliations are so loose and easily coupled/uncoupled?
* How do we build applications to maintain a good flow between clusters?
* What is the role of attention in the Relationship Economy?

I’ll be sure to chew on all this while networking and attending the excellent panels that will address the key issues facing performance marketing today.

I am sorry to be missing SuperNova this week. I still haven’t figured out how to be at two community events at exactly the same time. Big shout out to all my friends on the Left Coast! I’m sure we will be Twittering back and forth all week.

At the next event you attend, think about how you can maximize your time building better relationships and enhancing the quality of how we interact within our communities!