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I used to love going to all the shows, all the way back to when the adult Vegas show was a room in (I think) the Sands during CES. They were fun.
As my business evolved to being more an internet business, the shows were great for meeting people who could really push traffic to SpookyCash. And they were fun.
Over time, however, I think a lot of the affiliates were made to feel like second class citizens at shows. There started being too many a la carte features where someone could pay a few hundred dollars for badges and still not be invited to the main networking events. That is not particularly fun and the ROI doesn't work for either affiliates or program owners.
Add to that industry consolidation and shrinkage, with so many people leaving the industry and so many fewer companies and it is hard to feel like shows are as worthwhile when the odds of meeting any new traffic whales are so reduced.
Choice of hotel is probably difficult for anyone trying to throw a show. I know that I have trouble feeling like doing business (or staying) in a low end hotel, but a hotel I'd want to stay in is going to be a more notable budget issue.
I just kind of did the math and decided that the ROI on fundamentally $9,000 worth of beer was not that great and the shows were no longer fun enough for me to justify them partly on that basis.
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