I recently attended the Affiliate World Conference in Barcelona, and the experience was truly delightful. I had previously attended the Affiliate World Dubai and that inspired me to take part in it again.
In this article, I’m going to share my personal experience with this event. I will also share the views and opinions of different people that I met at the event. So, are you ready to know all about the AW Barcelona event? Let’s jump right into our article.
What is Affiliate World Conference?
AWC or the Affiliate World Conference is an affiliate marketing meet-up that happens twice a year in Asia and Europe.
It is a two-day conference where some of the biggest marketing icons are invited as speakers and thousands of professionals take part as attendees.
This event is the breeding ground of tonnes of networking opportunities, connections, learnings, and valuable lessons. The Affiliate World Conference was recently held in Barcelona.
I attended the event, and I came back with some unforgettable memories. Let me tell you all about my experience in this article. Let’s begin!
My Experience at Affiliate World Europe Barcelona (2022)
During this two-day conference, I met with dozens of lively and energetic professionals who really inspired me to explore and keep trying everything new!
I had decided to vlog about my entire experience, which also turned out to be rewarding! I could interact with a lot more people and record their experiences for you all.
My experience is basically divided into different sections to help you understand everything this event offers. Let’s get started with the Day 1 of AWC Barcelona.
Reaching the Event Venue
The Affiliate World Conference was organized at the Plaça d’Espanya in Barcelona. It is such a breathtakingly beautiful location! I was instantly hooked on its beauty.
During my previous visit to AWC Dubai, there were supercars adorning the premises outside the event space. This time, the location was enough to draw in the attendees.
Here, I met Laurynys from the Shopify team. I personally admire Shopify as a platform. They are doing amazingly well in the field of eCommerce.
On being asked the reason for their visit to AWC, he said that Shopify was there to learn about the latest media strategies, advertisement frameworks, brand building techniques, and to connect with enthusiastic individuals.
I am hoping we’ll get to experience some interesting updates on Shopify soon!
Collecting the Event Pass
On entering the event hall, I found several booths for collecting our event passes. The passes were all printed in bright yellow, which was probably the color theme of the conference.
Moving forward, there was an Exhibitors List and Exhibition Map displayed to aid the participants with the navigation and event schedule. They also provided a guide that comprised a list of the Exhibitors.
I used the guide to circle out all the important exhibitors related to my niche and who I wished to connect with. This really helped me save time and make honest connections that mattered.
Understanding the Stage Arrangement
There were two stages where the speakers would be presenting. The first one was the Main Stage where the esteemed speakers were invited to take sessions on certain important topics.
The second one was the Breakout Stage, where a group of four panelists would discuss and express their views on a pre-defined topic. Both these sessions were valuable for anyone who was at the event to learn new concepts and strategies for boosting their business.
Here, I caught up with Craig Campbell, one of my go-to persons for SEO! I thought about making the most of this opportunity and asking him some blogging-related questions for my audience!
On being asked for tips for beginner bloggers, he emphasized the importance of topic clustering. He stated that a lot of bloggers build content around a range of unrelated topics.
The best blogging practice is to build clusters of topics and create content around them to develop authority on the overall topic. Hope you guys are taking notes!
Visiting Booths of Popular Brands
Right outside the stage events were the booths of various brands from the advertising, affiliate, and digital media fields. This zone was probably the gold mine of unlimited opportunities!
Attendees could visit the booths of their favorite brands and form meaningful connections with them. They could also partner with them or sign up for exciting one-on-one deals with them.
I think this entire process of reaching out to your favorite platforms would’ve been very time-consuming via emails, social media, etc. AWC really helped speed up the process.
Here, I visited my favorite booth – Ocamba Technology. They were the first booth I attended back in AWC Dubai. This time, I had a chat with Uros Kenic, who is a really humble guy! When I inquired about his experience, he stated the event was an amazing experience overall.
This time, he brought more members from their team but found that there were fewer attendees as compared to the last AW event. However, he also shared that because of a larger team, they could directly connect with a lot more people and also manage everything with ease!
Next, I also got to meet the founder and CEO of Writesonic, Samanyou Garg. Writesonic is one of the best tools for AI Content Writing. (Review coming soon!) They had their own booth, and it was fun talking to him.
Here’s a little secret – we might see them partner with companies like Fiverr and TikTok in the coming days!
Relaxing at the Cafe Area
The Cafe Area was quite neat and clean. It had chairs for attendees to sit down, relax, and have something to eat. The menu comprised sandwiches, breakfast items, empanadas, bowls and salads, cakes and pastries, and sundries.
However, you had to pay for all these items. They only offered water and coffee for free, which was quite disappointing! Also, post the Conference, there was an After Party which I sadly had to miss because of shifting places.
Enjoying at the Beer Garden
Well, the name itself speaks volumes! Beer Garden was a super fun and chill space for enjoying Happy Hour! Attendees could relax, have a beer, and connect with others in the Beer Garden.
Here, I met with my friends from India – Piyush Dimri and Akash Singh, the founders of Launchigo Media. They are super active in attending all the affiliate conferences around the globe.
We had a nice chat where they shared their experiences and why everyone should attend these conferences. They basically pointed out that these conferences were highly educational and interacting with new and like-minded people makes you realize there’s so much more to learn.
You also get a reality check, along with new perspectives and inspiring ideas, by meeting new people! Whereas, Akash Singh believed in the concept of “Network is your net worth”.
Forming Connections in the Networking Area
In the networking area, you could talk and connect with other attendees.
This space had booths where you could charge your mobile phones, laptops, and other devices. Along with that, it also had proper arrangements for conducting meetings with your potential clients and signing up deals.
I also met up with Pragya Sharma, a travel vlogger from Bhopal! Well, it’s weird but exciting to meet people from your own city in Barcelona!
On asking about her experience, she said it was a superb event for networking and if you have a service to offer, say website traffic, there are lots of people who need it! You just need to know how to sell it.
I really enjoyed talking to their team!
Checking out the Free Massage Service
Relaxation is incomplete without a nice massage, isn’t it? Well, you won’t believe that the AW Conference even had a 10-minute free massage service sponsored by 360 Affiliates.
The participants could relax and de-stress for a while here. This was quite thoughtful.
Chilling at the Gaming Zone
Another super impressive thing about AW Barcelona was the Gaming Zone. It has multiple games, including table tennis, foosball, virtual golf, virtual football, and more.
Well, I ended up playing Foosball (it’s basically football on a table!) and table tennis.
I liked the concept of encouraging these light yet competitive gaming activities to boost the formation of networks and connections. It was such a creative way to bond over games.
Then, I interacted with Salih, who has been attending the AW conferences for over 5 years now. He has an insane amount of experience and knowledge about the affiliate industry!
On having a word with him, he revealed he attends these conferences to meet new and interesting people, get inspired by them, and learn from their experiences.
Pros of AWC Barcelona
Networking Opportunities
The AW Barcelona event was brimming with successful people from the affiliate, ads, digital marketing, and software industries. This was a brilliant opportunity to bond with them and form effective connections.
Sign Up Exclusive Deals
The best part about connecting with different people and attending the booths of various businesses was the deals! You could partner with them or crack exclusive deals with them and offer them your services in return!
Fun Activities
The AW Conference had a range of fun activities like the gaming zone, after-party, free massage, and beer garden. You could indulge in these activities with other attendees and form some strong bonds over a casual conversation.
Exposure and Learning Opportunity
For beginners or first-time attendees, the AW Conference could be a fantastic way to find International exposure for their work and services.
It would also help you identify and appreciate new perspectives and find inspiration for other participants.
Cons of AWC Barcelona
No Free Food
The AW Conferences, despite being crazy expensive, do not offer any free food items! All you get for free is water and coffee. I hope they consider including some free snacks for the attendees in the upcoming events.
Confusing Navigation
I met up wit Olga, who mentioned that the vibe of the AWC event was lively and energetic. However, the navigation was somewhat confusing. I agree with that.
The event venue was divided into different zones and you had to rush into specific zones to attend a session. It would’ve been much better if they had kept them close by. I hope they take care of it at the next events.
Who Should Attend the AW Conferences?
The AW Conference would be a very enjoyable and educational experience for anyone related to the Affiliate industry, eCommerce, advertisements, software, digital marketing, IT, technology, etc. So, if you belong to any of these verticals, you can attend the AW Conference.
However, in my opinion, it wouldn’t provide much value to someone who has just started out with their business. Because of a lack of successful results, beginners would have trouble connecting with a larger audience.
Thus, I feel you should attend the AW Conference once you have some concrete results to show. This would drive more networks and clients towards your services and you’ll end up getting the worth of your investment.
And if you’re interested in attending any future AW Conferences in Dubai, I have a special offer for you. As the ticket prices to AW Conferences are pretty expensive, you can get an extra 15% off on your tickets by using my special link! Enjoy your trip!
Conclusion
The Affiliate World Conference (Barcelona) was a very memorable and insightful experience for me. This time, I captured all my precious interactions in a vlog, which also turned out to be a really fun activity.
I connected with a lot of new and old faces and talked to them about their journeys and experiences. It was a wonderful event for networking and forming better connections with like-minded people from the affiliate and digital industry.
Have you guys attended an Affiliate World Conference before? If yes, how has your experience been? Would you be attending the next one in Bangkok? Let me know in the comments box below.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience. This is Kripesh signing off. For more interesting updates, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter. I’ll be back with more cool stuff soon. Cheers, and keep learning! 🙂
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