I made a last minute decision to make the relatively easy Transpennine trip for the a4uexpo Manchester Roadshow and glad I did.

A very good turnout filled the Vodka Revolution bar and I got to meet up with some old friends and new faces amongst the crowd.

There wasn’t a free bar but R.O.EYE had a kitty to get the cocktails flowing. I only had to put my hand in my pocket once and that was because I was one of the first there.

I’m convinced Mark from Existem was deliberately trying to get me drunk as he went to the bar and got three trays of vodka shots. No wonder I’m already on my fourth coffee of the morning.

Highlights for me …

Meeting up with Liane from LinkShare who I last saw in a San Francisco diner in January, as she then worked for the US arm of the company. With another Summit trip to win next year, I’ll be proactively promoting their merchants to stake my claim.

Chatting to Jess from dgm who I couldn’t quite persuade to get her to update my site for me but she’s volunteered to send me lots of information to save me some pain.

We talked a lot about JD Williams and how I’m still clocking up lots of sales for them but they don’t generate me any money. It would be Christmas for me, if JD Williams got back into affiliate marketing in some form.

Aside from them, I do very little on the dgm network, so it’s another that I’m going to just blitz and add more merchants. I’ve shied away from them in the past because I don’t like their interface but it sounds like there’s improvements on the way.

Finally, the evening ended talking to Existem new girl Hannah who even brought her mum and dad. Bless.

All in all it was a brilliant night. It cost me approximately £100 for the train and nice stay at the ABode (who kindly gave me a breakfast to go). That cost is more of an investment though and if you’ve not been to a network event before, please do.

There’s plenty coming up. The next stop for my dancing shoes is Barcelona for Cap Euro 2008.

Until then, it’s time for another coffee.