At the international iGaming & Affiliate Conference MAC, Stefan “Affpal” Muehlbauer took the stage to explain why strong relationships with affiliate managers can have a direct impact on revenue. After the conference, he shared a broader observation: the more the industry automates, the more valuable the things that cannot be automated become — trust, reputation and human relationships.

Stefan Muehlbauer has spent years working across different sides of the affiliate industry.

He is the founder of Affpal Consultancy, works closely with affiliate programmes and teams, is currently involved with dating advertiser Masters in Cash, and develops recruitment and HR solutions for the industry through Affjobs.

At MAC, Muehlbauer spoke about how affiliates can increase revenue by building stronger relationships with affiliate managers — gaining access to private offers, faster rate increases and higher caps.

But the central idea behind his talk goes far beyond affiliate management.

Even as the industry becomes increasingly automated, Muehlbauer believes personal relationships are becoming more important, not less.

The More We Automate, the More Time We Have for People

Automation is already removing a significant amount of repetitive work from affiliate businesses.

Bots can process requests. Internal systems can match candidates with companies. Automated tools can eliminate hours of routine operational work.

For Muehlbauer, however, this is not a threat to human interaction.

It creates more space for it.

“Automation takes annoying, repetitive tasks away in most cases. That gives us time to focus on the things that you cannot automate — and these are the relationships.”

He points to Masters in Cash as a simple example.

Some affiliates now use Telegram bots to send requests to the team. Technically, the process works. But according to Muehlbauer, those automated requests rarely lead to the same opportunities as a direct conversation.

The best campaigns still tend to go to the people who actually ask in person.

He sees a similar effect in recruitment.

After automating several matching processes, his team was able to spend more time understanding candidates and companies on a deeper level rather than simply matching CVs against job descriptions.

The result was particularly interesting.

They began making more successful placements involving candidates who did not necessarily look like an ideal match on paper, but whose personality, working style and character made them an excellent fit for a particular company.

Technology did not replace human judgement.

It gave the team more time to use it.

“Become the Go-To Person in Your Niche”

Muehlbauer’s main advice for people entering affiliate marketing is similarly human.

Do not try to become everything at once.

Instead, become known for something specific.

“From day one, try to become the go-to person in your niche. Everybody should know what you do — and that you do it amazingly. It does not matter what role it is.”

In a market where platforms, tools and traffic sources can change quickly, professional reputation has a much longer lifespan.

Being recognised as the person to call for a particular problem, market or area of expertise can become one of the strongest assets in a career.

And that is one reason industry conferences continue to matter even as more business processes move online.

“I Never Considered MAC a Local Event”

Muehlbauer regularly attends international affiliate conferences, but he rejects the idea that MAC has only recently started becoming a global event.

For him, it has never really been local.

“I never considered it a local event. Already for the second edition you ever made, we sent a team from Romania. It has a geographical focus for sure, but it was never a local event for me. For that, it was always too big and important.”

What particularly stood out this time was not simply the number of countries represented, but the attitude towards international attendees.

At many conferences, building a new network requires deliberate effort.

You identify the people you want to meet, approach them and try to start a conversation.

At MAC, Muehlbauer experienced almost the opposite.

“People were really excited when you were from another region. Many people just started chatting me up because of that. Normally when you go to a show, you have to find new connections. In that case, they came to me. Dream of every lazy entrepreneur!”

Behind the joke is an important point.

International visitors were not treated as a separate group inside the conference. Their different markets and backgrounds became reasons for other participants to initiate conversations.

Three New HR Clients, a Referral Partner and New Business Opportunities

For Muehlbauer, the value of the conference can also be measured in concrete business results.

Around two and a half months after MAC, he could already point to several outcomes directly connected to the event.

His team signed three new HR clients, secured one professional referral partner, and added a significant number of new candidates to its network.

The conference also introduced him to advertisers and affiliate teams relevant to his newest project, Profit Alphas.

Some connections went beyond exchanging contacts.

Muehlbauer says he particularly bonded with Vipul Taneja and the team behind Idea Clan.

“Some of the biggest media buyers out there — and some great guys to hang out with.”

This is an important part of how conference ROI works in affiliate marketing.

Not every conversation becomes a deal during the event itself.

Some of the most valuable outcomes only become visible weeks or months later, when a new introduction turns into a client, referral relationship, hire or business partnership.

Creating an Environment Where the Right People Actually Meet

Asked to describe the atmosphere at MAC to someone who has never attended, Muehlbauer chose a simple word:

Buzzing.

But he also highlighted how deliberately the conference was structured.

“Extremely well planned, and the organisers arranged everything so that the right people meet.”

That distinction matters.

A conference can have thousands of attendees without necessarily creating effective networking.

The people who should meet each other can easily spend two days in the same building without ever having a meaningful conversation.

Muehlbauer believes MAC manages to avoid that.

And the networking does not stop when the official programme ends.

The closing party became another memorable part of his experience.

“The closing party was one of the craziest and biggest I have ever seen, and I could not even stay until the end due to an early morning flight.”

The entertainment may be part of the experience, but in the affiliate industry it also serves a practical function: conversations continue after the expo floor and conference stages close.

“It’s Only CIS and Ukraine” — But Is That Really a Disadvantage?

One objection Muehlbauer often hears from international professionals considering MAC is its perceived geographical focus.

The argument usually sounds something like this: the conference is too focused on CIS and Ukrainian affiliate markets.

His response is to turn the argument around.

“Is that not also a benefit? Some of the biggest affiliate teams and advertisers are from that region. So you want to skip that just because you don’t speak the language?”

For international companies that want access to these teams, the regional strength of MAC can be an advantage rather than a limitation.

And according to Muehlbauer, the language barrier is considerably smaller than many first-time international visitors expect.

“I can assure you 80% of the attendees speak English very well. There are also more international attendees than you would maybe guess.”

Starting conversations and opening negotiations in English is easy, he says.

Closing more complex deals can be different.

For that stage, having somebody who speaks the local language can provide a significant advantage.

In Muehlbauer’s case, working with Irina made the process particularly smooth.

The point is not that MAC eliminates the differences between markets.

It gives those markets a place to connect.

Who Should Be at the Next MAC?

Despite the strength of the current exhibitor and attendee mix, Muehlbauer already has a few additions on his wish list.

The first is more nutra advertisers.

He is currently looking for additional advertisers in the vertical and says there can never be enough of them at an event like MAC.

From the Affjobs perspective, he would also like to see more in-house HR managers from major companies and operators.

One category, however, was already represented in force:

large affiliate teams.

And that connects directly to his argument for international businesses considering the next MAC.

Some of the largest affiliate organisations and advertisers operate across the markets represented at the conference.

Avoiding the event simply because of geography or language can mean voluntarily ignoring a significant part of the global affiliate ecosystem.

Would He Return?

Muehlbauer does not need to see any major change before committing to another MAC.

“Your last edition was so great, I will come back anyway.”

He also highlighted the way the MAC team looked after speakers and international guests throughout the event.

For the next stage of the conference’s international growth, he believes adding a handful of additional global speakers could provide extra motivation for attendees who have not yet experienced MAC.

For him personally, however, the decision has already been made.

He is coming back.

A Bridge Between East and West

Muehlbauer’s final assessment of MAC closely reflects his broader view of affiliate marketing.

The industry can automate more workflows.

It can build better matching systems, bots and AI tools.

But many of its most valuable opportunities still begin when two people meet, trust each other and decide to work together.

Markets can exist alongside one another for years without truly connecting until there is a platform that brings their communities into the same room.

That is why, when asked to complete the sentence “MAC is not just a conference — it is…”, Muehlbauer answered:

“…maybe the most powerful bridge that connects the East and the West in our industry.”

For someone whose career has been built around relationships in affiliate marketing, it is difficult to imagine a more fitting description of the conference.