If there was one thing to be learned from last night’s trip it’s that graceful ice-skaters affiliate marketers do not make. We saw grown men revert to grinning like a five year old (Eman), the slowest two laps in history (Hardeep) and the best advert for Spanish ice skating ever seen (Marta).

The highlight of the night though had to be the impromptu charity donation raised to support the ValueClick Arctic trek for Kids Company. It involved CJ country manager Florian Gramshammer consuming 28 sausages, it wasn’t pretty and Florian’s been very quiet since, but he did manage to raise £150 for the cause.

All in all a great night was had by the team and the Commission Junction skating team will be back for more next year.

Representing Powerlinks at the event was Head of Business Development Greg Carrol, here’s what he had to say.

CJ: How long have you worked with CJ Greg?
G: CJ have been helping us with development for just over a year.

CJ: Do you get to meet advertisers often?
G: It’s been my primary goal in this major growth stage to meet as many as possible, CJ have certainly been great in helping achieve that.

CJ: What were your objectives at the CJ Travel Publisher day?
G: To introduce our new technology to the travel industry.

CJ: Did you get all the information you wanted from the meetings?
G: I did. The AM’s in every meeting made sure there was a great flow of information.

CJ: Do you think the Travel Publisher Day will benefit your business and if so why?
G: Absolutely, I am glad to say that thanks to the meetings we will start working with many new advertisers and publishers over the coming weeks.

CJ: Would you recommend other industries to attend a CJ Advertiser/Publisher day?
G: Totally!!! The CJ account managers have their ears to the ground when it comes to new and exciting technological opportunities, these events are a chance for various industries to see almost everyone in a day rather than stretched out over a few months.

CJ: How would you like to see these events grow?
G: I think the intimate nature and almost ‘speed date’ approach was perfect, it gave all parties just enough time to see if an opportunity existed and platform to arrange discussing it further. As a person focused on business it would always be good to see more advertisers but we definitely fit as much as we could into one day!

We accosted Neil from iSPY to see what he thought of the day.

CJ: How long have you been a publisher Neill?
N: For a year now

CJ: And for how long of that year have you worked with CJ?
N: For about four months

CJ: What were your objectives at the CJ Travel Publisher Day
N: Mainly meeting the CJ team, and meeting face to face with advertisers to explain how our publication will develop and can meet their needs

CJ: Did you get all the information you wanted from your meetings?
N: You know, I had so much to discuss there wasn’t always time, but the important thing was I had established a channel of communication, details could follow later.

CJ: What was the golden nugget of information you gained on the day?
N: Be open to challenge your assumptions about your publication.

CJ: So would you recommend other industries to attend a CJ Advertiser/Publisher day?
N: YES! It’s an invaluable chance to pitch directly to many advertisers and gather an understanding of their mindset, it’s not often that you get this opportunity so it’s definitely worthwhile.

CJ: So do you think the Travel Publisher Day will benefit your business?
N: Again yes, this has given me the opportunity to develop new relationships with advertisers which might have previously taken a long time. In addition I am now thinking about my own publication techniques and objectives in a new light, feedback is integral to the growth of any business and having lots of people who know what they’re talking about throws up some great suggestions.

The two affiliate companies, who combined boast the largest remit in the US, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, organised the event to share best practice ideas for the affiliate industry and to bring together publishers and advertisers; it’s something we do in the UK and is always a worthwhile activity.  Not only does bringing advertisers and publishers face to face help communication, but it increases the efficiency of any partnership.

As an affiliate network, efficiency is key – otherwise we’re wasting time when we could be boosting sales – so these events are a fantastic tool.  It’s not often that senior business managers and spokespeople come together to discuss current issues and successes within the affiliate industry, but there were several in Prague.  Vladan Hejnic, CEO of VIV NETworks, Petra Hergenroether-Magenau from Commission Junction who is responsible for the Eastern European market and Jan Penkala from Acomware, were all spokespeople at the event to spearhead discussions around key industry issues and developments.

This event just goes to show the power of affiliate marketing, not only is it an intrinsic element of the marketing mix in the UK and US, but it’s a powerful marketing tool around the globe.  Brands should be thinking about global campaigns and utilising information from any affiliate marketing exploit to learn more about consumers and behaviors, feeding into the affiliate mix and knowing their customers more and more.

The first affiliate conference was a huge triumph and a big step forwards in demonstrating the achievements and successes of the affiliate marketing channel.

Local charities are important to Commission Junction, over the years we have raised thousands of pounds to support some of the charities in and around ValueClick HQ in Putney.  This Christmas, two teams of intrepid ValueClickers are heading to the most Northern reaches of Lapland where they’ll be competing in the Kids Company Arctic Biathlon.  It all starts with an early morning flight on the 4^th December followed by a connecting flight to the outskirts of the Arctic Circle.

...not sure the ValueClickers will look this erudite

The disciplines will be perilous tasks including ice fishing, dog sledging and long distance skiing. Everything will be undertaken on traditional Norwegian skis – so it’s not the relaxing holiday that most of us are looking for this Christmas.  The team needs as much support as possible for their task and are trying to raise £6,000 for Kids Company.

Kids Company raise money for children who live below the poverty line so it’s an incredibly important cause and worthy of every penny.  If you can spare anything you can help in many ways – you can donate via our Virgin Money Giving Page or join in with any of our fundraising events.  Next up is the pub quiz in Brixton, let us know if you fancy coming by joining the facebook group.

Thanks for your support and please do wish us luck!

If you’re free on Thursday 24^th November make sure you register for the event and come along; there will be a chance to network and discuss industry issues with publishers, advertisers, agencies and networks from the affiliate industry at the final AMC meeting of the year at 3pm at the IAB’s Offices.  Then the party starts at 5pm as everyone gathers for catch ups and networking.  The guest list will have up to 300 affiliate marketers so if you have any questions about the industry it’s the place to be.

Commission Junction is sponsoring the event and we will be there in full spirits.  There will be food and refreshments to kick start the event as well.

If you want to attend you will find all the details and can register here: http://www.amiando.com/IAB_AMC_Drinks

We hope to see you there!

If you couldn’t get enough of listening to Mr Gramshammer then you are in for a treat because Day 2 sees him speak twice more. At 11.OO Andrew Firmin of Argos will be speaking with Florian on the subject of retailers and their affiliate programmes complimenting advertising push. Then Florian and Andy will join forces again at 13.00 on a panel discussing the eConsultancy Affiliate Survey.

To be honest we think these words of wisdom are going to be worth the entry fee alone – but I did get paid to say that. If you feel like congratulating Florian on his speaking performances then look out for him and the CJ team at one of the Expo’s networking parties, details here.

Don’t forget to come along and visit both the Commission Junction and ValueClick media teams at stand 36. In addition Argos, Legal & General and Air France are among some of our clients that will be exhibiting this year.

Networking at the A4U is a must, and there will be a range of opportunities to do so from speed networking to the official A4U party. You can find out more about these activities and more by clicking here.

If you’re still struggling for an excuse as why to come-well there is good news. All CJ clients get a 10% discount on tickets when registering with the code: CJCLIENT10. You can register by clicking here.

Celebrating a successful duathalon with the team in Richmond Park

It’s the second year we’ve participated in this, and it’s definitely started to get competitive.  There was more Lycra, more stretching and more enthusiasm seen all round.  However, the important reason to participating is not beating last years’ time however, but it’s to support the Kids Company, a charity dedicated to providing practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children.  Last year we raised over £1,000 and this year we’ve raised nearly £500 and are still going – with your help we can raise even more so please donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/valueclick-duathlon-part-deux/

A huge thank you to everyone who took part – and a shout out to the ValueClick winners Matthew Beck and Ant Jeffrey who completed the 5km run, 20km cycle and 10km run in 2hrs 2minutes and 59seconds.  A CJ winner was Mike Thurgood who had the best individual time of 2:04:31 – he was flying.

Everyone did a great job and it was drinks all round when we were done.  A huge thank you goes out to everyone who sponsored, and a congratulations to those who took part; Dan Powel, Matt Baker, Nick Stanford, Tom Leadbetter, Eleanor Pickering, Felix Kirschbaum, James McIntyre, Frances Ogunware, Juan Du Preez, Mike Thurgood, Matt Beck, Anthony Jeffrey, Torsten Hoyer, Donal Kane, John Coulson, Micky Nardella, Niall Moody and me.  With special thanks to Calvin Woods and Kate Downing – a couple of old industry friends who participated last minute.

This is a fantastic opportunity to share your opinions and viewpoints with your peers so make sure you take part.  The deadline is on Friday and completing the census only takes ten minutes.  So grab a coffee and take part – you get a free copy of the report if you do.

Two years ago a similar report was compiled which provided unique insight into affiliate marketing, the time has now come to revisit the subject.  The online world moves so quickly that the research is sure to bring different topics and new perspectives to the forefront of the industry; mobile is now on the scene and video has developed as a leading proposition within affiliate marketing.

We’ll be discussing the findings at the A4U Expo in London in October, along with Andrew Firmin, affiliate manager at Argos. So you can hear more about it all there – questions are always appreciated as well.