After a 25-hour travel day from Tel Aviv, I am back in the familiar settings of my office in Santa Barbara. Even though I was in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Israel two days ago, it now seems like a world away. I’ve been thinking a lot about Affilicon over the last 24 hours and wanted to share some thoughts.

First, this is the second Affilicon conference – the first was less than a year ago. You’d never know it. The event has a maturity and a polish to it that rivals some of the most well-produced events that I’ve ever attended. The facility was top-notch, the food was far and away better than anything I’ve ever had at a conference and the staff was courteous and professional. Combine all that with the fact that the  registration was one-third the cost of most other industry events.

Second, let’s talk about the content of the show itself. Like every conference you attend, there were some speakers and sessions that just weren’t that interesting. There’s no way to eliminate that completely. Unfortunately, in our industry I’m finding that trend more and more. Too often events get speakers with “names” that show up and give us all a bunch of vague jargon that doesn’t help anyone. Not so at Affilicon. The vast majority of the sessions I attended were built with practical applications in mind. Presenters used specific examples and answered really tough questions from the audience. If you were an affiliate attending this event – and the vast majority of attendees were – you left with a stack of good notes that will help elevate your business to the next level.

The only advice I would offer is to look at renting a car if you attend next year. The conference facility is located in Airport City which is about 30 minutes from downtown Tel Aviv where all the hotels are. A cab to and from the event runs about 135 Shekels, or $35 US. That can get pricey. My advice would be pool your money with some friends and rent a car.

The final thing I want to say is about the founder of Affilicon, Itay Paz. I met Itay at Affiliate Summit West in January. Since then you’ve seen him doing field reports for us all over the world on Relevantly Speaking. He’s one of those people that just radiates a warmth about him. Besides being very knowledgeable about the nuances of international affiliate marketing, Itay has a way of making everyone feel valued and important. You feel like you can trust him. I believe that is the single biggest reason for the success of Affilicon.

I want to extend my thanks to Itay, his wife Anat, Udi Netzer and the rest of the team at Affilicon for making it possible for me to attend. I hope to see you all at next year’s event.