Thirty Years Compressed into Convention Conversations
Between pitch sessions and legal panels, I reconnected with industry veterans who remember when I was running early an affiliate program and producing content before "content creator" was even a phrase.
These conversations feel like archaeological expeditions, digging through layers of technological evolution, failed business models, successful pivots, and the particular resilience required to stay relevant when your industry reinvents itself every five years.
I've gone from hosting websites on physical servers to managing phone farms that automate social media at scale. From producing content to providing the infrastructure that helps others distribute it. From worrying about DVD replication costs to calculating the economics of 5G proxy bandwidth. The tools change but the fundamental challenge remains constant: capture attention, monetize it efficiently, and stay ahead of whoever's trying to regulate or ban you this quarter.