As usual, I didn’t go inside the actual seminar room for long (maybe 10 minutes total), because I don’t like to get sidetracked with notes about what other people are doing, knowing there is a missing key component that will be pitched at the end for $2k from each speaker. I already have enough ideas on my plate as it is.

One bummer was that I stayed at the Venetian, and it was a $50 cab ride out to no man’s land where the M Resort and the event was. I didn’t know it was gonna be so far away, so I only attended on Friday. But while I was there, I had lunch with George Brown and Tom Miller. Tom has some amazing Facebook software I’m really looking into. I’m probably going to do a webinar with him about it because its just so killer. I’ll talk more about it once I’ve used it a bit more. It can get very black hat, but Tom’s been using it for about a year now himself, and just recently he started selling the software. It creates tons of accounts, gets 5,000 friends on each account, and a bunch of other crazy stuff. One post on a newsfeed to all of the accounts and instant sales of a Clickbank product. He updates it almost daily, to avoid ever-changing facebook codes. It reminded me of the days back in 2006 when you could make a killing on Myspace with bots. Obviously, if you aren’t comfortable with blackhat stuff, just skip it.

Aside from that, I got approached by dozens of people that want me to promote “the next big thing”. When I ask for specifics about how well it was working for their customers, most had no answer other than “good”. No specifics. No shining star case studies. Kinda bummed me out. But they were quick to tell me it converts well, which is classic IM.

I also met a few people who said they got started with the Rich Jerk a long time ago, and that now they had very successful businesses. I got a little emotional about it! Especially this guy “Gunner” from Germany. He seemed very nervous to approach me, and when he told me his story and how he went from nothing to 6 figures a year, providing a nice life for his family… man that was a really cool moment for me.

Anyway, Friday night I took Georgy Boy and Tom Miller and BringTheFresh.com super-member Rick Rivera out to Tao for George’s birthday. Mike Dillard stopped by, as well as Bryan and Ryan Tate (cool guys). Fun times.

Saturday I was wiped and didn’t even leave my room. Didn’t answer the phone or check email. It was awesome. Note to self: blackout shades are amazing. Apparently I missed a night of debauchery at Club XS. Oh well.

Sunday I took my girlfriend sight-seeing, as it was her first time in Vegas. This included dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world – CraftSteak at the MGM – owned by Tom Colicchio of Top Chef. Amazing stuff there.

Then Sunday night was THE night. The affiliate appreciation event where Mike Filsaime rented out half of the club “Lavo” at the Palazzo hotel. It was pretty nuts. More alcohol than anyone could ever consume, but I stayed sober enough to talk to a lot of IM’ers. I met tons of new people and reunited with others I hadn’t seen in years. I was most impressed by Rich Schefren. I sat down with him for at least 30 min and he really blew me away with how he is providing value to his customers. I was shocked that he actually cared – pretty unusual these days.

All in all it was fun. A few key conversations made the whole trip worthwhile. Same thing for Rick – he made a lot of good connections.

It just goes to show, the money and “secrets” are never from the seminar, but from the conversations that take place outside. Especially at the bar. So don’t ever feel like you’re not welcome to attend anyone’s event, just because you don’t have an invitation. Nobody cares, and one solid connection or conversation can change everything.

I’ll probably be back in Vegas in January for Affiliate Summit West, and then Wash DC in March for Yanik Silver’s Underground seminar. (again, not buying tickets to either one, or listening to any speakers) Let me know if you’re gonna be at either event, and if there’s any synergy for us to hang out or chat.