Programs Not Allowed at Conferences!

[TheBoyMitchell]

imo, a lot of people who work on the stands on the events are either promotional girls or Account Managers. Neither of which have the power to change anything within the program.

Having a go at them at a conference is at best only going upset the promo girls, and at worst make the AMs leave and go somewhere else, only to be replaced by newer, less experienced AMs.

The ones that leave then go somewhere else utilising the same knowledge that they had at operator A(where they were trained), and implementing it into operator B, thus further proliferating the weakness and inneffectiveness that AMs have across multiple operators, which in turn means that as an affiliate you get affected by more and more programs doing things that are deemed unacceptable.

Personally I think that AMs should be regulated by some kind of standard exam. At the end of the day they are advising, rightly or wrongly, where you the affiliate put your money (via SEO or PPC etc to promote them, time and money spent on your site development and changing link and banners etc)), and are also responsible for tracking and making sure your money is paid to you. Its strange that a stockbroker has to have qualifications to make the same recommendations, but that an AM does not.

Also, a recognised qualification would possibly give affiliates more comfort in whom they are dealing with as the qualified AMs would know and recognise sharp practices and would in the main only choose to work for accredited operators.

Just my 2p.

[thepokerkeep]

In this industry it would be a simple process to vette the programs being allowed to participate at any given event.

Using AGD and Casinmeister as a starting point, any program that has been rogued by either of these forums could easily be blacklisted. Additionally, polling a handful of respected affiliates from each sector of the industry (poker, casino, sportsbook, bingo, etc) would be quick, inexpensive and give a fairly accurate list of the worst programs in the biz.

Of course, it's up to the event coordinator to want to take this road. There's no doubt that in the short term it would hurt the bottom line but the long term benefits could be huge.

What are the benefits for the conference promoter??

Trust, quality and value! High quality exhibitors will attract high quality affiliates!

The event gains the trust of the affiliates and the programs. As an affiliate, knowing that the attending programs have been vetted would certainly encourage me to choose to attend conference A over conference B where there was no screening process.

As a casino operator, I would feel much better about spending my budget on conferences where I won't be competing with rogue operations for the affiliate's time and business. A vetted conference adds value to any program in attendance. If I were an operator with a limited budget and could only afford to attend one conference this year, I would absolutely want to be at the one with the highest quality exhibitors.

Does an event organizer have an obligation to screen his exhibitors?

In my opinion, yes! Blacklisting rogues at all levels (including conferences) is in everyone's best interest. Protecting (new & veteran) affiliates from getting duped by fly by night operators should be a top priority for everyone in this business including event coordinators. If you want to run a quality event, you need quality exhibitors - period!

In addition, each conference should include a session on 'rogue operators'. Having speakers such as Andy (AGD), Brian (Casinomeister) and/or J Todd (APCW) on hand to help educate new affiliates before they fall victim to the likes of Playshare or Rome. The agenda could/should also include a list of all the currently blacklisted programs...

Benefits:
New programs, such as Shaun's, would be allowed to attend since they are not on the 'blacklist'.

Rogues would be encouraged to change their ways so they'd be removed from the 'blacklist' and be permitted to attend the next conference.

Blacklisting and banning rogue operators from exhibiting would directly impact their profit margins due to lack of exposure. The fastest, most effective way to motivate rogues to change their ways is to impact their bottom line.

Knowing that negative changes to T&C's could result in being blacklisted from future conferences, programs will be less likely to risk making those changes.

Event organizers who take this approach instantly gain credibility and respect. A bi-product of this approach is 'loyalty'... I know I would choose to attend an event that was promoted by someone who had my best interests at heart over any other similar event.

This approach is used in any industry where trade shows are held. Home shows, antiques shows, craft shows.... all the best ones are vetted.

Saying that we need to allow these 'rogues' to attend so we have access to them is complete bull-****! They can come to AGD, Casinomeister or GPWA forums any time they want. Michael, Andy, Brian and J Todd are all accessible to them if they wish to correspond privately as well.

[mojo]

Well said pokerkeep!

[mojo]

Benefits:
New programs, such as Shaun's, would be allowed to attend since they are not on the 'blacklist'.

Rogues would be encouraged to change their ways so they'd be removed from the 'blacklist' and be permitted to attend the next conference.

Blacklisting and banning rogue operators from exhibiting would directly impact their profit margins due to lack of exposure. The fastest, most effective way to motivate rogues to change their ways is to impact their bottom line.

Knowing that negative changes to T&C's could result in being blacklisted from future conferences, programs will be less likely to risk making those changes.

It really is simple Terry. Programs should never have a problem staying off a rogue list. There are so many excellent programs to chose from. No need for sub-standard options.

Perhaps we should form a Safe Secure Internet Affiliate Initiative. We don't want to see anyone harmed, including new affiliates that attend conferences.

Lets put this on our affiliate agenda.

[Nandakishore]

Perhaps we should form a Safe Secure Internet Affiliate Initiative. We don't want to see anyone harmed, including new affiliates that attend conferences.

Lets put this on our affiliate agenda.

This is an excellent idea. What this initiative should focus on is not primarily a rogue list or something like that because we already such lists at CM. What is more important, especially for the new affiliates, is to have solid information on what pitfalls they may be confronted with when they sign up as affiliates and also later. Such information should help new affiliates to navigate themselves through the T&Cs of affiliate programs as well as the casinos (especially the bonus T&Cs) to protect themselves and their players before they sign up.

[casinobonusguy]

I think our industry needs a genuine area that affiliates can go to and vote on programs. A simple star rating, 5 stars down to 0 stars that would help illustrate an overall affiliate consensus towards specific programs which will also give new affiliates a genuine snap shot of who we as affiliates trust. Just a simple rating system having the highest rated at the top and the lowest rated at the bottom.

Right now new affiliates don't know what to think towards certain programs when they see words like gold and platinum beside the names of programs since this doesn't represent our sentiments. It just gets really confusing for them, so if they had one place they could go to and get genuine ratings towards various programs then that should help to eliminate all these newer affiliates falling into the same traps many of us did when we started out and were not seasoned enough to know the good from the bad.

There is just so much information to take in as a new affiliate and it can be difficult to get a genuine affiliate perspective because you have to sift through so much information and threads just to get an overall consensus. I think this would be an invaluable resource for new affiliates.

we have that -it is called affiliateguarddog.com .Andy has taken the time and effort to disect every program fairly.He givces the programs the opportunity to respond and work with 'us'.Andy is one of us and nobody can say he does not look out for 'our' best interests.
Every good forum online has a AGD forum where new potential affiliates can read all about the programs ,their pasts and how they conduct their business.
GPWA haS great info on programs ,all new affiliates need to do is read and they will see who to trust.

I have a great friend who has been an affiliate for 3-4 years.I signed up for his mailing list and every ROGUED casino on casinomeister is on it.I pointed this out to him just a week ago.His response was -they are only rogued to me if they don't pay me.That is the problem -what is rogue to one affiliate is not to another.Each affiliate has to decide for themselves what risks they are willing to take.

Judy

[offyourface]

I am quite familiar with AGD Judy, I think you are misconstruing my post. Yes Andy does a great job and he definitely represents our interests, no doubt about it. I can't say enough good things about him and his efforts and he knows that. But it would still be nice to offer affiliates an ongoing poll where as we give programs a rating based on our own personal affiliate experiences.

How many threads do we see from new affiliates asking which programs we think are the best? There is a reason why that thread keeps coming up. Wouldn't it be nice to point them to one page and tell them this is how the affiliate community as a whole rates these programs. Even me being in this business for 4+ years would find value in how the affiliate community as a whole rates programs. It might open my eyes that I am missing the boat not working with a certain program.

I know the value of AGD and I wasn't trying to take away anything from him. I just think an affiliate rating system in addition to what he already does might be a good idea and compliment what he has already accomplished in our industry. I also hope if he does something like this that he puts his sub links in there because its a way we can all give back for everything he does for us.

I appreciate your post Judy, but I wasn't taking a crack at Andy or anyone else that devotes their time to making our industry better while the rest of us work concentrate on padding our own pockets.

we have that -it is called affiliateguarddog.com .Andy has taken the time and effort to disect every program fairly.He givces the programs the opportunity to respond and work with 'us'.Andy is one of us and nobody can say he does not look out for 'our' best interests.
Every good forum online has a AGD forum where new potential affiliates can read all about the programs ,their pasts and how they conduct their business.
GPWA haS great info on programs ,all new affiliates need to do is read and they will see who to trust.

I have a great friend who has been an affiliate for 3-4 years.I signed up for his mailing list and every ROGUED casino on casinomeister is on it.I pointed this out to him just a week ago.His response was -they are only rogued to me if they don't pay me.That is the problem -what is rogue to one affiliate is not to another.Each affiliate has to decide for themselves what risks they are willing to take.

Judy