Stephanie Lichtenstein

It’s not just a typical Monday in New York City. The Trump Soho is being taken over by hundreds of top advertisers and publishers in the affiliate marketing industry. The soldout LinkShare Symposium East 2010 kicks off in one day. LinkShare Symposiums are known for being top notch events thrown around the world a few times a year. Needless to say there are already meetings and events taking place the day prior.

If you want to know how to get the most out of your LinkShare Symposium experience you’ve come to the right place. With so many choices on what you can do I can narrow your options down. Tonight Shawn Collins and Missy Ward, founders of the Affiliate Summit Conference, are throwing a Pre-LinkShare Symposium East Meetup. It is conveniently located near the Trump Soho and is a great networking event to get a head start to meeting people attending the conference. You will also get the chance to win free Gold Passes to Affiliate Summit East 2010.

If you are in NYC and in the affiliate marketing industry feel free to RSVP on Facebook.

Tuesday the LinkShare Symposium officially kicks off. We will be covering the event with live tweets and a blog post to capture the overall experience. Here is what the agenda will be for Tuesday:

Registration is between 8:00am-9:00am at the Chelsea Piers. It includes a continental breakfast followed by Executive Remarks. Key industry discussions will be held such as: Key Trends Shaping the Future of Performance Marketing and Affiliate Marketing in Today’s E-Commerce Landscape. Networking will be integrated in the schedule as well as Dealmaker which is LinkShare’s version of an exhibit hall. DealMaker hosts a table to connect with partners and will take place at the Lighthouse on Pier Sixty-One at Chelsea Piers. Visit the LinkShare Symposium Agenda for full time schedules.

I saved the best for last. The 8th Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards will be held during the LinkShare Symposium East luncheon. The Golden Link Awards ceremony celebrates great industry leaders and innovators. Here are this year’s nominees:

2010 Golden Link Award Nominees

• Best New Advertiser: The Limited, CarRentals.com, Crocs

• Best New Publisher: Deals Woot, Mall Networks, Blastoff Network

• Innovative Advertiser of the Year: CheapOair, Macy’s, Dollar Days

• Innovative Publisher of the Year: Clicks2Customers & RingRevenue, Airmiles.ca, StyleFeeder

• Affiliate Manager of the Year: Gus Brito of TigerDirect, Nette Martino of Orbitz, Michelle Brown of Drugstore.com

• OPM/Agency of the Year: Gen3 Marketing, The JAR Group, OPMPros.com

• Advertiser’s Choice: Citizen Hawk, Coupon Cabin, Deals Woot, Fabulous Savings, Mall Networks, Market America, Mr. Rebates, Offers.com/Vertive, Offerpal, Savings.com, ShopAtHome, StyleFeeder, SurfMyAds, TheFind, Upromise

• Publisher’s Choice: Avon, AHAVA, Bloomingdale’s, Care2, Chase, CheapOair, Cookies Kids, Crocs, Current Catalog, Delta Airlines, Drugstore.com, Ed Hardy, Estee Lauder, FragranceNet.com, Gaiam, Ice.com, JC Penney, KarmaLoop, Lego, Macy’s, Microsoft Store, Neiman Marcus, The North Face, Omaha Steaks, OneTravel, Orbitz, Saks Fifth Avenue, Service Magic, Walmart

• International Advertiser of the Year: ASOS, Drugstore.com, Topshop & Topman

• Technology Genius Award: TheFind, Skimlinks, ScanBuy

• Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate: Melanie Seery, Missy Ward & Shawn Collins, Steve Schaffer

Best of luck to all the well deserving nominees. Tomorrow is going to be an action packed day full of networking and industry growth through discussions. We will be posting a full recap of the event as well as sharing the 8th Annual Golden Link Award winners with you. If you have no attended a LinkShare Symposium event before you will get a good feel of the event and the top reasons to attend so stay tuned!