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Here's the The Lowdown from DN Journal,
updated daily
to fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name industry. 

The Lowdown is compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron Jackson.

Inside Domainerwiesn (Domainer Oktoberfest) in Munich: When it Comes to Combining Business and Pleasure, Germany Shows Us How It's Done!

September and October have been accompanied by quite a run of cool domain conferences this year. For me it started with DNCruise 2 in early September, then last week's inaugural GeoPublishers.com Expo in Chicago, with the granddaddy of them all, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. still to come at the Ritz Carlton in Ft. Lauderdale Beach Oct. 16-19, 2011

If I could have been in two places at once there was yet another conference I would have loved to have been at - this one on the other side of the ocean. While I was on my way to Chicago for the GeoPublishers.com event, the annual Domainerwiesn ("Domainer Oktoberfest") was winding down in Munich, Germany. That event, held right in the middle of the world famous Oktoberfest beer festival, was staged by the upcoming new domain monetization service - ParkingCrew.com. The three-day event ran Sept. 27-29, 2011 at the Sofitel Hotel with a crowd-pleasing agenda filled with one-on-one workshops, networking and - of course - lots of beer!

Munich's Hotel Sofitel Munich Bayerpost hosted Domainerwiesn September 27-29, 2011

Michael Berkens of TheDomains.com was among those who were in Munich. While he was there Michael mentioned to lead organizer Stefan Wiegard that I would love to get some photos and highlights from the event. Stefan came through in a big way allowing me to share the Domainerwiesn experience with you. 

When attendees began arriving Tuesday morning, Sept. 27, they were outfitted in traditional Bavarian clothing (dirndl for the girls and lederhosen for the boys) and gathered at the hotel for an opening  round of networking and catching up on industry gossip. In the afternoon, the entire group departed for their first visit to Theresienwiese where Crown Prince Ludwig I married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hidlburghausen in 1810 – a wedding that is commemorated every year with Oktoberfest

The party then got started at Schützenfesthalle, a tent located directly underneath the Bavaria statue that seats more than 5,300 people, where guests enjoyed traditional Bavarian dishes and  world-famous Löwenbräu beer. The tent even features its own private shooting range! With all of the beer being consumed I'm not sure how good an idea that is but no one seemed to mind. 

 

Above: Domainerwiesn attendees under the Bavaria statue.

Below: View of the Oktoberfest grounds with the Schützenfesthalle on the left.

After seven hours at Schützenfesthalle the action moved to Munich's famous P1 Club where the group was greeted by a 9-liter bottle of Salmanazar Champagne to end the first day in style!

Hakan Ali from InternetX.com decided the best way to wash down beer is with champagne!

On Wednesday morning (Sept. 28) it was back  to business with attendees gathering at Hotel Bayrischer Hof's Blue Spa to network one-on-one in a relaxed setting that also provided an opportunity to recover from the night before. In between meetings attendees could get various spa treatments,  take a swim, enjoy sunny Munich from one of the best rooftops in town and eat some healthier food than the heavy Bavarian dishes that went so well with beer the day before.  

Wednesday evening at 7:30 attendees met at the highly rated Restaurant 181 where they were were joined by industry veterans Michael and Judi Berkens and Michael's partner in RightOfTheDot.com, Monte Cahn, who were in town for a New gTLD Conference. The restaurant, which sits atop Munich's Olympic Tower, provided a birds eye view of the Oktoberfest grounds that illuminated the night sky. 

View of Oktoberfest from Restuarant 181 on top of Munich's Olympic tower.

Another highlight of the night at Restaurant 181 was an appearance by  Melissa Payne who gave attendees an update on the great work being done by the Water School to provide clean drinking water in those parts of the world where it is needed most. 

After hearing Melissa's inspiring account of Water School projects and enjoying a great dinner, along with the best possible view of Munich, Domainwerwiesn guests headed back to the Sofitel Munich Bayerpost Hotel to help Michael Berkens celebrate his birthday as soon as it arrived shortly after midnight.  

Melissa Payne from The Water School

The final day of Domainerwiesn, Thursday (Sept. 29), got started with guests boarding a double decker bus for a sightseeing tour that would give them a much closer look at Munich. The trip was made even more enjoyable by generous servings of Bavarian beer and pork knuckles (I'm going to have to take their word for it on the pork knuckles)! This also turned out to be a good environment for discussing business deals.

Some of the Domainerwiesn guests who got Thursday 
off to a great start with a morning of sightseeing and networking.

After the tour it was time for a farewell visit to Oktoberfest. This time the fancy Hippodrom tent was the setting for an unforgettable afternoon. In this case it is probably best to let the pictures do the talking:

Stefan Wiegard from ParkingCrew.com and Martin Andersson from RookMedia.net 
show the world that true friendship can exist between
parking competitors.

Kamila Sekiewicz from NameDrive.com (looking lovely in her red hat) says Prost! (Toast!)

Another tray of tasty Bavarian food arrives for appreciative Domainerwiesn guests!

Stefan said, "The final day at Domainerwiesn 2011 concluded with one of those legendary champagne nights at 089 Bar that only domainers can throw (enough said)." He added that  ParkingCrew.com is already  looking forward to hosting another Domainerwiesn next year. After seeing these photos I bet a lot of you are already counting the days to September 2012!

(Posted Oct. 8, 2011) 


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