Ad:Tech San Fran!

3 April
29 Comments
by nickycakes

logo_adtech_sf

Oh snap! Ad:Tech San Fran is only 3 short weeks away! Nickycakes was lucky enough to attend the Ad:Tech in NYC back in November, and it was off the hook, so, of course, he will be attending this one as well.

For those who have not been to an Ad:Tech before, you’re definitely missing out. If you’ve been to Affililiate summit, Ad:Tech is muuch larger, but not just focused on affiliate stuff. It pretty much covers all areas of digital marketing. Which, as an affiliate, is perfect. Affiliate Summit is a great conference, especially because it is so focused, and you will not (at this point anyway) find a conference that is better in terms of networking and getting new ideas. Ad:Tech, however, is unmatched in many ways, especially in giving affiliates the opportunity to meet ad networks and find traffic sources.

Are you making like $1k or so a day and looking to expand into some big media buys? Or maybe you just want to break out of the box of the big 3 search engines? Nickycakes went to the AD:Tech in NYC in november intent on finding new traffic sources. Here’s the stack of traffic source business cards he left with:
ad tech business cards

Please note: 7search blows.  do not use.

As you can see, they have no shortage when it comes to ad networks in the exhibit hall.  The exhibit hall, by the way, is enormous.  It is really a little bit overwhelming to see so many booths packed into that place.  At the NYC show, they even had them lining all of the hallways.  Insane.

Of course, all the big affiliate networks will be there as well.  And, they will likely be having parties.  Advaliant had a party in NYC that was completely off the hook and there were many hilarious and not so hilarious shenanigans.

Basically, the show is going to be awesome and a great opportunity for anyone in the affiliate marketing, or any kind of online marketing space.  Well worth it.  If you pre-register, you can get an exhibit hall pass for $35.  On-site it’s $75.  This includes all the keynotes.  Don’t bother getting one of the packages that includes sessions.  They are a complete waste of time/money and you won’t learn anything.  When you go to these shows, you’re basically walking around being advertised to.  Don’t pay any more money than you need to for that “privilege”.

Why won’t you learn anything at the panels?  They’re mostly a bunch of suits in areas of the industry that you’re not a part of talking about things you have no interest in.  They did add some panels by “expert” Danny Sullivan who runs searchengine watch and sphinn, talking about SEO.  But anyone with half a brain knows that a retarded monkey could do SEO as well as any “expert”, so that’s obviously a big waste of time.  Unless, of course, you’re the kind of mouthbreather who doesn’t know how to get other sites to link to yours with the same anchor text as the keyword you’re trying to rank for.  Seriously how do these people convince companies to pay them for their “services”… ok </tangent-rant>

Bottom line is: Go.  If you don’t, you’re missing out.  You can also write the whole thing off as a business expense, and it’s a great opportunity to visit San Francisco, one of the coolest cities in the country.

Ok, nitty gritty time.

Hotels

Yelp for the win, as usual.  Here are the 5 hotels within 4 blocks, rated for you. Cakes is staying at Intercontinental, which is supposed to be ballin on a budget.  St. Regis is supposed to be pretty sweet too, especially if you have starwood points.  W is apparently sold out but check anyway.

Food

Alright, Nicky is not a huge expert on San Fran, but it is home to his favorite sushi place of all time, Sushi Rika in Nob Hill.  The place is madd cheap and has some of the most delicious sushi ever.  Also the coolest looking.  You’re really screwing yourself over if you don’t check out this place.

Weather

San Fran gets cold.  That is all.

Tourist Crap

Go on an Alcatraz tour.  Get your tickets NOW because they sell out quick.  Skip Fishermans Wharf/Pier 39.  That place is worthless.  A bunch of chain restaurants and sfo tshirt shops.  Chinatown in SF is rad.  Get out of the tourist part if you can and hit up some hole-in-the-wall dim sum places that tourists dont find.  Use yelp for this if you need to.   Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard Street are each pretty cool and will keep you entertained for about 10 minutes unless you are the type who is extremely enthralled with shiny objects.  Union square has some good food and shopping stuff.

Flights

Virgin America has in-flight wifi.  Nuff said.  Also, buy coach seats, and ask to upgrade when you get to the airport and check in.  First class is sometimes like 1/4 the price or less when you upgrade at the airport.

Parties/Staying in Touch

As usual, there will be a ton of parties.  Unfortunately, Nickycakes hasn’t had time to make/research a list.  There has been talk of some sort of Nickycakes meetup or party or something, possibly co-hosted with another blogger e-celebrity type person, but nothing’s on paper yet.

Here is the best thing to do (which you should already be doing):

  • Sign up and follow Nickycakes on twitter.  You can even have Nickycakes updates sent via sms to your phone during the conference to find out wtf is going on.  Nickycakes promises he will do his best to not send everyone to a gay bar by accident like he did at ASE:Boston, although, San Fran seems like a much more dangerous town to play gay-bar russian roulette.
  • Hang out on Nickycakes IRC.  This will allow you to not just see what Nickycakes is doing, but also get in touch with other affiliate marketing nerds who may be there as well.  Even if you are not attending the conference, #cakes is a great place to ask questions and pray you don’t get flamed or banned.  Good luck!

Nickycakes Misconceptions

Apparently some people seem to think that Nickycakes is somehow unapproachable at conferences.  Quit being a retard.  Cakes is there to hang out so, please don’t be that guy that just walks around and gets business cards and then goes back to the hotel room to refresh stats.

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