| Casino Affiliate Convention 2008 in Amsterdam |
It was back in March when the team at Betastic received 2 passes to the Casino Affiliate Convention in Amsterdam and we couldn’t have been happier. The kind people down at PokerStars had sponsored us, so all we needed was our flights, hotel and beer money and we were on our way.
Amsterdam
After getting in late on Wednesday afternoon, we checked into our hotel and went out to the first pre-show party we knew of. It was held by Europartners at riverside bar called Onassis. It was absolutely packed with affiliates, casino operators and even a few promotional girls. This was confirmation that we had officially arrived; this was going to be a great few days.Thursday was the opening of the convention, with a frenzy of people collecting passes and grabbing coffee’s following a slightly heavy night. The main room, which contained many of the main gambling operators from around Europe, was filled with activity as affiliates met with managers to discuss business and future partnerships. As the day progressed many of these people dived off to rooms for seminars on SEO, internet marketing, social networking and much more. A thoroughly educational day, which was making me thirsty for an afternoon beer. Luckily Mike and the team at GPWA had thrown a networking party upstairs to help quench everyone’s parched mouths. This gave us a chance to meet some potential business contacts on a much more relaxed level, and we really enjoyed it.
Part of Thursday night was spent on a boat, which will be fondly remembered for the man from AffiliatesUnited on a stretcher covered in food. It was difficult to think where some of it might have been, so I stuck with the spring rolls from the waitress. We ventured in to the centre of Amsterdam after the boat trip, and for those that haven’t been, I can quite happily say it lives up to its reputation.
Friday was a chance for many attendees to get some pre-planned meetings in, even with a bit of a fuzzy head from the night before. We got the chance to take in the domain auction hosted by moniker.com, which was a real eye opener. We sat back, with yet another beer and watched the action unfold very, very, quickly. Blink and you missed a $20,000 domain sale!
By Friday night we were exhausted, but still managed to check out the Leidseplein district in Amsterdam, which is loaded with bars, clubs, restaurants and coffee shops. By Saturday we were in dire need of some rest and recuperation. But we were so pleased we visited, and we will definitely be up for it again next year.
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