Without any further ado, I am delighted to announce that registration for The Audience Conference 2010 is now open.

So what is this Audience Conference anyway?

The Audience Conference is a 1-day event that features the smartest people across different disciplines who will speak about building and engaging audiences.

Last year, there were 20 speakers and entertainers who graced the stage of the Hudson Theater.   This year, we’ll have dozens of speakers and comedians who will inform and entertain you on the stage of Caroline’s on Broadway, America’s Premiere Comedy Nightclub, located in the heart of Times Square in New York City.

http://flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/ CC BY-NC 2.0

There will also be an Open Mic, which will be open to all attendees who have the chutzpah to get up and perform 2-3 minutes of standup.    (I am planning on getting up there myself, after all, it’s not like I’m going to miss out on the chance of saying that I got to do my schtick on the stage of Caroline’s.)

When is this event taking place?

The event is set for Saturday, August 14th from 9:00am-5:00pm and was deliberately planned to take place the day before Affiliate Summit East 2010 commences at the New York Hilton.

How much will you cost you to learn and laugh your ass off all day?

The early bird rate is just $99 bucks and includes a light breakfast, yummy bar food for lunch (yeah, you know the kind) and your beer and wine. The early bird ends on April 30th and then rates go up to $129.

What else?

If you’re interested in sponsoring this event, there are a limited number of opportunities available and all with a great level of visibility for your brand.  We are also taking speaker proposals now through April 30th.

Lastly, please keep in mind that there are only 300 seats available for this event and I assure you, they are going to go fast.  I will not be holding any seats back  — first come, first served — and don’t say I didn’t warn you

On November 6, 2009 a select group of speakers and an audience came together at the Hudson theater in NYC. It was the inaugural event of Audience Conference, produced by 1938Media.  Affiliate Summit was a Diamond Sponsor of the event.

Not only did the show exceed my expectations from both an attendee and sponsor standpoint, but it was also the start of a wonderful friendship with both Loren and Michelle Feldman of 1938Media.

Photo by Shawn Collins

Over the course of the last few weeks, Shawn Collins and I have had many conversations with Loren to talk about what he had in mind for Audience Conference moving forward. The more we heard, the more we liked.

So, while in Las Vegas last week for Affiliate Summit West 2010, we decided that we’d all work together to produce Audience Conference moving forward.

With that in mind, I’m delighted to announce that The Audience Conference will be in NYC again on Saturday, August 14th, the day before Affiliate Summit East 2010.

The theme for this limited-capacity event will be “comedy”.

While I can’t announce all the details just yet, I can tell you that the venue is perfect for a conference such as this one.

And really, what could be more appropriate to tie in with an affiliate marketing event other than an event with a comedic edge?

After all, both affiliate marketers and comics are very similar in nature. Both share a passion for a field that isn’t easy to master, both rely heavily on instincts and both know that if they don’t produce, they don’t eat.

Stay tuned for more information on Audience Conference 2010 on TheAudienceConference.com.

“Our strong suit is what we do, and our audience.” – Jerry Garcia

Say what you will about the Grateful Dead, but they understood Audience.

From the folks that bought their records to the Dead Heads that followed the band around for 30+ years, The Grateful Dead mastered the art of appealing to their fans and monetizing them, while simultaneously staying true to their music.

In my opinion, Jerry Garcia would have loved Loren Feldman’s Audience Conference.

I know I did, along with the rest of the attendees who sat in the audience.

Upon entering the Hudson Theater, you could tell that this conference was going to be different. The glamorous history of the theater itself coupled with the fact that we were not forced to wear our pedigree dangling from a lanyard created a feeling swankiness; a feeling one does not typically experience during a conference.

Loren kicked off the event laying the ground rules in the matter in which we’ve grown to love him:  No Wi-Fi, no Twitter, no open laptops, no cell phones, no flash photography — or else.

It was the first time in a long while that I was about to consume conventional, one-way, top-down media and quite frankly, I was concerned that I wouldn’t know how to do that any longer.

After listening to the first two speakers, which included Dan Farber and Andrew Keen, I realized what a pleasure it was to just listen and digest.  The rest of the speakers that graced the stage of the Hudson Theater were Rachel Marsden, David Binkowski, Joe Jaffe, David Dunne, Jeremy Pepper, Jason Calacanis, Brian Clark, Jeremy Schoemaker, Rae Hoffman, Frank Roche, Melanie Notkin and Ethan Kaplan.

I have seen many of these folks speak before, but somehow they were all different this time. More candid, more raw. It was as if they now had the opportunity to share their story in a way that they couldn’t have done before with an audience that somehow mattered more — or at least they all made us feel that way.

Lunch was the gastronomical equivalent to the fare at a high society wedding (or at least a Bar Mitzvah) and the late afternoon was spent enjoying the divine music of Robert Bruce, Jason Liebman, Rachel Platten and Adam & Mia. (Seriously, when was the last time you saw a Harp at a Conference?).

After the conference, many of us shared our thoughts over cocktails at the Millenium Hotel followed by a wonderful dinner at the Roger Smith Hotel.

To those that didn’t attend, I understand that there will be some videos released, but not everything. The true essence of what was shared during the Audience Conference shall remain with the folks that attended — as it should.

Until next year, Loren.

10/21/09 Update: As a Diamond Sponsor of Audience Conference, I have received 5 Complimentary Passes to give away. If you’re interested in attending, please register here using discount code “Missy”. First 5 lucky readers get them.

(PS – If you are not 100% sure that you can make it, please do not take an opportunity away from someone else. The conference has a limited capacity for attendees and the folks that want to be there will be angry with you)

(Originally published on August 22, 2009.)

Successful marketing is not a numbers game. If you think that your circle of influence is defined by the number of folks that follow you on Twitter, think again.

Smart marketers understand that no matter how large your audience is, if you can’t get them interested and give them a reason to listen, you might as well be sending direct mail.

So, in a world overloaded with extraneous information and overwhelmed with banal obligations, how does one cut through the clutter and not only reach; but engage, retain and establish a loyal audience?

Herein lies the reason for attending Audience Conference, 2009.

The Audience Conference is a place to learn from those who really understand audiences today. Bringing together some of the most exceptional people in a unique format riding the cusp of performance and conference while keeping you informed and entertained in equal measure. From the entertainers who engage audiences directly to the statisticians who measure them, to the technologists building tools to help us reach new and larger audiences and engage with them.

On tap are some tremendous names already scheduled to speak, including Dan Farber of CBS News, Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, Brian Clark of Copyblogger, Ethan Kaplan of Warner Bros. Records, Rae Hoffman of SugarRae.com, Loren Feldman of 1938 Media, and so many more.

The Audience Conference is taking place at the Hudson Theater in NYC on Friday, November 6th. There will also be a limited opportunity to attend the VIP dinner with the speakers on Thursday, November 5th.

The scheduling of the event couldn’t be any better timing as so many marketers will already be in New York City for Ad:tech, earlier in the week.

Affiliate Summit is proud to be a sponsor of what is sure to be a phenomenal event.

Registration is just $399.

But wait, there’s more.

I have negotiated a special 10% discount off the registration price

Click here to register for Audience Conference
Discount Code: AFFSUM

Seating is limited for this event, so if you’d like to secure your spot and take advantage of the discount, I suggest you register early.

If you still think it’s good enough to build up a large amount of Twitter followers and blast out boring corporate messages or irrelevant nonsense, not only is this event not for you, but you’re also missing the point and the huge opportunity.

Will I see you at Audience Conference?

A few days have passed since IZEAFest and I’ve had the pleasure of conversing with the new friends and business associates that I met there via Facebook, on Twitter, via email, on the phone, etc.

The face-to-face networking that takes place at events such as IZEAFest is truly the springboard to the “virtual conversations” that continue on, post conference.

The unfortunate part about conferences is that eventually, they come to an end and somehow you just don’t get to talk to everyone you set out to meet.

In the last two days, I’ve heard from a couple of people who told me that they didn’t come up to me to say hi at IZEAFest because they always saw me talking to someone and they didn’t want to interrupt; or when I was alone and checking my email, they didn’t want to be a bother.

Please.. bother me!

I love meeting new people. I enjoy finding out about what you do and how I can help you grow your business.

I want you to be more than a Twitter avatar to me.

So, here’s the deal. In the next two months, I’m going to be at the following conferences:

BlogWorld Expo: October 15-17 (Come swing by my booth #328)
ShareASale Think Tank: October 23-25
Ad:tech New York: November 4-6 (Come swing by my booth #1455)
Audience Conference: November 5-6
Social Fresh Cruise: November 12-16 (Come swing by my lounge chair)

… and I really want to make sure I get to meet you.

Why don’t we set a time that’s convenient for the both of us to do so? This way, there are no awkward moments, no shoulda’s and no if-only’s that can get in our way.

Once I get your information, I’ll shoot you off an email to connect to set up a good time for us to meet.

Here’s looking forward to meeting you!