The Existem AM BBQ in Plymouth 2010

Aug 26, 2010 by Jason Dale    1 Comment     Posted under: Affiliate Events

Plymouth! Home of Sir Francis Drake, departure point of The Pilgrim Fathers and past residence of Dawn French (Wikipedia). It’s also the location of the now annual Existem AM barbecue, a kind of old school affiliate industry meet up! Unfortunately this year the weather impeded on proceedings and meant the BBQ was more a Grill and was held inside, but that didn’t stop it being an enjoyable event.

As ever it was great to catch up with some very familiar faces as well as one or two new ones, not always for the right reasons mind. The guy from Wow Media who walked into a door, fell over, slumped all over the show with his jeans at half mast and proclaiming “I’m off to my expensive hotel” will most certainly be remembered. Class!

It’s important to learn new things at affiliate events, so what did I learn from heading down to Plymouth for the second time?

1. Disappointingly there wasn’t that much dancing from Clarke. However, there does seem to an obsession amongst Plymouth folk for The Wurzels. It’s almost like an anthem – first rule of Plymouth Club, learn lyrics by The Wurzels. At least in Wales we have Tom Jones’ Delilah!

2. Flip Flops were everywhere! Apparently these were donated by Webgains. I guess it’s wrong to complain about freebies, but to be fair you could understand why they wanted shut of them. For them to fit properly you needed unfeasibly long toes. However, they did have a better use as “gloves” for the new found sport of Flip Flop Boxing. 2012 Olympics stand by!

3. The Hodge is insane! He’s also quite infectious – not in a diseased sense – but his enthusiasm and sense of humour definitely lifts spirits. He was also graciously beaten in the first ever Flip Flop Boxing match, although to be fair he probably didn’t know he was in it. A trip to Think Visibility is definitely on the cards.

4. Two Unlimited are being reformed. Apparently there’s video footage of myself, Elaine, Dave and Dom singing along to “There’s No Limits”. Techno! Techno! Techno!

5. Never trust your missus with a camera!

6. Cake/Gateau/Dessert/Pudding are words not known in Plymouth. Well at Existem AM! BBQ food is nice, but a man can’t live on steak, sausages, chicken and salad (“you don’t make friends with salad”). Cake related items are needed. Next year I’ll bring my own.

7. If I do bring my own cake, Hannah from Existem AM won’t be getting any. I’m still traumatised by her demands for more Duck Cake. At least I think it was cake she wanted.

8. Auctions are good fun, but don’t take part if you’re on the opposite side of the room from your wife. She may be bidding and you may be bidding against her. She may also be bidding on things because she’s had one or two extra ciders.

9. Never trust your missus at an auction.

10. Loquax can run without someone holding it’s hand! This was probably the first time myself and Kirsty (co-director) have been away from home over a weekend at the same time (which in about 10 years is quite an achievement). I kept “in touch” with a few emails and admin things via the iPad – and it all worked well.

11. Unfortunately the 11th thing I learnt is not for publication… not just yet anyway!

So there you have it, a brief overview of what was a nice relaxing and enjoyable weekend in Plymouth. I learnt nothing new about affiliate marketing, but did learn I can leave the office and let the site do it’s own thing once in a while. More importantly it made me realise that I’m heading down the same lifestyle pathway as a number of my peers.

I don’t want/need to be heading to affiliate meetings to “cut a deal” but need guidance and inspiration on how to make sure I’m running things web wise and that they’re not running me. More importantly, when I’m away on these things, I simply just want to enjoy a beer and a chat with some good affiliate mates.

Because of that, next year’s event on 12th August is already in the diary.

And for that a big thanks goes out to Existem AM for organising! Cheers.

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