Affiliate Summit West moves fast. Meetings stack up, conversations blur together, and before you know it, everyone is back on planes heading home.
This year in Las Vegas, PlatformPay.io anchored the week with two side events designed to bookend the chaos. One to set the tone before the conference began, and one to slow things down on the final night.
Both were intentionally small, curated, and invite-only. Both reflected how we prefer to build relationships in this industry.
We kicked off ASW 2026 on Sunday night with a “Day Zero” Merchant Mixer at The Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails inside the Cosmopolitan.
Hosted by PlatformPay.io and supported by the AWSummit team, who flew in from Romania for the week, the goal was simple: Get the right people in the room before the conference energy takes over.
By the time doors opened, it was clear this one had struck a chord.
We welcomed 130 attendees, filled the room, and still had a waiting list. The crowd was made up of founders, advertisers, offer owners, referral partners, and payment solution providers.
The setting did the rest.
No presentations.
No microphones.
No one pitching from a corner.
Just good music, strong drinks, and conversations that moved naturally.
People reconnected, made introductions, and started the week with a sense of familiarity that carried into the conference days that followed.
It felt like “Day Zero” should feel. Calm, focused, and full of momentum.
After a full week of meetings, panels, and late nights at the Chandelier Bar, we brought things to a close with an invite-only dinner at Ocean Prime on Tuesday night which coincides with the last night for most people in Vegas.
The Elite Merchant Dinner was intentionally different from most conference events. No networking format. No structured agenda. Just a table of people who know each other, work together, and value time spent off the clock.
We invited referral partners, clients, and members of the PlatformPay.io team for a relaxed evening to wind down and enjoy each other’s company. The AWSummit team joined us again to help close out the week and ensure the evening went smoothly.
The food deserves a mention. The steaks were exceptional and set the tone for a long, unhurried dinner. Conversations drifted away from dashboards and reports and toward life, travel, lessons learned, and what the year ahead might hold.
It was the kind of night that reminds you why these events matter in the first place. Not for the volume of meetings, but for the depth of relationships.
Both events were intentionally curated, approval-only in terms of invites, and built around the idea that the right room matters more than the biggest room.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Las Vegas and helped make these moments what they were. And thank you to the AWSummit team for being great partners throughout the week.
We look forward to doing it again. Cheers!
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