PartnerCentric has been attending Affiliate Summit for years now, and we're always amazed by how the conference seems to grow (in terms of attendees, vendors and relevance) with each passing event. Summit West in Vegas, which concludes today, is no exception.

Our company was well-represented by the six people we sent to the show. What we've learned about Affiliate Summit is that the focus isn't on making that big deal or even recruiting tons of affiliates. The focus is on coming together as an industry, learning about the latest challenges and opportunities that face us all and taking inspiration from one another.

We certainly enjoy promoting our affiliate programs to the affiliates who attend the show, as always. There's always a great response when affiliates hear what our merchants and their affiliate programs have to offer.

The sessions and speeches are equally worthwhile. Monday's keynote speech by Mahalo.com founder Jason Calacanis certainly stirred the audience with his advice for affiliates. "Create loving, long-term relationships with users based on high-quality content and services. Give up a life of crime and instead of holding up 100k checks hold up checks with two or three more zeroes. Realize that you guys are smarter than half the folks working at large internet companies.

Company President Linda Woods spent some time interviewing folks from the trade show floor from the WebmasterRadio booth. Excerpts of those conversations, and an ongoing dialogue with industry movers and shakers, will be part of future episodes of Linda's show, Affiliate Marketing Insider, which airs at noon Pacific every Thursday on WebmasterRadio.fm.

We'd like to send a big shoot-out to Mike Allen, who was a finalist for an Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award in the Affiliate of the Year category along with Connie Berg and Tim Storm. Mike's contributions to the industry are numerous, and we are so honored to have him as a member of the PartnerCentric Affiliate Advisory Board, which meets monthly to advise us on issues that face us as a company and as an industry. Congratulations to Connie Berg, who won the category.