Missy Ward

California AB178 is Off Calendar

by Missy Ward

A small sigh of relief was heard around Affiliateland when today's hearing in California regarding Assembly Bill 178 (“AB 178”) was canceled.

In a nutshell, AB 178 is now a two-year bill which signifies its death, for this year anyway.

Unfortunately, lawmakers can use a practice known as “GANDA” (Gut-and-Amend), during the final days of a legislative session in which the entire contents of another bill can be stripped out and replaced with the contents of AB 178.

It may take a few times to finally put this issue to bed, but in the meantime it looks like California's small business owners are temporarily safe.

Great work by the whole crew who banged on the doors of California's legislators to get them to understand the ramifications of #advertising tax.

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For The Heck of It

Gary Vaynerchuk, Live from Thunder Cruise

by Missy Ward

I had the pleasure of watching my very first Wine Library TV episode last week while I was on board the Thunder Cruise. It was kind of neat to get a behind-the-scenes look at how Gary prepares for the show.

I know it's hard to believe that I had never seen an episode, but I just never got around to it (sorry, Gary!) But, now that I've had the opportunity to witness it first-hand, I'll be back for more.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

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For The Heck of It

Gary Vaynerchuk Thunder Cruise 2009 Review

by Missy Ward

I just got back from the first annual Gary Vaynerchuk Thunder Cruise held on the MSC Orchestra this past week.

I'd like to sum up the experience using the information that I absorbed from the 200+ Vayniacs on the ship and of course, Gary himself.

Color: Golden Tan. (That's me after 7 days of beautiful sunshine in the Dominican Republic, Antigua, St. Martin, Nassau and floating around the Caribbean).

Nose: Filled with scents of Strawberry Twizzlers, Fun Dip Sticks, Bacon, Grandpa's Cherry Tobacco, Beef Jerky, Old Tennis Shoes, Dirt, Lemon Pledge, Helium Balloon, some Pineapple and Kiwi action, rounded out by a subtle scent of Cow Poop. (I learned that I can describe the aromas exactly how I smell them — and that was fun!)

Taste: New World, with a little bit of Old World class, very focused, absolutely rich with layers of complexity, great acid throughout, polished and balanced.

Missy Ward Rating: 92+

Summary: There was no shortage of wine to be tasted and Gary's goal of expanding everyone's palate was achieved. My fellow ThunderCruisers definitely made the experience even more spectacular. Improvements that could be made are based on the venue itself as the food on board was less than mediocre and quite a few staff members who attended to us in the Shaker Lounge, were just downright rude.)

That being said, Gary's vineyard is solid and I'm sure that the '10 vintage will be phenomenal.

Below are some highlights of the event:

Pictures:

Señor Sangria Sail Away Party

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Affiliate Marketing

Hawaii Advertising Tax HB105 is Back From the Dead

by Missy Ward

Some bad news… Hawaii's HB105 has risen from the dead.

Last week, Hawaiian small businesses in the affiliate marketing industry breathed a little easier when the nexus language was removed from the bill by the Senate.

Unfortunately, when the bill went back to the House this week, the nexus language was added back in.

The lobbyists working with the Performance Marketing Association are trying to get more details on what transpired. Additional information will be provided shortly pertaining to the legislators to contact in order to fight this bill.

Amazon has already noted in this public letter (page 6) that they are prepared to terminate all of their relationships with the small businesses in Hawaii that are working with them on a performance basis.

I'm quite certain that there are more companies that will follow in Amazon's footsteps should this legislation pass.

This session ends on May 7th. It's extremely important when you're contacting your representatives to let them know that this is a losing proposition all around. Hawaii will not get the sales tax revenues that they're expecting because the merchants like Amazon will simply terminate their relationships with marketers in Hawaii. The small businesses performing the marketing will experience a loss of income. Hawaii loses the income tax from those marketers.

Where is the logic in any of that?

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