Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards Congratulations! – #ASW13

We all know Under Armour – but to me this was much more about Amy Ely than it was anything else.  I’ve known Amy for a few years now – mostly thru her work at Buy.at – and have always been impressed not only for her professionalism and knowledge, but also for her character.   A great human – Amy deserves this award and it was great to see her receive it in front of so many of her (very excited and loud) friends!!!

Pat is one of my favourite people in the world to talk to – and the only downside to him winning this award is that he’s going to be in even more demand than usual.   I consider him something along the lines of a kindred spirit – and as a result I try to develop my product around whether or not Pat would like it… and then I know it will be good.

I’ve changed my mind… Pat is overrated and you should not contact him for any business.  ;)

I sense a trend here… because as I was sitting and watching the awards play out – it hit me how great some of these people are… just as people.   BrandVerity deserves this award – there is no doubt about it – but it makes it even better when you know that David Naffziger is the one who gets to take it home to his team.

When the individual behind the brand believes in the mission – it makes all the difference in the world.   David is a bright, smart and humble individual and so congratulations!!!

Senator Durbin likely is unaware of his accomplishment, but I will make sure that he knows!

The bottom line is that Senator Durbin has shown that he understands our industry, and cares for the jobs and people that we represent.

When the State of Illinois passed the extremely short-sighted Affiliate Nexus Tax bill – it was Senator Durbin who essentially said “enough is enough” and put the full-court press on the only possible fair solution (a Federal level bill).

As a business leader – this was remarkable to see and was a huge step forward.   Most bills in Washington come packed with agendas … but Senator Durbin is being recognized here because he saw past the politics and realized that there were real individuals who needed his help.

If you’ve not yet met Brook and Forrest Schaaf … consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

They have introduced us to several fad diets, confused our sense of reality and time, roasted us, forced us to wear costumes that we did not want to wear, and used words that cannot possibly be part of the English vocabulary.  They couldn’t even manage to agree on the pronunciation of their own shared name.

My domain name portfolio includes probably 4 dozen that are directly their fault.

It’s been about 10 years… and guys – I can’t wait for the next 10 years of fun… y’all rock and the industry wouldn’t be near the same without you.

To all of the great people at Schaaf-PartnerCentric – congratulations on your success in the face of such adversity!

Outside of the Legend Award presentation – I was most touched by the presentation of Affiliate Manager of the Year to Jon Nunez.   Jon and Mike Nunez share many similarities in story to myself and my own brother and it was really cool to hear him talk about the story.

Jon – congratulations on a well-deserved award and we look forward to working with you further!!

It was definitely the highlight of my trip to Las Vegas to see Mike and Ruth Ann!!

I’m going to let Missy Ward’s words stand for themselves on this one as there is no way I could say it better… but I’ll add this.

Mike – you introduced me to a group of people I didn’t even know I needed to know, before I even deserved it, never asked for anything in return, and I didn’t even realize how grateful I would be  until years later.   You showed me how to treat people in business, and I didn’t even realize you were showing me.   You’ve had an amazing effect on a whole crop of people in this industry and you greatly deserved your standing ovation at this year’s awards ceremony.    Thank you.

From Missy Ward, during the introduction of the 2013 Affiliate Marketing Legend Award: