How to Convince Your Boss to Send You to Symposium New York

Have you been wondering how to convince your boss to send you to Symposium New York?

Symposium New York is two jam-packed days of networking, content and fun. Below is a list of ten reasons why you should attend the event. We’ve put the reasoning together in list form so you can easily send it along to your boss to help justify attendance.

“I always look forward to Symposium! It’s the most effective Affiliate Marketing event – filled with networking and business development opportunities. Every advertiser and publisher must attend.”

-Totran Radke
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, Teleflora

1. Attendees of Symposium Outperformed the Network!

Our clients, both advertisers and publishers, who attend Symposium outperform the rest of the network. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to increase relationships, revenue and really optimize your affiliate program!

• Advertisers who attended Symposium New York 2016 had YOY Q3 sales growth of 18% in 2016!
• Publishers who attended Symposium New York in 2015 & 2016:
  • Increased the number of order active advertisers by 18% YOY
  • Grew orders by 2% YOY
  • Increased total sales by 13% in the US Network!

2. Guaranteed Face-to-Face Networking

• Did you know that over 3,750 meetings were requested prior to the event last year? For an optimal event experience, we suggest a mix of pre-scheduled and impromptu meetings. It’s always best to schedule as many meetings for day one as possible. Make sure to have open time for a potential partner that you may not have seen via Pathable. Sometimes the best connections are made over a cocktail, or two! Be sure to attend the open networking segments of the event. The Pathable community will open soon!

3. Sponsorship Opportunities Built to Amplify Your Brand!

Rakuten Marketing events are exclusive industry forums that present the ideal opportunity to reach high-level decision-makers, attract new business partners, and strengthen your competitive position. We offer a variety of exciting sponsorship packages that provide a range of participation and brand exposure opportunities at our events! Click here to view the brochure!

“…I would say the event is a must-attend for anyone serious about succeeding in the affiliate space.”

– John Park
CEO, Eight Horses

“Symposium was great, our team met a lot of great merchants and partners and struck some key partnerships. Very satisfied with the ROI on our sponsorship.”

– Jeff Unze
VP Business Development – BorderX Lab (Beyond Shopping Discovery App)

4. Build Your Online Presence

• With nearly 2,400 social network connections made through Pathable last year, we know you’ll leave with a new rolodex of contacts.

• We bring online and offline together to help you facilitate additional conversations and connect with attendees via the conference hashtag #RMevents. See who else is talking about it and follow them!

5. Networking Platform to Connect Ahead of the Event

• Last year over 75% of attendees including our staff actively used Pathable, our private online event network and community, to build relationships and set-up meetings in the weeks leading to the event. This year, we hope it’s 100%. Make sure to take advantage of the access Pathable offers. Not only can you scheduled meetings, you have easy access to attendee profiles and send private messages. Get networking!

• Pro tip: Make sure to upload your photo to Pathable to make networking even easier!

6. Your Prospects (and Competitors) Are Attending

• Don’t miss out on meeting prospects in person, after months of back and forth between phone calls and emails. You can finally shake hands with that partner you’ve been waiting to work with! We don’t mean to brag, but our attendee list will impress! It’s not just your prospects who are attending, it’s your competitors too. Don’t miss out on having a presence on-site. To obtain a list of currently registered attendees, fill out this form.

7. We Will Keep You Energized

• Our event venues are chosen so that all attendees can easily stay on-site. We do this to help you maximize your time at the event. Between coffee breaks, a delicious lunch, the Stay Well Lounge and cocktails, we will keep you energized, hydrated, happy and well fed all day!

8. We Help You Do the Work

• Symposium is the perfect opportunity to let your client services team shine! Our client account managers and network development team are there to help you schedule and prepare for meetings, drive partnerships, and build your agenda!

9. Actionable Takeaways to Maximize ROI

• Our symposia always provide an opportunity for you to learn! Whether we are revealing new data with Forrester or learning marketing insights from Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian, we promise engaging and strategic content from every speaker. The event will have two keynotes and multiple strategy sessions.  You’ll walk away both inspired and ready to take action!

Update: Stephen Dubner, this year’s Symposium New York keynote speaker, is an expert in data and economics. In anticipation of his keynote, we’ve compiled some of his observations and expertise to help drive your marketing success! 

10. The Sponsors. The Goodie Bag!

• Our sponsor roster is always filled with great brands and many of our biggest and brightest clients! To name a few- Ebates, Hanes Brand Inc, Macy’s, SlickDeals, and Vera Bradley are already sponsors. Visit the event website to see the full sponsor roster and keep an eye out for new sponsors, they’re being added every day! Basically, you are sure to walk away from the event with some great swag. Keep it if you’d like, or share it with #theboss!

• Want to join the sponsor list? Take a look at our brochure and contact us if you are interested in amplifying your brand presence on-site! 

Visit our Symposium New York website to learn more about the event. Questions? Reply in the comments section or email events@mail.rakuten.com and we’ll get back to you!

See you in NYC!
Krystyna & the Events Team