After a long cross-continental flight from the Carolinas to Vegas, my face lit up when we landed at McCarren Airport.

For many reasons, Las Vegas is synonymous with the affiliate marketing industry for me in a way that other cities like New York or San Francisco or Orlando never could be. That has to do mostly with my experiences at the various Affiliate Summits over the years spread out amongst the various hotels of this fascinating city.

Last night at a dinner with some old friends from the industry, we reminisced on how much Affiliate Summit has grown over the years from the Riviera to now Caesar’s, who has come and gone in the industry and how the underlying concepts of performance marketing have morphed.

Yet, the more I’m back here the more I realize how much the core draw of the affiliate industry has remained the same… democratized opportunity for people with passion.

So here’s to the official Affiliate Summit conference as it kicks off today… It’s already been a great show in just 24 hours…A Sort of Homecoming, to quote U2.