At the end of May, the legendary MAC took place — even if you didn’t attend, you’ve probably seen mentions of it all over Telegram. It's been over a month, and people are still buzzing about it, with comments, posts, articles, and insider notes popping up in nearly every channel.
The biggest affiliate event in the CIS is praised for its powerful networking opportunities, new connections, and intriguing location: MAC drew 3,390 people from all over the world, who are now eagerly discussing the event.
Affiliates universally agree on one thing — this was more than just a conference, it was a true adventure. Our team at Partnerkin was there too, and we have plenty to share. In this article, we’ll cover everything that happened at the conference, showcase the most interesting booths, peek into the podcast room, and even discuss the afterparty with Skriptonit — all in just ten minutes. Let’s dive in!
MAC Location: No backgammon, but definitely "beautiful"
Yerevan is a convenient meeting place for CIS affiliate marketing professionals living in Russia, Europe, and Central Asia. In summer, the location is especially charming: snow-capped mountains, ancient churches of Yerevan, excellent restaurants, and fresh air — a delightful contrast to noisy megacities.
The conference itself took place at the Meridian Exhibition Center — the 800-meter driveway was adorned with flags bearing the MAC emblem. Here’s what greeted you upon arrival, with Pin Up making a grand entrance on motorcycles and a Chevrolet Monte Carlo:
Most affiliates arrived from nearby hotels and villas by taxi, causing a daily car crowd at the venue: traffic controllers were directing drivers, joking, “All the taxi drivers in Yerevan gathered here today.” And it was true — around 1 200 taxis entered the venue grounds just on the conference day.
Pre-party day: counting broken glasses, drinking whiskey-cola, and meeting new people
The morning of May 29th kicked off with a paddle tennis tournament — conference participants could have fun, compete, and win memorable trophies and Diamond tickets. Each participant played 5 matches, and there were two tournaments in total — for beginners and more experienced players:
On the pre-party day, we kicked off the morning by setting up our Partnerkin booth — spending hours piecing together our logo from Lego. Attaching the heavy structure to a fabric stand was quite a task: we used double-sided tape, glue, and even a construction stapler to secure the canvas. Here’s how the logo looked in its disassembled and assembled states:
By lunchtime, a bustle began: organizers disappeared into the corridors of "Meridian" and reappeared, staff searched for tools and carried out small tasks, their expressions marked with a hint of concern. It was evident: the pre-party was about to kick off.
When the first guests arrived, everything was ready: the venue staff laid out the red carpet and set up stanchions, while waiters lined up with glasses of welcome champagne.
Just minutes before the start, there was a crash — someone got nervous and dropped a tray of glasses. The incident was swiftly fixed.
The pre-party: bar, hookahs, and fresh air
The party was supported by the main sponsor — 1xBet Affiliates, which immediately caught everyone's eye. With such a trusted partner involved and considering MAC's prestigious reputation, attendees anticipated a truly special experience on the eve of the conference. Here’s a glimpse into what the pre-party was like:
- A welcoming outdoor space awaited guests. In the courtyard, a red carpet greeted them alongside a stand from BetBoom Partners and comfortable poufs. Under the cover, there were hookahs provided by Valor Partners, a tea ceremony area, and champagne tables.
- A hall with snacks: vegetables, dolma, bruschettas with sun-dried tomatoes, rolls, and poultry. Nearby were buffet tables.
- A bar from Metatokens — the prime spot for networking. A curly-haired bartender served whiskey-cola and gin-tonic in unexpected proportions, and for non-drinkers — water and coca-cola.
By evening, the location felt especially cozy: you could chill on outdoor poufs under the stars or chat at tables, enjoying the pleasant summer cool breeze. Affiliates really loved the hookahs, which are quite popular in the community — more than 200 were enjoyed just during the pre-party.
Conference days: the coolest booths, unique talks at MAC 2024, the podcast room, and other highlights
The conference featured around 120 booths: partners from various verticals, payment services, direct casino advertisers, agency account services, virtual cards, and other companies. The venue map looked like this: entrance on the right, Diamond zone in the top right corner, stage in the bottom left corner, catering in the middle bottom. The rest was occupied by booths and lounge areas:
At MAC, there's always a special stage set up for speakers, and this year was no exception. The platform was custom-designed with a large curved screen, ensuring that presentations were visible from every angle. Here’s how it looked:
Despite the many booths and activities happening around, the speaker hall always had a bustling crowd engaged in the discussions. The talks were impactful, filled with facts and figures, delivered by experienced mediabuyers who know the subject inside out. There was no dull or untested theory — just practical insights and expertise.
The conference also featured a separate room for recording podcasts: MAC organizers stylishly decorated it, installed professional equipment, and even hired a staff member for filming. To reserve the room, attendees had to coordinate with the organizers. Since podcast recording was complimentary for conference participants, available time slots filled up fast.
Partnerkin team in the podcast room
Speaker presentations: what was there?
One of the main highlights of MAC is its audience. The community gathered at the conference consisted entirely of practicing affiliate marketing experts: buyers, team leads, affiliate program owners, affiliate managers, top SEO veterans, and booths from the best services, affiliate programs, and advertisers — a dream come true.
That ensured that all the presentations were excellent: no dull theories, only real data, statistics, and intriguing insights covering a wide range of topics. Our Partnerkin editor selected three standout talks from the conference — here’s a brief rundown.
- Alexander Flint — "Accumulation of branded traffic"
A priceless talk from industry veteran Alexander Flint. He shared insights on SEO for branded casino queries: how a website should be structured, how to choose domains, how his team promotes sites, and much more. The video is already up on our channel:
- Sergey Ovseenko — "ASO 2024: how to lead in new realities"
Sergey, the owner of Aezakmi Group, which develops iOS apps, has over 10 years of experience in the App Store. His team publishes over 100 apps every month. During his presentation, Ovseenko shared insights into how his team consistently develops a steady stream of apps, discussed the shifts in the ASO landscape over the past four years, highlighted the distinctions between ASO and FB, and gave advice for both newbies and experienced teams.
- Igor Gorbatov — "FB in influence traffic"
Igor Gorbatov, managing partner of Marlerino Group and owner of an affiliate marketing team, gave a talk on the unconventional use of FB resources through influence traffic: how his team scales their funnels via this source, tips on traffic optimization, retention strategies, and the role of in-house CRM systems. His talk covered YouTube, Telegram, and FB — a must-watch.
Booths: drummers, Michael Scott from “The Office”, a motorcycle, and tons of cool merch
Companies got creative with their booths, coming up with unique designs, hiring actors, serving drinks, and giving away branded merch. Here are a few standout booths that caught our editor’s eye.
ArbiHunter
ArbiHunter is an HR platform for affiliate marketing professionals styled like Tinder: you can "match" with a future employee in the app. But that’s not the only cool feature — the booth itself was a hit. One of the company’s employees perfectly played Michael Scott, the main character from the legendary series "The Office." His portrayal was spot-on: he kicked his feet up on the desk, shook his Big Boss mug, and cracked jokes from the show. This was an absolute must-see:
And Michael had fun launching paper airplanes into the air — a solid 10 out of 10.
Chilli Partners
Chilli Partners is an affiliate program in iGaming with 9 exclusive offers. Their booth was vibrant: plates on the walls, grapevines, fruit for guests, and traditional outfits.
But the main attraction was a concert with drums, a flute, and... a clash. We don’t know where the concert troupe came from, but it worked: for a few minutes, the entire "Meridian" was looking for the source of the sound, trying to figure out what was happening.
That definitely deserved a 10.
BetBoom Partners
The BetBoom booth made our list for two reasons:
- The only booth outdoors, styled like a small bar. Next to the entrance was a motorcycle;
- Inside the bar, they served cold berry punch — it was delicious.
We heard they also had beer at the booth — but we missed out on that.
Everyone at the conference went all out with unique merch to stand out: Extendy and Valor Partners handed out disposable vapes, which were in high demand, iGaming brands dished out cool hoodies and sweatshirts, and PD Partners offered merch with custom hand-painted designs — thick green shirts.
How organizers tackled conference challenges
Yerevan can be a tricky geo, and the venue was no exception: higher-than-average temperatures, Wi-Fi issues, and constant thirst. While unlimited water was available at a bar near the stage and network load couldn’t be eased, the heat posed a bigger problem — at one point, affiliates started complaining about the indoor temperature, and cooling the venue wasn’t easy: the exhibition hall area with booths was 6 132 m².
The organizers stepped up: they quickly bought all the fans from nearby tech stores and personally delivered water to all the booths for those who couldn’t find the bar on the event map.
Afterparty: hookah terrace, Skriptonit concert, and award ceremony — a grand finale for MAC
The afterparty took place at the Karen Demirchyan Concert Complex, a massive venue capable of hosting up to 8 000 people. The location was impressive, both inside and out:
Photo: CarPosting
Inside, it felt just like a concert: a massive hall split into various zones. The first level had a stage for the performer and a dance floor. The second level had sofas with tables and great spots to view the venue. The third level had more of the same, plus a fantastic outdoor terrace where you could catch some fresh air, enjoy a hookah, and chill on beanbags. The music-free terrace was a brilliant idea; lots of affiliates came out there just to chat.
Here are the main zones of the complex and the terrace:
Rumors were swirling about the headliner of the party: some claimed it would be Morgenshtern, others leaned towards Skriptonit, and some even suggested multiple artists. But the organizers kept it a secret. However, the day before, many attended the Dats.Team party, where Leningrad performed. So, one headliner had already made an appearance by then. Before the headliner of the afterparty was revealed, the crowd was warmed up by a DJ, who asked for a few minutes of silence before the unknown artist took the stage.
It was worth it: when Skriptonit appeared, the mediabuyers cheered enthusiastically. It was truly awesome — although our editor couldn’t make out a single word during the concert, Skriptonit definitely got the crowd hyped.
Even the ticket collectors got in on the fun.
For more details on the afterparty, check out the YouTube video on the MAC channel here.
MAC Awards Ceremony
Of course, there was the legendary MAC Awards with 18 categories — you can check out the winners in this article. After the conference, back from Yerevan, mediabuyers buzzed in their channels about how the awards were distributed. For example, many joked about the Best Media award, which went to the closed project Zorbas.Media from the big affiliate holding ZM — now being relaunched as ZM media.
The MAC Awards are always determined by voting, making it impossible to rig the system. As a result, the companies with the best products consistently come out on top: they actively promote their media, engage in the awards, and earn their wins.
MAC in numbers
We got some interesting stats from the organizers and are excited to share them with you:
Conclusion
The conference was fantastic — it’s clear that modern affiliate marketers prioritize building communities, networking, and meaningful interactions. They still love fresh air, hookahs, and parties. The event was hugely beneficial for everyone: for instance, the Partnerkin editorial team gained dozens of new contacts in just two days, experienced a whirlwind of emotions, and enjoyed a thrilling afterparty. All of this happened at MAC.
Affiliates particularly highlighted the exceptional community atmosphere that was present at the conference:
Additionally, we want to highlight the stunning location for the conference and thank the organizers for choosing the beautiful city of Yerevan. After the conference, we extended our stay in the city for a couple of days and absolutely fell in love with Armenia. Our whole team went out, visited Lake Sevan and the ancient Garni Temple, saw the snow-capped Ararat, and, of course, tried the local cuisine — it was an unforgettable experience.
We're eagerly looking forward to the next MAC! We're confident that the organizers will listen to feedback and make the conference even better, building upon its already impressive list of strengths.
