Check out my Mobile Space podcast on GeekCast.fm!

Hm, I really liked the ShareASale event in Boston. But their 80s party at the Rio reminded me more of a school dance:

So I followed the English crowd (Matt of Existem/a4uexpo, Pete of Affilinet and Matt of iLevel) to Body English, the club event at the Hard Rock Hotel. Thanks to Pete we could skip the crowd:

The buy.at invitation-only party at the Palms Casino was the perfect beginning. Good people, loud music, free drinks and a stunning view. Thanks to Charlie Calabrese for extending the event until 3am.

http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/mobile-web-opportunities-presentation

My session “Mobile Web Opportunities” starts on Monday, January 12th 2009, at 3:30pm. Hope to see you there as well. Don’t be shy and ask many questions.

I’ll be arriving on Friday evening (January 9) and will be leaving on Wednesday afternoon (January 14). If you want to join me on Saturday for a casino tour and a thrilling night out, please get in touch. I’ve heard quite a few things have changed since then. Siegfried & Roy left the Mirage, Treasure Island’s good old pirate show got replaced by “Sirens of TI”, and much more. But hey, nine years for Vegas is like decades for other places.

Even though Shoemoney recommends the Stratosphere, I won’t be staying there. Money-wise it’s certainly one of the best deals but I’d hate to travel all the way back and forth from the Stratosphere to the Rio. Time is just too valuable during these events.

I’ll be speaking about “Mobile Web Opportunities” on Monday, January 12th 2009, at 3:30pm. This is a session aimed at both merchants and affiliates. I’d be happy to see you there.

After I arrived I went straight to the buy.at pre-summit party. Thanks to Laura for the invitation. The GeekCast.fm people were trying to record a podcast in Sam Harrelson‘s room after the party. But we were making too much noise I guess. The hotel security showed up a couple of times and ultimately threatened Sam to kick him out of his room. Anyways, I had a good time. Thanks for the beer and the whisky.

Sunday started with breakfast with Jeannine Crooks of Digital Instructor. Then I attended John Hasson‘s session on pay-per-click marketing and Sam Harrelson’s session on affiliate marketing through social media. Both were great and I definitely want to see them both speaking again. Then I had dinner with Carsten Cumbrowski and Alexander Raab, a new affiliate marketer who came all the way from Germany to get educated here. The day ended with the ShareASale “Under The Stars” party. The live band was awesome.

I might post a little bit more when I get back. Right now I’m just busy. You can see a couple of pictures on Shawn Collins’ site and read a more detailed review on TrishaLyn’s blog.

Saturday

• arrival at Logan airport in the afternoon
• water taxi to Seaport Hotel, check-in, shower
• 9:00pm: buy.at pre-summit party

Sunday

• 9:00am: Join me for breakfast!
• conference registration
• 12:00pm: Which PPC Engines Work And How? (John Hasson)
• 1:30pm: Leveraging Social Media (Sam Harrelson)
• 3:00pm – 6:00pm: networking at the Affiliate Meet Market and elsewhere
• some party or networking event

Monday

• 8:00am: Join me for breakfast!
• 9:00am: Opening Remarks & Keynote (Jim Kukral, Cory Booker, Blue Man Group)
• 12:00pm: Join me for lunch!
• 3:00pm: Landing Page Testing to Attract Super Affiliates (Tim Ash)
• 4:30pm: PPC Super Affiliate Strategies You Must Know (Amit Mehta)
• 6:00pm: Great Affiliate Road Rally
• 8:00pm: WebmasterRadio.fm Affiliate Bash

Tuesday

• 8:00am: Join me for breakfast!
• 9:00am: my “Ask The Experts” session about the mobile internet
• 11:00am: Web 2.0 for Affiliates
• 12:00pm: Join me for lunch!
• 5:00pm: Un-Keynote & Closing Cocktail
• some party, probably off-venue

On Wednesday I’m going to wake up late, pack and leave for New York City. I might also stay in Boston for another night and do some sightseeing. Let me know if you want to join me.

Here is an excerpt from the agenda which is subject to change:

Ask the Experts will be an opportunity for merchants, networks and affiliates to ask questions about various specialties and issues. Hand picked experts will handle topics in their specialty, and conduct chats, answer questions and share opinions during this networking and education session:

• Content Driven SEO – Byron White, President, LifeTips.com
• Email Marketing – William Waggoner, Vice President, AAW Marketing, LLC
• Google Radio and Print Ads – Holly Preuss, Principal, Granular Solutions
• Growing a Blog – Zac Johnson, President / CEO, MoneyReign Inc.
• Making the Most of Your Leads – Christian Habermann, Co-Founder, Consumer United
• Mobile Internet – Peter Glaeser, Online Entrepreneur, AffiliateTracking.de
• Online Video – Craig Gordon, President, WebPeople
• Working with Multiple Affiliate Networks – Brian Littleton, President / CEO, ShareASale.com

If you plan on going to the Boston conference, the session is on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, at 9am in the main conference room. I will be staying at the venue hotel from Saturday to Wednesday, so please get in touch with me while you’re there.

However, around the year 2000 most news groups got polluted with so many spam posts that people started leaving the usenet and moved on to discussion boards on websites. From a user point of view that was a step backwards. Instead of reading targeted groups on usenet we now have to monitor hundreds of different sites to stay updated on all these discussions. I think that’s one of the reasons why the use of RSS spread so quickly.

Today the usenet is used mainly by computer nerds that are sophisticated enough to run spam filters in their news readers and use the system also as a file-sharing platform. Normal people don’t use it and internet beginners don’t even know what it is. Today’s teenagers went straight to the world of Internet Explorer, MySpace and Facebook to exchange text.

I think the same thing is about to happen to email. Even with the best spam filters it’s become impossible to keep all the spam away. People are forced to delete stuff from their inboxes and look for real messages in their junk folders manually everday. What a waste of time and money for any economy. Just like with usenet, people are escaping the open email protocol and move to serviced portals.

Instead of exchanging email addresses, people communicate increasingly via social networks like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or XING. The advantage is that they don’t have to keep up with changing email addresses, the contacts will always be there. Usually they can receive messages from approved contacts only, a whitelist system so to say. Compared to email, spam on social networks is still minimal and that’s why people love it. The downside is that different people are registered on different networks. So instead of using my email interface I have to check accounts in five different social networks to communicate.

From a technical standpoint email is still a great service. I like the separation of header and body so that you can view the topic and perhaps read the text of the message without having to download the attached file. That’s especially good for mobile communication. But I think once a solution is found for managing accounts of multiple social networks, email is going to be buried. Let’s see what OpenSocial will contribute.

If you still think email is the internet’s main communication medium, then you’re basically an old-school, web 1.0 person. Ask your 14-year old niece how often she logs on to Facebook and how often she uses email. You’ll be surprised. If you are an affiliate marketer and still spam the crap out of people, you’re not gonna be able to reach many young people soon. It’s like with online vs. offline advertising. Young people hardly buy newspapers and spend more time online than in front of the television.