Photo-A-Day #2685

I took the train down to New York today for Affiliate Summit East 2012. I was speaking on a panel with my friends Dina Riccobono, Stephanie Lichtenstein and Eric Schechter. Our panel was on increasing your income through working with brands as well as Social Media tools to do that. Our panel was energetic, enthusiastic and fun. I really enjoyed working with these guys because they have such amazing real world knowledge of how social media works.

The train ride was great, I read a ton of A Dance with Dragons (A Game of Thrones Book) and was able to just relax. I love taking the train. When the train arrived at the station I walked up to the Hilton. The walk was nice and not too long. As I was walking up there were a few streets blocked off leading up to Radio City Music Hall. When I got there a large crowd of people were gathered. Out front of the Radio City Music Hall the Rockettes were out there dancing with Santa Claus.

When I got to the Hilton I caught up with Dina, Steph, Eric and my friend Ashley. We had lunch and went over the presentation together. We prepped and got ready to have a good time today.

I went up to the Blogger Lounge and caught up with friends Heather, Vinny, Jenn, Daniel and Trisha. It was god to see everyone and talk about our respective blogs and projects. We headed up to lunch and had a great time talking more. Today was a whirlwind because I in no way would be able to see all my friends but I tried. I caught up with Greg, Mike and many more people before and after the session.

After the session I attended the final keynote and won a Koala bear for Andrew and a boomerang for myself. Eva’s gift came later. After the sessions were all over I spent a good long time talking with Dina before she had to leave for the Yankees game. I’ll have to make sure I attend next year.

I walked back to the train through Times Square. I stopped in at the giant Toys ‘R Us there. It was pretty amazing. They had some great displays including a working Ferris Wheel and an animatronic T-Rex. I picked up a LEGO minifig sticker book for Eva. So, before I spent a lot more money in that store I had to get moving again. I took a walk through Midtown Comics and that was a cool experience. A really cool store.

Back to the train and some more reading. I’d certainly do the whole train trip again if I went to NYC in the future. I’m hoping to get back down there for another toy related event.