Conference Memories...

[AE-Martyn]

I thought it would be sweet, with Barcelona just round the corner, to find out what your fondest or most memorable part of any conference was in the last few years?

I've had a few...

- The Pizza bike incident
- The steak dinner with Tom G and HodgeyBoy (the dirty protest)
- Affiliate Edge Roller Disco
- The speed boat trip when I nearly bounced Streaky out the boat after hitting a wave
- The awesome people you get to hang out with.

...

[AWH-Gemma]

You had a roller disco!!! Can I come and work for you guys

[AE-Martyn]

Yeh Budapest last year. Did you not go?

[AWH-Gemma]

Yeh Budapest last year. Did you not go?

No, I am clearly deprived

[AE-Martyn]

Are you in Bacelona next month?

[AWH-Gemma]

Are you in Bacelona next month?

Unfortunately not

[HodgeyBoy]

Mine has to be the first conference I attended which was in Amsterdam....

After an evening meal at a restaurant beneath the hotel were Jazz trumpeter Chet Baker overdosed on heroin, I made my way to the quay-side for what I had been told would be a 'Luxury Boat Party' hosted by BeTheDealer.

After queueing for about an hour, a gun-boat-grey coloured tub pulled alongside and we all started to board. Instead of the usual free bar we were all gasping for, we each received 2 casino chips on entry which we were told were for drinks orgambling. So... either two spins or two beers then?, oh well!

Once I got up the narrow stairs to the 'Lounge' I saw a room entirely covered in wipe-free surfaces and embossed steel. The tiny bar at one end actually had metal bars across the entire front of it to prevent anyone getting the impression that they were welcome. After another queue I was able to get a warm Heineken which cost..... both of my 2 'free' chips! No roulette for me then.

After a further 5 minutes and a quick lap of the boat I was faced with a decision: Stick around and be stuck on the 'Fun Boat' with a bunch of sober affiliates with no hope of return to dry land for another 3 hours or get the hell out of there before they weighed anchor!

I think I made it just in time and, as the queue continued to grow as more unsuspecting guests arrived, I made my way back down the quay and into the city in search of a taxi!

Maybe they waited until they hit International Waters before bringing out the whores and the cocaine but my guess is that a warm Heineken was as good as it would get for anyone left on the boat that night.

[AE-Martyn]

Filling Toby's new trainer with beer was also a good moment for me.

[HodgeyBoy]

What about London a couple of years ago.....

Was at the opening night party with a few other friends from the industry and spent most of the evening generally criticising a certain middle-aged and well-known poker-pro who was across the other side side of the room with his newly acquired and muchyounger trophy-girlfriend.

The source of our ire was that this particular individual had decided to completely ditch his trademark sense of dress and hair style (for which he was famous) and had clearly been 'dressed' by his new amour who looked as if she'd thrown a stick into the shop window of Top Man and put her man in whatever clothes the stick had banged into.

As the drinking continued our bitterness increased until we all slopped off for a KFC.

On the upside, though - on our way out of the club Ben Spiro gave me a red rose!

[Anthony]

- Affiliate Edge Roller Disco

When Michael got on those skates.......priceless.

I'm cracking myself up thinking about now!

Good times...good times...

[graham]

My best memories (or lack thereof from too much drinking) are probably...

- Stinkyfish Party at Vegas CAC (My first conference)
- CAP Awards - both times I went (thanks Martyn and Gnuf)
- Dinner I organized at LAC (Gaucho Piccadily) and Barcelona (CDLC)
- CalvinAyre.com Launch Party in Prague
- Niagara Meetup visit to the Dragonfly/Sundowner

[Renee]

A few memories.

Barcelona 2008 - Eric who used to work for the GPWA was trying HARD to get into my pants.. At one point I actually asked a stranger to help me and when I explained what was going on, we both looked over at Eric who was caressing his nipples.

At the same party I was given a rose by Graham (above) - only flower I've ever received in my life from someone that is not related.

The "dirty protest" at the same conference - although I wasn't at the dinner that it happened, the story has been passed on and will live forever.

This was also the first event I went to where I met Martyn, Tom, Hodgey etc.

London 2010 - The infamous wanker on the 7th floor.
Another guy in the bar constantly telling me louder and louder that he thinks he pissed his pants (causing me to laugh so hard that I cried and couldn't breathe).

The hamburgers in the bar at 5am.

Prague last year - Darlings. No further explanation needed. Judging by the commentary the next day, I'm sure a lot of people saw me there with my eyes wide open watching a show at the front of the stage. Yep it was awesome.

Calvin's party in Prague last year - best party I've ever been to. Then the dinner a few nights later with people from the industry where we went searching for a particular type of entertainment and couldn't find it so just ended up back at darlings where I managed to get most people in without paying.

The closing party where one guy farted and Sacha from playshare turned around with the funniest look on his face and said "what the F$%^ is that?!" again causing us to laugh so hard that we cried.

London 2011 - A group of affiliates stole a wine bucket and something else from the restaurant and were telling me it was my trophy because im the best affiliate manager in the world. I was in tears laughing so hard and have many horrible photos with every person in the bar, holding my trophy, to prove it.

Revisiting the hamburgers in the bar at 5am.
Seeing some people hooking up in the foyer and one of the guys throwing stuff at them.

Shane Adinall's amazing participation in the game of Accidental Entry. I've never quite seen someone as good as him.

Dublin - Falling asleep mid sentence to Rak at the dinner table.
Dirty dancing with Michael Caselli at Calvin's party.
And of course my raunchy photos taken by Michael Corfman with the devils at the party.

I think that's everything I can think of..

Oh one more thing to add - at every single conference I have kept a tally of how many people have asked me if I wanted to see their man bits.. The tally is off the paper I can tell you that.

[baldidiot]

Dang, I need to get to one of these conferences

So far the European ones seem to always be when I'm in the US, or on holiday.

[FictionNet]

I can hardly remember a thing about any of the conferences I've been to. I've always been either shitfaced when I arrrive or suffering some unbearable hangover. I dunno what happens to me when I go to a conference but it's always messy as hell and so it's probably best I don't remember too much. And I'm thinking of going to Barcelona if I can make it...

[AE-Martyn]

I just remembered my first conference, Vegas 2005 maybe?

I went to the bar for the first time not realising it was free beer, as if I wanted to pay!!

Partying in Mix bar at the top of Mandalay Bay.

Getting ID'd at the Wynn and having Dom vouch for my age which still didnt work.

Meeting Warren Jolly for the first time in Amsterdam. He helped me carry some drinks back from the bar and fell up some stairs, coving himself in booze.

Another Amsterdam conference when I was put in a hotel 'just down the road' from the conference hotel. Click here for the map. The conference was at point B, the Kraznapolsky.

Being in the lobby of the London 09 conference when Steven Corfman beat up two security guards.

[FictionNet]

Being in the lobby of the London 09 conference when Steven Corfman beat up two security guards.

Yeah, I missed that. He's wild!

[Renee]

I just remembered my first conference, Vegas 2005 maybe?

I went to the bar for the first time not realising it was free beer, as if I wanted to pay!!

Partying in Mix bar at the top of Mandalay Bay.

Wasn't that one of the parties we sponsored in vegas? We did a few. I organised another for our team in vegas in THEHotel or something like that.. Maybe the mix is just in my mind because of the great stories that came back from it. I'm pretty gutted that I missed the vegas ones. I went to aff summit in jan 2006 and rather than going to the parties ended up in the spearmint rhino.. I gotta say the parties couldn't have been as good as that place.

[rak]

Most memorable / unmemorable moment was being so drunk, that I had to hold my wang and run through a vegas casino, cower in the corner of the elevator as it got to my floor.. and then run down a hallway - still holding my wang.. till i got into my rooms toilet and took a slash... security never came. It never occured to me that public toilets might be the way to go...

Waking up and looking at the foot of my bed.. to find two casino directors sprinting towards my bed.. launching themselves.. and all I saw was them in mid flight, arms spread wide, piling onto me.

Travelling 42hrs to get to GIGSE, luggage got lost, all we had was the clothes we wore, our wallets.. and 2 bottles of rum. We got wasted in the hotel, then at 2am the airport called to say they found our luggage.. we turned up drunk to collect them. Was a bit hard explaining to them it was our luggage while being pretend not drunk.

Hotel had no room service, I think we offered concierge $100 to find us 1 pizza - when you're drunk it sound reasonable. He refused. Thank you Hilton. Thank you.

Best conference ever for me was a GIGSE one, gaming conference, on at the same time as a Formula 1 in montreal - Katherines street was party central. It was a mostly cigarettes and drinks only diet.

[greedygirl]

There are SOOOOOOOOOOO many wonderful memories through the years--this is just the short list...

• Vegas: Ronda Lundvall (now Beckley) and I sharing a suite at the Wynn. Antoine, Albert Unden, Lloyd Apter converged on us, taking the place over…and ordered two male hookers for Ronda and me. Long story.
• Jonathan (Club World) being absolutely silly wasted in the Bahamas. Quite a site!
• Christine Marrah in Prague, so impaired that she had to be taken to her room on a bellman’s trolley. Probably painful for her, everytime she was smashed into a wall!
• CAC 2010, better known as Ash Cloud Week in Amsterdam. We really had to make the best of an awful situation, but everything terrible was wiped away with the road trip Christine and I made from A’dam to Brussels. How we made it to Brussels without killing ourselves or anyone else is beyond me!
• Junkanoo practice in the Bahamas—this took place probably 8 or 9 years ago, now. Michael Caselli, Jodie Thind, Gian Perroni and his wife, Ted Loh (miss him so much), Bryan Bailey, his wife and daughter (only 4 years old at the time), Marc Lesnick, Eric Morris and I having a terrible dinner, but plenty to drink hanging out at a dry river bed, watching hundreds of children practicing their marches and dancing for the annual Junkanoo festival. Magical evening!
• The Dive Casino Crawl in Vegas, last year. This will always be in my top 5 favorite events, ever! I can’t even begin to describe it, but it was just something very, very special.

[AE-Martyn]

• Jonathan (Club World) being absolutely silly wasted in the Bahamas. Quite a site!

Reeeeeaaaalllllyyyy?