Linkshare UK Hit The Bullseye

Earlier this week I attended the LinkShare UK Symposium in London’s Westminster, this was going to be a straight review however Symposium UK – Official Event Wrapup and The Need For Feeds @ LinkShare’s Symposium have saved me the effort thanks guys ‘n’ gals.

The theme for the event ‘Targeting Your Efforts – in 2010 and beyond’ and Linkshare UK certainly hit their target with this event right on the bullseye.

Despite a few logistical nightmares, which must have had Liane Dietrich, Managing Director of LinkShare UK and her team tearing their hair out in the run up to the event as various speakers had to cancel due the flight ban brought on by the Icelandic volcano eruption, the whole day went really well, the quality of the speaking was excellent and was in my opinion pitched at the right level for a mixed and varied audience, kudos to those drafted in at last minute to fill the breach it must have been a bit daunting with so little time to prepare.

2 important points which came out time and time again over the course of the day were:

• Embrace social media, at the very least ensure your company has a twitter account and a facebook page and engage with your users.
• The importance of accurate up to date product feeds, Existem’s Chris Johnson covers this in more detail in the article referenced above.

Lunch was a resounding success and the caterers deserve a round of applause, don’t think I have attended an industry event before where I have heard absolutely no complaints about the food.

The afternoon Dealmaker Tradeshow was a fabulous networking opportunity, a chance to catch up with old friends and meet new ones plus the chance meet the people behind the merchant name and talk about how we can work together towards the common goal of making sales.

The evenings after party went well too in less formal surroundings over a beer or two plenty more chance to network, I would have liked to have seen more merchants in attendance though, its at the end of the day when everyone is a little more relaxed that you can really get to know people and long standing friendships as well as business partnerships can be forged even though the conversation tends to be less about work.

All in all it was a very successful day, and I look forward to Linkshare Symposium UK 2011.

Thank you very much to all at Linkshare for hosting the event, the fantastic hospitality you extended throughout the day and for an interesting session of 2 truths and a lie over a late night Chinese, that will be a topic of conversation for many months to come .