How to Get the Most Out of Affiliate Grand Slam Rome 2026: Side Events, Logistics and What’s Worth Your Time

I landed in Rome for Affiliate Grand Slam, and if you’re reading this you’re probably heading to Fiera Roma this week too. AGS runs from 2 to 5 November alongside SiGMA World, AIBC and FX World, which makes it one of the biggest weeks of the year for anyone in affiliate and performance marketing. It’s also one of the easiest weeks to waste if you don’t plan it.

This is the guide I’d give a friend going for the first time: the practical stuff, the side events, and how I think about getting real value from a week like this.

The basics: what you’re walking into

The scale is the first thing to understand. The organisers expect more than 30,000 delegates and over 1,200 sponsors and exhibitors across nine halls and around 120,000 square metres at Fiera Roma, with more than 500 speakers on five stages. You will not see all of it, and you shouldn’t try.

Affiliate Grand Slam has its own hall, Hall 2, and it’s iGaming-free. It’s built for performance marketing beyond gambling: affiliates, media buyers, lead generation, SEO and content people, and the networks and platforms that serve them. One AGS ticket also gets you into SiGMA World, AIBC and FX World, so if your business touches iGaming, crypto or fintech, you can move between halls without a separate pass.

Getting to Fiera Roma

Fiera Roma is at Via Portuense 1645, out towards Fiumicino airport rather than in the city centre. That’s convenient if you’re flying in and less so if you’re staying near the Colosseum, so plan your mornings accordingly.

The easiest option is the FL1 regional train, which stops at Fiera di Roma station right by the venue. From Fiumicino airport it’s only a few minutes and the ticket costs around €8. From the city, you can catch the FL1 at Roma Tiburtina, Tuscolana, Ostiense or Trastevere, so pick whichever is closest to your hotel. Make sure you board the train heading towards Fiumicino Airport. From central Rome, allow about 40 minutes door to door.

SiGMA has also run free shuttle buses from pick-up points in the city in previous years, so check the official SiGMA app or the “plan your trip” page for this week’s routes and times. Taxis work too, but at peak hours the train is usually faster than sitting in traffic on the way out to the fair.

The side events and parties

Some of the best conversations of the week happen after the halls close. There are dozens of side events this year, so here’s my pick of the ones most relevant to affiliate and performance marketing people, plus the big official ones. All times are Rome time. Many are invite-only or need an RSVP, and a conference badge doesn’t always guarantee entry, so register early and double-check details with the host before you go.

Sunday 1 November: the night before

• 19:00 to 23:00, Digistore24 Dinner at Santa Rooftop Cocktail Club. A private dinner for affiliates and partners, good for setting up meetings before the week starts.

Monday 2 November: registration day

• 10:00 to 22:00, Delegate pre-registration and welcome reception at Lanterna di Fuksas. Collect your badge here to skip the Tuesday morning queue at the venue.
• 08:00, AFF•FIT 5km run by VerdeAds, from the Trevi Fountain, and 10:30, Affiliate Running Club by 1X, a 4km run through the historic centre followed by coffee. Easy, relaxed ways to meet people early.
• 16:00 to 20:00, ABC Connect Meetup by Affiliate Business Club. Media buyers, networks and advertisers across iGaming, nutra, e-commerce and finance. One of the most useful affiliate meetups of the day.
• 18:00 to 23:00, La Grande Notte by MGID, an evening for affiliates, advertisers and partners with dinner and live music.
• 20:00, SiGMA World Awards at Corsie Sistine di Santo Spirito in Sassia, with dinner and a charity auction.

Tuesday 3 November: AGS opens in Hall 2

• 09:00 to 12:00, First-Timer Networking Kickstart. If it’s your first SiGMA week, this is a gentle way to get oriented and meet people.
• 15:00 to 18:00, JVZoo Rome: Cocktails Above the Eternal City. No talks, just networking for affiliates and digital product vendors.
• 17:00 to 20:00, Rooftop Rendezvous by DFO Performance at Zuma Rome, for advertisers, agencies and affiliate partners.
• 19:30 to 23:00, iGathering Networking Cocktail at Lanterna di Fuksas, the official after-expo cocktail.
• 22:00, Mingle AGS Rome Party at Room 26. The main AGS club night after the first expo day.

Wednesday 4 November: the big AGS night

• 19:00, ANS Rome: Affiliate Networking Series at Mama Shelter Roma. Welcome drinks, then dinner, for affiliate, iGaming and fintech people.
• 20:00, Affiliate Grand Slam Awards at Corsie Sistine di Santo Spirito in Sassia. The industry’s own awards night, with dinner and a charity auction.
• 20:00 to 23:00, Send Off AGS in Style by Sticky.io on the W Rome rooftop. A more relaxed alternative if you’re not at the awards.

Thursday 5 November: last day

• 19:30, Affiliate White Sensation by AWSummit, an open-bar evening for affiliates, advertisers and networks to close the week.
• 20:00, SiGMA Italia Awards, focused on the Italian market, if Italy is on your expansion list.

Throughout the week

Sport is a big part of SiGMA week. The Bloko Padel Tour runs at Caesar’s Club Padel from the 2nd, with the Finalissima on the afternoon of the 4th and 2006 World Cup winner Marco Materazzi presenting the awards. The SiGMA Grand Prix by SOFTSWISS go-kart challenge runs at the venue in the afternoons from the 3rd to the 5th, and Platinum pass holders get networking drinks in the VIP lounge each afternoon. For the most complete, regularly updated list of side events, CPA.RIP’s SiGMA World 2026 side events guide is the best one I’ve found, and new private dinners keep appearing on the Conference Nights pages right up to the last minute.

My honest advice: don’t try to do every party. Pick one or two a night where the people you actually want to meet will be, and leave early enough to be useful the next morning.

Plan your meetings before the doors open

The people who get the most out of a week like this arrive with most of their important meetings already booked. Use the SiGMA Match app to find and message people before the event, and send a short personal note to anyone you specifically want to meet. Give them a reason, a time and a place. “Let’s catch up at some point” almost never happens at an event this size.

Then leave gaps. Some of the most useful conversations I’ve had at conferences were the ones nobody scheduled, in a coffee queue or between two stands. If every slot is booked, you have no room for those.

Working the floor without wasting the day

Walk the halls once early on, ideally on the first morning, just to see who is where. It saves you a lot of wandering later. Wear comfortable shoes, because you will easily walk several kilometres a day in a venue this size.

Be selective with sessions. Choose a couple that genuinely matter to your business, plus one outside your usual lane. The rest of the time is better spent talking to people. And when you do talk to someone, skip the elevator pitch. Ask what’s actually hard for them this year. You’ll learn more, and they’ll remember you for it.

The follow-up is where the money is

Every evening, write down a line or two about each meaningful conversation while you still remember who said what and what you promised. Back home, send your follow-ups within a week. In my experience, if a follow-up doesn’t go out within a week, it doesn’t go out at all, and the trip turns into an expensive networking holiday.

Make the follow-up specific. Refer to what you actually discussed and suggest one clear next step. That is what separates the contacts who turn into partners from the ones who just turn into a LinkedIn connection.

Come and say hello

We’re exhibiting at Affiliate Grand Slam from 3 to 5 November, and I’ll be at our stand for most of the week. If you run affiliate or partner programmes, this is the world we build for at Trackier, and for iGaming at Affnook. Send me a message on LinkedIn and let’s find twenty minutes.

Why do I still fly to events like this after a decade in the industry? I wrote about it here. And I’ll share what I actually heard in Rome, the corridor version, with newsletter subscribers first.