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The
Lowdown
October
2011 Archive |
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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. |
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Overnight
Sensation?: Lana Del Rey Featured in
New Rolling Stone
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I've
been telling you
for
the past few years that Lizzy Grant
(stage name Lana Del Rey) was going to be a star
in the music business. Now it's happening.
Lana is featured in a high profile color spread
in the new November issue of Rolling Stone
magazine. 
Lana
Del Rey in the November issue of Rolling Stone
Magazine
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I
owned independent music retail stores for many
years and in one of my early comments on Lana
(after hearing one of her independent label
recordings) I said that her music is the kind I
could have put on the store's audio system and
instantly had shoppers stop in their tracks
and ask who is that!? Now the world
is finding out who that is.
Lana
appeared on national
TV in Great Britain a couple of
weeks ago and she just signed with one of the
world's top labels - Interscope Records.
Those of you who have met Lana know that she is as sweet as she is
talented and beautiful and we're extremely
excited to see so many good things happening for
her now.
One
other note today - we just published our
comprehensive review of this month's T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Fort Lauderdale Beach conference as our October
Cover Story. It features many
previously unseen photos and details from the
year's only T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference that we
think you will enjoy. We also just published our
October
Newsletter that provides a breakdown
of reported domain sales from the latest
quarter (3Q-2011). Check that out to see how the
domain aftermarket is currently doing.
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(Posted October
31, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111031.htm
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Proposed
New Law Would Make "Rights Holders" Judge,
Jury and Executioner With Website Owners in Their
Crosshairs
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ICA
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin
posted
some news
on the Internet Commerce
Association's website Thursday that
should make the hair on the back of your
neck stand up. Some proposed new
legislation (called the
“E-PARASITE Act” - an acronym
for ‘‘Enforcing and Protecting
American Rights Against
Sites Intent on Theft
and Exploitation Act’’) is
being considered in the U.S. House of
Representatives that would put
domain and website owners at the
complete mercy of "rights
holders."
Corwin,
who is based in Washington, D.C.
where he keeps an eye on all legislative
matters that may impact domain owners,
wrote this about the 79-page House
proposal: "It would require payment providers
and ad networks to terminate their services to a website upon
mere receipt of a letter from a rights holder
alleging that the website was one “dedicated to theft of U.S. property”. |
ICA
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin |
So
much for due process! Corwin noted,
"Any domain registrant who has ever received an aggressive and
unsupported cease-and-desist letter from a trademark attorney has got to be concerned by the prospect of having a domain’s
ad and payment services shut down absent any court review. The bill would provide the website owner with the ability to seek
after-the-fact judicial lifting of the ad and payment suspension – but this expensive and uncertain option would occur during a period when the website had been
deprived of all income! Overall, this approach creates major due process concerns and clearly
tips the balance against domain registrants and in favor of rights holders."
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I
would urge you to read
Corwin's post that has all
of the details about this ill-conceived
idea and follow his recommendation that
you immediately contact your Representative
to alert them that the House Judiciary Committee
will reportedly hold a hearing on the proposal on
November 16th, 2011 with the intention of holding a “markup” to report it out of Committee shortly thereafter.
Corwin
said that U.S. domain investors and developers
should, at a minimum, request that the Judiciary Committee hold
multiple balanced hearings to explore all the aspects of this complex and controversial proposal before proceeding to
any votes. |
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A
complete list of members of the House Judiciary Committee can be found at
http://judiciary.house.gov/about/members.html. |
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One other
note today. The ICM
Registry has extended the
.xxx Sunrise registration periods
(that were originally scheduled to end
today) for an additional three days. That
means that rights holders will have an
opportunity to secure their domains and
protect their brands up to the new
deadline which is Monday, October 31,
2011 at 16:00 UTC (Noon U.S.
Eastern time).
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(Posted Oct.
28, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111028.htm
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Popular
Domain Name Suggestion Tool DomainsBot.com Unveils a
Major Upgrade + An Update from the ICANN Meeting
Underway in Dakar
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For
the past six years
DomainsBot.com
has been helping domain buyers and investors
find suitable names through their popular domain
suggestion tool. Many major registrars,
including GoDaddy, Tucows, Register.com,
eNom, 1and1 and DirectI,
have also incorporated the DomainsBot technology
on their own platforms. DomainsBot CEO Emiliano Pasqualetti
estimates that 1.2 million domains get registered every year as a result
of their name suggestion service.
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Today,
a new 2.0 version of the DomainsBot
platform went live. It features an
innovative
real-time search experience and new tools that
make it easier for people and companies to
search for domain names, Twitter handles
and Facebook pages.
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By offering an integrated
domain and social identity search, the new service makes it easier for users to find and obtain
unique, brandable identities. In addition to adding social identity search and revamping its
website for speed and ease of use, DomainsBot
now offers a downloadable mobile application
(free in Apple's AppStore), for identity searches on the go. Pasqualetti
said, " Our goal is to simplify an important and time consuming process
creatively.”
Francesco Simoneschi, VP of Product
Development at DomainsBot noted, "Google Instant changed the way we search and browse the Internet by displaying relevant
search results as words are typed into the search engine. As a domain search engine and a
brainstorming tool, we’ve updated DomainsBot to provide a similar, real-time experience that
gives users more control over results.”
The
new
site also features premium
aftermarket domains from GoDaddy and
Sedo - partnerships that enable
DomainsBot users to browse for the largest selection of domains available on the
secondary market. Additional features in today’s
release include the introduction of DomainsBot
Deals, a selection of top discounts for domain
registrations and renewals in partnership with some of the most popular registrars, and a whole
new selection of B2B services for domain registrars, registries and
new TLD applicants.
While
DomainsBot was founded in Italy in 2005,
the company also has a strong U.S.
presence after opening an office in San
Francisco earlier this year.
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Elsewhere,
the 42nd International ICANN
meeting that opened Sunday is continuing
in Dakar, Senegal where it will
run through Friday (Oct. 28). Internet
Commerce Association (ICA)
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin told us
some progress is being made toward
initiation of a UDRP
reform process. Corwin said,
"It looks like a formal vote will
take place by December with the process
kicking off in early 2012, not withstanding
resistance from the Intellectual
Property Constituency and the GAC.
Once
the process gets going we'll need
to be heavily engaged to help ensure a
good outcome for registrants."
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In an update
from Dakar that Phil posted on the
ICA website Monday, you'll find his take on
other early developments at the meeting,
including some emerging new TLD realities
and the possibility of lower fees being
instituted in domain dispute cases.
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(Posted Oct.
25, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111025.htm
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The
Work Week Can Wait, I'm Still Savoring a Very Special
Sunday!
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When
Mondays roll around
I'm
usually revved up and ready to get back to
business, but Sunday (Oct. 23, 2011) was
such a special day I'm not quite ready to
let it go. The day tied together two ends of my
professional career - the present and the
distant past (a past that doesn't seem distant
at all after, for the first time in decades,
re-uniting with with some special people from
those days last night).
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Diana
Jackson (center) chatting with Pat
and Rob Grant
on their Anna Maria Island dock
Sunday afternoon
(Oct. 23) while I snap a photo from an
adjacent dock,. |
Before
that reunion, my wife, Diana, and
I had a wonderful afternoon visiting two
people who are a big part of the domain
business that we are all part of and
love so much today - our friends Rob
Grant and his wife Pat.
After
last week's T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference at Fort
Lauderdale Beach Rob and Pat headed
across the state to Anna Maria Island
where they have a vacation condo. Anna
Maria is a relatively unknown jewel in
the Gulf of Mexico, a little over
an hour south of our home in Tampa.
Since
we were going to be passing so close to
them on the way to the evening event a
little further south in Sarasota,
we took the opportunity to drop in and
spend a glorious Florida day sitting on
their dock enjoying the sunshine and
chatting about events both personal and
professional. |
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We
were happy to hear how dramatically the
singing career of their daughter Lizzy
(stage name Lana del Rey) is
blossoming. Lana just performed
on national TV in Great
Britain and within the past 24 hours
news came that she had won a prestigious
Q Award declaring her to be
"The
Next Big Thing." As you
can probably guess from what I've
written about Lizzy in the past - that
comes as no surprise to me at all - I
felt she was destined for stardom
the first time I met her.
Rob
and Pat's place is directly across from
the 100-year-old Anna Maria pier that
has a great old Florida seafood
restaurant located at the end of it.
Before we retired to the dock, we had
lunch there surrounded by the gorgeous
Gulf waters. |
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Sunday
lunch on the Anna Maria Island Pier (left
to right):
Ron Jackson, Diana Jackson, Pat Grant and
Rob Grant.
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Robert
R. Nelson (with his wife Molly)
holds up the original
test pattern card that WXLT-TV
viewers saw on Oct. 23,
1971 until Nelson's new ABC station
went live on the air. |
Late in the
afternoon we reluctantly said our
goodbyes to Rob and Pat, but were
excited about heading off to a special
occasion in downtown Sarasota
that would take me back in time to when
I first moved to Florida as a
22-year-old looking to begin a TV
career.
Sunday
night was exactly 40 years from the day
a new ABC-TV station went on the
air in Sarasota on Oct. 23, 1971. To
mark the occasion, the original station
owner, Robert R. Nelson (who gave
me my start in that business) invited
some of the people who were there at or
near the beginning of WXLT-TV to
join him for dinner at Mattison's
City Grille. The station will also
be airing features about the
anniversary, including old news clips
from our heyday, during their newscasts
this week. |
WXLT-TV
40th Anniversary dinner Sunday night (Oct.
23, 1971) at Mattison's City Grille in Sarasota,
Florida. (Left to right: veteran news
anchorman Bob Keehn, sportscaster Ron
Jackson and his wife Diana, station
owner Robert R. Nelson, weatherman Steve
Newman (who went on to have a long career at
major stations across America, including KRON-TV
in San Francisco, and now runs Earthweek.com),
Pauline Lunin (wife of the station's
Chief Engineer), Reporter/Photographer/Producer
(and good at all of them) Gordon Galbraith
and Chief Engineer Dan Lunin).
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I spent 11
years at WXLT-TV, most of them as
the station's Sports Director, and had
not seen Mr. Nelson and some of my
former colleagues since 1983 when I
moved up the coast to Tampa's WTVT.
It was a huge treat to see them
again and it truly seemed like just
yesterday that we were all together,
making local TV history.
WXLT only
made it on the air after Nelson spent
five years planning the operation
and overcoming multiple roadblocks put
in his way by an ABC station in Tampa
that did not want to see a competing
network affiliate so close to them. His
perseverance paid off when, a few years
after I left for Tampa, he sold the
station for $41 million, an eye
popping figure for a UHF station at that
point in time (the new owners changed
the call letters to WWSB).
He gave
many, like me, their first jobs in the
TV business and I will always be
indebted to him for that. At the time I
took the job I also had an offer to do
radio in Pennsylvania for twice as much
money, but I wanted to live in
paradise and get a break in TV so I
headed south. |
Ron
Jackson on WXLT-TV in
1974
(no I was not auditioning for a role
in
Prince Valiant though the
hairstyle
could lead you to believe otherwise). |
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It
was one of the smartest moves I ever
made and I feel like the many good
things that have happened in my life
since then (including meeting Diana in
Sarasota) has flowed from that one
decision to choose doing what I
loved to do over money. I've made that
choice repeatedly over the years and
I've never once regretted it. |
This
1979 photo (including the captions) is
from the cover of Sarasota Town &
County
Magazine. Left to right are Ron Jackson (not
sure where I got the idea that tinted glasses
were
cool!), Wendy Ross (who took over weather
after Steve Newman moved to a larger
market),
station owner Robert R. Nelson (standing)
and anchorman Bob Keehn on the WXLT
news set.
A
lot was packed into the day Sunday and it went
by way too quickly, as great days usually
do. So, thank you for indulging me while I spent
this day reflecting on and writing about it.
Tomorrow it's back to business in another
business (domains) that I have really loved
being a part of. Back to business, but not
back to "work". The old saying is so
true - "do something you love and you will
never work a day in your life."
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(Posted
Oct.
24 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111024.htm
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42nd
International ICANN Meeting Opens Sunday in Senegal -
ICA's Phil Corwin Among Those to Attend
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The
42nd
International ICANN Meeting
gets
underway Sunday (Oct. 23, 2011) in Dakar,
Senegal where the conference will continue
through Friday (Oct. 28). The introduction of new
gTLDs in 2012 will be one of the
main issues discussed at this meeting. ICANN
plans to start accepting applications for new
TLDs on January 12, 2012, with the
application window remaining open until April
12, 2012. Rod
Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and Chief
Executive Officer will join Board Chair Dr.
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Stephen
Crocker at a news conference Monday
to discuss the status of the new gTLD program in
depth. The
two ICANN leaders will also answer questions on
other subjects, ranging from IPv6
implementation to DNSSEC adoption.
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ICA
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin at a
Verisign Symposium in Washington,
D.C.
Tuesday (October 18, 2011)
Photo courtesy of Richard Meyer |
Internet
Commerce Association (ICA)
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin will be
in Senegal to monitor any developments
that might impact the rights and
interests of domain name registrants and
investors.
Corwin
headed off to Dakar soon after attending
a Verisign “Building a better
Internet” Symposium that was held
in Washington, D.C. this past
Tuesday (Oct. 18). The
invitation only event brought approximately
125 Internet industry and technical
leaders together to plan for challenges
ahead, including fortifying the internet's
infrastructure to accommodate the next billion
users.
Attendees
included top Verisign executives, ICANN
management, government staff (from the Department
of Commerce, FBI and
Congress), lobbyists, IP lawyers,
academia, think tanks and other internet
stakeholders. They heard from a variety
of experts including ICANN Chairman Dr.
Stephen Crocker and Wired
Magazine Editor Chris Anderson. |
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(Posted Oct.
22, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111022.htm
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Closing
Day Photos & Highlights from T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Fort
Lauderdale Beach and Hints of a 2012 Show in Las Vegas
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I'm
back home
after
a wonderful week on Fort Lauderdale
Beach for the 2011 T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference that closed at
the Ritz Carlton Hotel Wednesday
morning (Oct. 19). In my last |
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Auctioneer
Wayne Wheat conducting T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s
live domain auction.
(Tuesday, October 18, 2011) |
post
Tuesday
afternoon, the show had
entered its final 24 hours with the live
domain auction underway. After
making a number of changes in the
traditional auction process,
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. co-founders Rick
Schwartz and Howard Neu entered
the sale with high hopes but
unfortunately the final sales tally was
disappointing (Approximately $284,000
with some below reserve sales still
subject to seller approval).
They
plan to make additional changes for the
next event in a continuing effort to
find a formula that will revive a live
auction business that has been in a
slump at all of the conferences
for several years now. Obviously, the
bad general economy has a lot to do with
that but Schwartz and Neu think it is
possible to reverse the decline by
creating a better system for
selecting and selling
domains.
They
certainly drew a substantial crowd
for |
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the
auction. I took the photo below while
standing in the middle of the
auction hall. There were as many, or
more, people behind me as you see
in the foreground. Some commentators on
blogs who only saw an internet feed that
showed the auctioneer and the first few
rows of the audience erroneously
wrote that no one was there (I've never
really understood why people who were
not even at an event feel compelled to
tell people what happened there
but that's another story).
At
the auctions few want to sit in front
because they don't want competing
bidders behind them to see who they are
and what they are bidding on. Auctioneer
Wayne Wheat was having a hard
time seeing the bidders all of the way
at the back of the hall so he asked some
to move to the front, but none accepted
the invitation for the reasons I stated.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
attendees following Tuesday's live
domain auction
(this view is from the middle of the
crowd). |
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The
auction was followed by the show's final
business session, a Meeting of the Chiefs
session that featured eight company leaders who
provided valuable advice on running a domain
business, as well as commentary on a wide range
of industry issues.
A
Meeting of the Chiefs closed the business
portion of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011
late Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 18). The dais
featured (left to right): John Ferber,
Michael Berkens, Adam Dicker, Michael
Gilmour, moderator Howard Neu (standing),
Ari Goldberger, Larry Fischer, Dr.
Chris Hartnett and Scott Richter.
The
final evening at Fort Lauderdale Beach began at
8pm with a gathering for coffee and dessert.
This was scheduled to run only an hour but
everyone was so engaged in their conversations
it ran until 10pm.
Guests
gather for coffee & dessert at the Ritz
Carlton Tuesday night.
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Jothan
Frakes (left) and Rick Schwartz breaking
the ice Tuesday night. Is what
appears to be a
budding friendship between these two
former rivals
related to a possible return of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference to Las Vegas next year? |
One of the
more interesting things I saw during the
dessert hour was Rick Schwartz and Jothan
Frakes off in a corner having what
appeared to be a very warm
conversation. That was surprising because
relations between the two have been chilly
for several years. Jothan was the
executive director of the first two Domain
Roundtable shows (the first conference
to compete with T.R.A.F.F.I.C.) and later
played a key role in organizing Oversee's
first DOMAINfest conferences. So,
he and Rick spent years going head to
head.
Neither had
anything specific to announce after their
chat, but I can't help but think the talk
may lead to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. going
back to Las Vegas in 2012, even
though Schwartz has said he only wanted to
do one show a year from now on. |
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The
workload is too heavy and he doesn't
need the money. Still, many (including
me) have urged him to consider returning
to the two-a-year, East/West
combination that was so popular in
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s early years.
Schwartz wouldn't budge, but at the end
of the auction earlier in the day, he
asked for a show of hands from the crowd
- how many wanted to see one show a year
and how many wanted to see two, with Las
Vegas back in the mix? An overwhelming
majority put up their hands in favor of
the two-show option.
A couple of
hours later, I see Schwartz and Frakes
shaking hands and I have to think that
Frakes's deep experience in putting
conferences together could help
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. kill two birds with one
stone - give the show's fans the Las
Vegas show they want and still take a
lot of the second show load off of
Schwartz's shoulders by letting Jothan
carry some of that weight. It may just be
speculation, but I don't think they
spent an hour talking about who is going
to win the World Series (even
though Schwartz is a big baseball fan). |
After
the dessert hour (that turned into two hours),
many in the crowd jumped on the elevators and
headed to a party that Ari Goldberger and
Larry Fischer (two of the most successful
domain investors of all time) hosted in their
suite near the top of the Ritz Carlton.
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Above:
Some of the first to arrive at a party
held in Ari Goldberger & Larry
Fischer's suite Tuesday night (the
soiree would later grow so big that
hotel staff would move it from the suite
to a larger location away from other
guest rooms. The Ritz always aims
to please and I'm sure their solution
kept both Ari, Larry and their guests
happy as well as the neighbors on their
floor!
At
right: two of the domain industry's most
respected corporate leaders, NameMedia
CEO Kelly Conlin (center) and
the company's Senior VP, Jason Miner,
chat with Barbara Neu and Judi
Berkens at at the Goldberger/Fischer
party. |
|
The
next morning (Wednesday, Oct. 19) it was time to
say goodbye to friends and fellow guests, but
not before sharing a sumptuous Farewell
Breakfast with them. This has been a
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. tradition and it has always been
a great way to wind up the conference - everyone
loves going home with fond memories and a
full stomach!
A
scene from T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s Farewell
Breakfast Wednesday morning, Oct. 19, 2011.
The
two men in the foreground at left are Chris
Leggatt and Danny Pryor, who are
integral parts of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. team. They
handle the conference's audio, video and
technical details.
Shortly
after noon we were in our car and on the way
back to Tampa with the 22nd T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
show in the books. Many say it was the most
productive one for them to date and that is
saying something.
While
I have been filing daily reports from Fort
Lauderdale Beach since last week, the show
schedule is so hectic I had to leave a lot of
details out. As always, I will now take a few
days to assemble everything into a single
comprehensive show review that we will publish
soon. Attendees are making industry
history and I want to continue making it all
part of an easily accessible permanent record so
that as we continue to move forward we can
always look back (and learn) from where we have
been.
|
|
(Posted Oct.
20, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111020.htm
|
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Monday
& Tuesday Photos and Highlights from T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Fort Lauderdale Beach
|
In
my last post
from
the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Fort Lauderdale Beach conference
yesterday (Monday, Oct. 17) I signed off with
three afternoon sessions left to attend in the
business day. The first of those was Test
Track, a session that gives entrepreneurs
an opportunity to persuade one or more members
from a panel of investors to put a specified
amount of money into their venture in exchange
for a percentage of the business. Marco
Marcovici presented a pitch for his NGrams.com
project while Kevin Wood sought a
development partner for Companion.com.
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Kevin
Wood (standing at left) tells a panel of
investors why they should back
his plans for Companion.com. The panel
included (left to right): Roy Messer,
Gregg McNair, Michael Mann, Adam
Dicker and Dr. Chris Hartnett.
Marcovici
and Wood both got some tips on their ventures
but neither secured an investment at this stage
of their projects.
In the
next session, Stuart Lawley, Chairman and
CEO of ICM
Registry (operator of the new .xxx
extension) discussed the TLD with the biggest
early investor in .xxx domains, Frank
Schilling. Among other things, they
revealed that Frank paid $1.65 million
for a prime portfolio of .xxx domains.
Frank
Schilling (left) and Stuart Lawley
fill attendees in on the new .xxx
extension.
The
business day Monday closed with the most well
attended Speed Networking session I've
seen in years. Those who took part were able to
spend 10 minutes each with a half dozen
different people from fields the attendees
specified in advance that they want to make
contacts in.
The
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Speed Networking Session Monday
(Oct. 17) drew a packed house.
Once
they were done with business for the day, guests
got dressed up for the official T.R.A.F.F.I.C
Party sponsored by the ICM Registry. They
were bussed to the W Hotel for an event
that started at 8pm and was still going strong
when we left shortly before midnight.
Guests
in one of the two club rooms set up for the ICM
Registry's Official T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Party
|
I liked the
way the ICM Registry set up the party
areas. There was a front room with a
buffet, bar and dance floor that gave the
space a nice modern night club vibe. Then
for those who like a quieter environment
to talk (and domainers love to
talk) they set up a second room adjacent
to the first with comfortable tables,
lounge chairs and sofas, its own bar and a
coffee station.
It made for a
great place to hang out and chat while
also being able to easily go back and
forth between the two rooms whenever you
felt like a change of atmosphere. It was
very well done and I didn't see anyone who
wasn't having a great time.
Though many
had a late night out there was a larger
than usual crowd on hand back at the Ritz
ballroom Tuesday morning for the start of
the final business day at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
2011.
I kicked
things off with an update on third quarter
domain sales which showed a nice |
As
the club filled up, seating became scarce,
so Scott
Richter (TheParkingPlace.com),
gallantly offered to
share his chair. Who said chivalry was
dead!? |
|
improvement
over the same quarter a year ago (the
stats I shared will all be published in
our next newsletter
that will be out in a week or so. A series
of two-minute elevator pitches followed,
giving attendees a chance to promote their
own companies or events (one big project
being worked on by Gregg McNair and
Bob Olea was especially interesting
- I'll tell you more about that in our
full conference review article that will
be out in a few days.
|
Then
it was time to hand out the
annual T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards.
The winners, in the order they were
presented were: Best New Monetizing
Solution - InternetTraffic.com,
Best Overall Domain Solution - Sedo.com,
The "We Get It" Award - Citrix,
Developer of the Year - Rob Grant,
Best Domain Blog - Mike Berkens for
TheDomains.com, Sponsor of the
Year - InternetTraffic.com,
Domainer of the Year - Frank
Schilling, and this year's two
new inductees in the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Domain Hall of Fame were Adam
Dicker (DNForum.com) and
Howard Neu (Co-Founder,
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.) The winners were all
selected in voting by the peers. Our
congratulations to each one. |
Adam
Dicker (left) and Howard Neu were
voted into the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Domain Hall of Fame Tuesday
(Oct. 18). |
The mornng
closed with one of the show's best
sessions titled The Hard Work of
Developing a Business Out of a Domain Name.
It featured a half dozen guys who have
done exactly that and generously provided
the details on how they did it.
The
Tuesday panel on how to develop a
domain into a business featured (left
to right):
Warren Royal (Bobbleheads.com), Ari
Goldberger (EsqWIRE.com), Sean
Sullivan
(Tier 1 Development), Richard Swerdlow
(Condos.com and Houses.com),
plus Joe Melville and Greg
Balestrieri (both from Candy.com).
Next
up ICM Registry Chairman and CEO Stuart
Lawley returned for a solo session in
which he talked about why he invested more
than $20 million and many years of
his life to get the .xxx extension
approved by ICANN.
After
a short break, The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. live
domain auction got underway at 2pm and
was still going on at the time I wrote
this. It will be followed by a final
business session: Meeting of the Chiefs,
that will feature eight company leaders
who will comment on a variety of industry
issues.
Another
party is coming up tonight then the show
will officially close with a Farewell
Breakfast tomorrow morning (Wednesday,
Oct. 19). I'll have highlights from the
auction as well as the final business and
social sessions in tomorrow's post (we
will be making the return trip to our home
base in Tampa after breakfast, so I
will most likely be doing that post
Wednesday evening when we are back there
after a very rewarding week on Fort
Lauderdale Beach). |
|
|
(Posted Oct.
18, 2011)
To refer others
to the
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can use this URL:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111018.htm
|
|
|
|
Opening
Day Photos & Highlights From T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Fort
Lauderdale Beach
|
When
I posted from Fort Lauderdale Beach
early
Sunday
morning I said the outdoor cabanas
were expected to be a beehive of networking
activity that day as people arrived at the
oceanfront Ritz Carlton Hotel for the
start of the 2011
T.R.A.F.F.I.C conference Sunday
evening (Oct. 16). That possibility was short-circuited
when rain started cascading down by mid-morning
and continued non-stop well into the
night. Show organizers quickly adapted and moved
everyone inside where Alina Schwartz and Barbara
Neu began registering the more than 300
guests in town for the big event.
|
|
Paul
Goldstone (iGoldrush.com) gets his T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
2011 credentials from
Alina Schwartz and Barbara Neu
(right) at the show's regstration desk.
After
several hours of informal networking in a broad
hall overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
and a special orientation session for show
newcomers, the conference officially got
underway at 6pm with a big crowd on hand for Sedo's
Welcoming Cocktail Reception.
Faces
in the crowd at Sedo's opening night cocktail
reception included (L to R): Freddy
Schiwek, Markus Schnermann, Roy
Messer, Sedo's Kathy Nielsen & Andrew
Allemann.
After
the two-hour cocktail reception attendees had
free time to explore the area or go off to
private dinners or parties. Diana and I had the
pleasure of joining Frank
Schilling (InternetTraffic.com)
for a dinner party that he threw for several
dozen friends and business partners at popular Fort
Launderdale Beach restaurant Steak 954.
It was truly a memorable night that
started with guests being ferried from the Ritz
to the restaurant in the biggest limo I've ever
seen (the limo appeared to be to be longer than
the four block distance to the restaurant!)
Standing
at far right in the black shirt, Frank
Schilling welcomes his guests at Steak
954.
Frank
Schilling with two of his guests, Pat
Grant and Diana Jackson
This
morning (Monday, Oct. 17) it was time to get
down to
business when T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founders Rick
Schwartz and Howard Neu welcomed their
guests and gave them a preview of what was
ahead. They also gave every attendee a free Apple
credit card reading device for iPhones and
iPads that allows attendees to carry a
portable cash register around them (you can
bet plenty of the smart entrepreneurs on hand
will find a way to make good use of that
gift).
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founders Howard Neu
(left) and Rick Schwartz kicking off
the
2011 conference with their opening remarks
Monday morning (Oct. 17).
There
was also another bonus, a new T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
iPhone app that allows attendees to easily
connect with each other. The app was developed
by a company that Chicago.com owner Josh
Metnick helps lead and Josh was on hand to
unveil it (more details on that and other show
happenings will be in a big comprehensive
conference review article we will be publishing
a few days after the show).
Part
of the crowd on hand when T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011
got underway today.
At
10am Keynote Speaker Bill
Karamouzis (HallPass Media)
delivered his highly anticipated talk in a
format that I really enjoyed - a kind of
"fireside chat" with DomainSherpa's
Michael Cyger inteviewing Bill. Karamouzis
gave a detailed account on how he built and sold
several companies in the games space for
millions of dollars by using category
defining domain names as the foundation for
his wildly successful sites (see our 2010 Cover
Story on Bill for details on his
career).
Bill
Karamouzis (left) being interviewed by Michael
Cyger in today's keynote.
Next
up was a very interesting session on the new
gTLDs that ICANN will begin rolling
out next year. The history of the expansion
program and its pros and cons were discussed by
a panel of experts that included Sedo CEO Tim
Schumacher, Peter Dengate Thrush (the
former ICANN Chairman who now works with Minds+Machines),
Michael Berkens (RightOfTheDot.com), Jothan
Frakes (Sedari.com) and Monte Cahn
(RightOfTheDot.com).
The
Impact of New TLDs panel this morning
featured (left to right): Sedo CEO
Tim Schmacher, Peter Dengate Thrush
(the former ICANN Chairman who now works
with Minds+Machines), Michael Berkens
(RightOfTheDot.com), moderator
Howard Neu, Jothan Frakes
(Sedari.com) and Monte Cahn
(RightOfTheDot.com).
|
The afternoon
began with Google critic Scott
Cleland detailing what he sees as the
sins of the search giant that he covered
in depth in his book, Search
& Destroy: Why You Can't Trust Google
Inc. With
PPC earnings down so drastically in recent
years, and a complete lack of transparency
at Google and Yahoo, Cleland found a lot
of supporters for his position in the
audience.
He
also sat in on the next session, a panel
discussion that delved further into issues
with Google and Yahoo. He was joined on
the dais for that hour by Frank
Schilling, Adam Dicker
(DNForum.com), Michael Gilmour
(ParkLogic.com), Tim Schumacher
(Sedo) and T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s Rick
Schwartz, who, as most of you know, is
also a vocal critic of Google. |
Google
critic Scott Cleland, author of Search
&
Destroy: Why You Can't Trust Google Inc.
speaking
this afternoon (Monday, Oct. 17) at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
2011. |
As
I write this three afternoon sessions remained
in the opening day of business. This
evening the official T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Party
(sponsored by the .xxx registry) will be
held at the W Hotel, four blocks north of
the Ritz. I'll
have more on all of those sessions and events,
as well as the first Tuesday sessions in the
next post from Fort Lauderdale Beach tomorrow.
The show is off to a great start and the buzz in
the halls has been highly favorable from the
attendees I've talked to.
|
|
(Posted Oct.
17, 2011)
To refer others
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can use this URL:
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|
|
|
|
More
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Pre-Show Photos & Highlights from
Fort Lauderdale Beach: Conference Opens Tonight
|
In
my first post
from
Fort Lauderdale Beach Friday I gave you
some T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
pre-show photos highlights from our first 24
hours in town. Today I'll continue with more
from Friday and Saturday that will serve as the final
stage setter for the conference that gets
underway this evening (Sunday, Oct. 16) with
Sedo's
6pm
cocktail reception at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. On
Friday night Diana and I joined some friends for
dinner at H2O, a popular sidewalk cafe
just south of the Ritz.
|
|
Dinner
at H2O on Fort Lauderdale Beach Friday night
(Oct. 14, 2011) with
(clockwise from left to right): Barbara Neu,
Kimberly Ann, Ray Neu,
Judi Berkens, Michael Berkens, Howard
Neu, Ron Jackson and Diana Jackson.
|
Shortly after
the photo above was taken, we were
delighted to have Dr.
Chris Hartnett and his wife, Dr.
Linda Hartnett, who had just arrived
at the hotel, walk over to join us for
dinner. Chris is a T.R.A.F.F.I.C. veteran
but this will be Linda's first time at the
event and we are looking forward to
sharing the experience with her.
After dinner Judi
and Michael Berkens invited everyone
up to their penthouse suite at the Ritz
for a champagne toast. Rick and Alina
Schwartz and the ParkLogic.com
team headed by Michael Gilmour also
joined us there to help cap off a perfect
evening. |
Drs.
Chris and Linda Hartnett |
Michael
and Judi Berkens welcome their guests after
dinner Friday night (Oct. 14, 2011)
More
early arrivals reached the Ritz on Saturday
(Oct. 15) when networking on cabana row
got into full swing. Various companies rented
the oceanfront cabanas to provide a comfortable
meeting place for their guests.
Our
favorite photographer, Barbara Neu, snaps
a picture on cabana row
at the Ritz Carlton Saturday, October 15,
2011
At
the NameMedia.com
cabana Bob Mountain (seated at left) with
two special
visitors; Michael and Judi Berkens's Yorkie
Bandit (on Bob's lap) and Ian Andrew
of DotComAgency.com. Standing with them
are two of the many beautiful
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. models serving as hostesses this
week.
At
the ParkLogic.com
cabana Saturday we found (seated left to right):
Scott Smith, Laci
Nagy, Michadl Gilmour, Catherine
Harry, Peggy Ploss and Brian Wick
enjoying the day.
From
their vantage point on cabana row, guests also
got a perfect view of world champion speedboat
racer Mike Seebold and his team making
some test runs in the Atlantic Saturday
afternoon aboard the Miss .XXX boat that
is sponsored by the ICM
Registry (operators of the new .xxx
TLD and also the lead sponsor of this week's
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference). The team will be
competing in next month's World Championships
in Key West.
The
Miss .XXX speedboat making a pass in
front of the Ritz Carlton Saturday
afternoon (Oct. 15).
The
cabanas stayed busy until well past 6pm Saturday
and with the vast majority of T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
attendees arriving today (Sunday, Oct.
16), they will be a beehive of activity
throughout the day. The show's first big event, Sedo's
Welcoming Cocktal Reception, gets underway
at 6pm. They have been planning to hold the
reception on the Ritz's pool deck but with windy
weather and some rain in the forecast today,
there is a very strong chance the event will be
moved indoors. Guests will still will be still
be able to enjoy the gorgeous ocean view while
protected from the elements if the party moves
to one of the Ritz's glass-walled halls
overlooking the Atlantic.
The
first full day of business gets underway
tomorrow morning (Monday, Oct. 17) and I'll have
a post midway through the day then to fill you
on the what has transpired beween now and then. A
sell out crowd will be here by the end of
the day for 2011's only T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference.
|
|
(Posted Oct.
16, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
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|
|
|
|
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Pre-Show Photos and Highlights: The First Post From Fort
Lauderdale Beach
|
Diana
and I arrived
at
the Ritz Carlton on Fort
Lauderdale Beach Thursday afternoon to start
getting ready for 2011's only T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference. The big show officially gets
underway at the luxurious Florida oceanfront
hotel Sunday evening (October 16) but
guests have already begun arriving for the big
event that will continue through Wednesday
morning (Oct 19).
Those
of us who got into town early gathered on the
pool deck at the Ritz last night to take part in
one of the hotel's monthly Full Moon Parties
that raise funds for worthy local charities (Conde
Nast Traveler name this the "Party of
the Month" in Fort Lauderdale).
The
money collected last night will benefit the Miami
Dolphins Foundation's annual Dolphins
Cycling Challenge, an event that
generates money for the University of Miami's
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
|
The
Ritz Carlton on Ft. Lauderdale Beach where
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011 will run Sunday through
Wednesday,
October 16-19 (photo taken this morning). |
|
The
group in the foregound in the photo above from
last night's Full Moon Party at the
Ritz Carlton on Fort Lauderdale Beach
included some of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
attendees
who arrived in town a few days early to
enjoy the beach before the show begins.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founder Howard Neu (left) say early
arriver
Michael Gilmour (ParkLogic.com)
is THE Man. Michael routinely
comes all the way from Australia for
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. events.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founder Rick Schwartz and his wife Alina
joined the conference early birds at last
night's Full Moon Party.
|
When I woke
up to a beautiful morning today on Fort
Lauderdale Beach I found T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s cabanas
were just about ready to turn over to the
companies that will use them to meet with
clients and friends (the shot at right was
taken just as the sun began to rise
today).
The cabanas
have been outfitted with refrigerators,
flat screen TVs, constant food and
beverage service and a variety of other
amenities that will make them one of the
most popular places to meet from now right
on through the conclusion of the
conference.
Tthe
cabanas will be especially busy Saturday
and Sunday as more and more attendees
arrive at the Ritz to take advantage of
the networking opportunities on Cabana Row
before the show begins with Sedo's
welcoming cocktail reception Sunday
evening. |
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s
"Cabana Row" at the Ritz Carlton |
|
An
inside view of one of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
cabanas. The companies
that rented them will add some of their
own personal decorating touches
as they get ready for their guests to join
them Saturday and Sunday.
By
lunch time today, T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s Barbara
Neu, Ray Neu and Kimberly
Ann had set up the poolside
registration desk where they will be
signing attendees in this weekend. Some of
the early arrivers joined them for the
photo below.
Behind
the outdoor T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
registration desk today (left to right)
are
Ray Neu, Steve Cheatham, Barbara
Neu, Diana Jackson, Kimberly
Ann and Eric Rice.
I'll
have another post from Fort Lauderdale
Beach for you on Sunday before the
show starts to give you a look at some of
the preshow networking that will
fill most of the next 48 hours. I will
also have posts from the Ritz Monday
through Wednesday to provide you with daily
photos and highlights from the show.
For those who are coming in I look forward
to seeing you. For those who can't make
it, I wish you were here but since you
can't be, I'll try to make this column the
next best thing to being there as the show
unfolds. |
|
|
(Posted Oct.
14, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
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|
|
|
|
Off
to Ft. Lauderdale Beach for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and a Reunion
with Lana Del Rey's Dad
|
I'm
heading out for Ft. Lauderdale Beach
this
morning so I can get settled in at the Ritz
Carlton a few days before the crowd arrives
for big T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference that starts there on Sunday
(Oct. 16). This will be the only
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show in 2011 and show promoters Rick
Schwartz and Howard Neu have spent
the past 12 months putting together an
event that promises to be one of their best
ever. Take a look at the jam-packed agenda
and you will see what I mean.
|
|
|
Yesterday Schwartz released the final
catalog for the live domain auction
that will be a highlight of Tuesday's schedule
(the sale is scheduled to run from 2:00pm to
4:45pm U.S. Eastern time that day - October 18).
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. adopted a completely new domain selection
process this year and a lot of people will be
eagerly watching to see if the changes they made
can breathe new life into live
auctions - events that have been producing lackluster
results at all of the various conferences in
recent years.
I'll
make my first post from Ft. Lauderdale Beach
tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 14) when other early birds will start
arriving, just in time for opening of the first
cabanas - luxurious secluded getaways where a
number of companies will welcome guests
throughout the week. Informal cabana
networking will be going on for three days
before the show officially opens with Sedo hosting the opening night
cocktail party on the pool deck Sunday evening
at 6.
|
Lana
Del Rey |
In addition
to meeting new people, I'm looking
forward to seeing many old friends at
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. again. One of the first
things I'll do is congratulate Rob
Grant on the latest major
development in his daughter Lizzy's
blossoming career as a recording
artist.
Lizzy,
whose stage name is Lana Del Rey,
sang her new hit "Video Games"
live on British national TV
Wednesday night when she was a guest on Jool's
Holland's show Later Live. Music
aficionados know Jools is one of the
founders of Squeeze who has also
worked with Eric Clapton, George
Harrison, Sting, Bono
and countless others - a man who knows
talent when he sees it. You can see
Lizzy's performance on the show at
YouTube.
Rob told me
that Lana's management informed him that
"Video Games" is now #1 on
iTunes in five countries:
France, Holland, Ireland, Norway and
Australia and is in the top ten in three
others; Sweden, Spain and Italy.
|
|
Lana
has spent the past several years working
with top musicians in England and Europe
and it is now paying off in a big
way. America won't be far behind. Lana
has accompanied Rob to several domain
conferences and she is a real
sweetheart. Aside from being a friend,
as a former radio DJ and record store
owner, I've followed Lana's career from
the beginning and am just delighted to
see the success that I
knew was coming for her is
becoming a reality. |
|
|
(Posted Oct.
13, 2011)
To refer others
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|
|
Left
of the Dot Launches First GeoDomain to Use Their
Innovative Domain Monetization Platform & Darren
Cleveland's CityAdvertising.com Makes Inc. 500
|
We
first told you about
Left
of the Dot Media back in June 2010,
right after the company had stepped into the
spotlight for the first time with a presentation
made during the Test Track session at at
the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Vancouver conference. Left of the
Dot allows multiple businesses to lease sub-domains
off a premium domain name like, for example, Importers.com,
a major success for them that we
told you about in August.
|
|
|
The
company's latest launch involves their first geodomain
project - Oahu.com.
Oahu.com lists more than 35,000 businesses
from across the popular Hawaiian island and
caters to both locals and tourists who are
seeking information and deals from Oahu-based
businesses. Oahu is the most populated of the
Hawaiian Islands with 953,000 residents
(75%
of the state’s population) and in 2010 Oahu
welcomed 4.3 million tourists.
|
|
Chris
Jensen
CEO, Left of the Dot Media |
Chris
Jensen, CEO of Left of the Dot
Media, said, “For the first time,
businesses can use our brand and lease
sub-domains direct from the website,
examples of which include Hotels.Oahu.com,
Golf.Oahu.com or Tours.Oahu.com."
Jensen
noted, "When a business uses one of
our marketing names, they get an
instantly memorable website address that
can define an entire category.
Marketing names can boost click-through
rates for online advertising, contribute
to search engine rankings, be
used as a landing or splash page for any
marketing campaign, and even used to
brand an entire web presence for
a small business struggling to find the
right domain name to use with their
business.”
Jensen
believes the Oahu.com foundation will
helps those businesses connect with the
more |
|
than
10 million web users who search
for Oahu-related information every year.
That will give them an opportunity to
claim a larger share of the vast
amount of money tourists spend on the
island each year ($5.5 billion in
2010 alone). For more information, you
can visit Oahu.com
or call 1.808.638.4085. |
|
|
Congratulations
are also in order today to City
Advertising CEO Darren
Cleveland, whose Delray
Beach, Florida based Internet
advertising agency has
been named one of the
fastest growing companies in America by Inc.
Magazine. In their
annual Inc. 500 rankings, City
Advertising came in at #189 and
they were ranked #7 among the
fastest growing companies in the South
Florida area.
Inc. calculates
the growth rate of tens of thousands of
companies to determine who makes their
elite list each year. After bringing in
just over $129,000 the year the
company was founded (2007), City
Advertising's revenue soared 1,595%
over the next three years coming in at $2.2
million in 2010.
Cleveland,
whose company operates several
directories based on generic domain
names, including FuneralHomes.com,
PaintingContractor.com
and PropertyAppraisers.com,
said, "Our team has |
Darren
Cleveland
CEO, City Advertising |
|
worked hard
to get our company to this level in a
short period of time...as more small
businesses shift their advertising
budgets online from traditional media
and the yellow pages, our organization
is very well positioned to take
advantage of this shift and grow for
years to come." |
|
|
(Posted Oct.
11, 2011)
To refer others
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http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20111011.htm
|
|
Paul
Goldstone & Morgan Linton Partner to Provide Free
Educational Videos on Turning Domains into Brands at
iGoldRush.com
|
Two
friends
and
well-known figures in the domain industry, Paul
Goldstone and Morgan
Linton, have teamed up to make a
monthly series of free educational videos available
exclusively at Paul's iGoldRush.com
site. Morgan will produce the videos about
turning domain names into brands to
increase profitability, with the first video
going up today (Monday, Oct. 10, 2011).
Goldstone,
iGoldRush.com's CEO said, “Our goal has always
been to help visitors succeed in domaining, from
buying to developing to selling. Morgan’s
hands-on approach to domaining fits right in
with our
|
PaulGoldstone
(left) & Morgan Linton |
|
philosophy,
giving iGoldrush visitors expert insight and
advice to help move their top domains from
parked pages to profitable online businesses.”
In
the new video series, Linton will share the
knowledge that he has gained in developing more
than 150 online brands since 2007. “Having
a great domain name is one of the key elements
but a successful online brand requires more than
just a parked page of paid links.” Linton
said.
|
|
|
Linton
and Goldstone said they finalized the
partnership while on DNCruise
last month, in between
swimming with stingrays and jet skiing
with legendary domain
investor |
|
Frank
Schilling. Linton said,
"Paul and I share a passion for
education in the domain industry,
so I couldn’t think of a better person
to partner with." |
Morgan
Linton (left) and Paul Goldstone
after sealing their deal on Grand Cayman (September
2011)
iGoldrush.com
has been online since 1996 (originally
under the ownership of Edwin Hayward)
when the site began offering resources that
helped many domainers get their businesses off
the ground or improve those that were already
flying. The new video series is the latest in a
string of upgrades announced by iGoldrush over
the last few months, including the addition of
new domain brokers and the re-launch of their
news distribution service featuring more news
and authors and an auto-scrolling feed.
|
|
(Posted Oct.
10, 2011)
To refer others
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Inside
Domainerwiesn (Domainer Oktoberfest) in Munich: When it
Comes to Combining Business and Pleasure, Germany Shows
Us How It's Done!
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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.
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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 3rd 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! |
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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.
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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!
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(Posted Oct.
8, 2011)
To refer others
to the
post above only you
can use this URL:
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Final
Countdown to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Ft. Lauderdale Beach
Underway - Here Is What's In Store at the Shore
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Just
10 days from now
on
Sunday evening, October 16, 2011, one of
the most highly anticipated T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conferences to date will convene at the fabulous
Ritz Carlton Hotel overlooking the Atlantic
Ocean at Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Florida.
The Ritz will remain the center of the domain
universe through the show's closing day, Wednesday,
Oct. 19.
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The
design of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Ft.
Lauderdale Beach (at top center in photo
above) was inspired by cruise ships. From
every level you can see the ocean stretching to
the horizon.
I paid
a preview visit to the show's new venue -
the Ritz Carlton - earlier this year and I think
it is T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s best venue to date
(and that is saying something because the event
has played in some great locations since
debuting in Delray Beach back in 2004
as the first large scale domain conference ever
held). I was so impressed by the site that Diana
and I will be checking in three days early
so we can enjoy the surroundings and hanging out
with other early birds before the show gets
started in one of the world's most beautiful
locations.
The
Ritz is in the middle of everything at
the beach including bars, restaurants, shops and
two spectacular waterways - the Atlantic Ocean
on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway
just a block to the west. Here is a tip - walk
over to the Intracoastal water taxi stop
a block west of the Ritz, get one of the cheap
all day tickets (that allow you to get on and
off any time you want along the way) and cruise
the the Intracoastal to see some of the most
spectacular homes and yachts in America (photos
and highlights from when we did that in April
are here).
Even
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder Rick Schwartz's penthouse
apartment is only steps away in a luxury tower
just south of the Ritz.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founders Howard Neu & Rick Schwartz
(right) on Schwartz's penthouse
balcony on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. You can
see the Ritz Carlton over Howard's
shoulder.
You
will be able to enjoy the ocean view from just
about every show vantage point, including the
halls outside the conference rooms as well as
the pool and cabana decks that will be at
the center of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. networking and
social swirl.
The
private cabana row (seen in the photo
below) will be especially busy. Various
companies and individuals have rented the
cabanas so they will have a special place
to host clients and guests (many will be open a
day or two before the show to welcome guests who
arrive in town early). The cabanas sit just
below the pool deck and can be accessed by short
outdoor staircases located on each side of the
pool area.
Above:
The private cabana deck at the Ritz Carlton
will be a special refuge at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Below:
The pool deck at the Ritz Carlton will
host networking events
in the most beautiful environment you can
imagine.
The
pool is actually located on the 7th floor
of the Ritz Carlton, far above the hustle and
bustle on the street below. Looking east (as in
the photo below) the hotel's unique cruise ship
design lets you see the vast expanse of ocean
behind the pool with nothing to obstruct the spectacular
view.
The
Ritz Carlton's spacious rooms are sure to
delight you too (if you booked one before they
sold out). As of this writing, the hotel was
full but you can always check with the
organizers to see if there have been any
cancellations or for advice on other hotels
nearby.
Above:
View of one of the Ritz rooms from the
work desk
that sits in front of the balcony windows.
Below:
View from the opposite side of the room, looking
across to the balcony windows.
Below:
The beach and ocean view from the balcony
of the room above.
The
venue is so nice I haven't left much
space for the show
agenda, but if you review it at the
preceding link, you can see it is packed with
timely sessions that will help you advance
your business. One thing that has always set
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. apart is that it is a conference
staged by domain investors for domain
investors. You are at the top of the food
chain at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. with the program
tailored to your needs and information delivered
in the no holds barred manner that the
organizers are known for.
A
lot of eyes will also be on this show's
innovative new format for its live
domain auction. Schwartz and Neu
have turned the old model upside down
with hopes of bringing back the glory days for
these sales events. Over time the traditional
format has grown stale and sales results
lackluster across almost all of the industry's
shows. If T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s grand experiment
works it will be a major coup for them.
One
other thing - while you are at the beach you can
help Ft. Lauderdale celebrate the city's 100th
birthday! Look for the huge oceanfront
centennial sign a few blocks south of the Ritz
that commemorates the special occasion that is
being observed throughout 2011.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founder Howard Neu and his wife Barbara in
front of the
oceanfront sign commemorating Fort
Lauderdale's 100th birthday this year.
I'm
looking forward to seeing you at the
beach next week. If you can't make it, I will of
course be posting daily photos and highlights in
this column in an effort to bring the beach and
the best of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. to you.
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(Posted Oct.
6, 2011)
To refer others
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Sedo Adds
Domain Industry Veteran Frank Michlick to the SedoMLS
Team
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Sedo
has added
a
prominent new member to their SedoMLS
team. Frank Michlick, who has been
involved with Internet technology since 1993 and
registered his first domain name in 1995,
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Frank
Michlick has taken a position
with the Sedo MLS Network
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has
come on board to help the company expand a
domain sales promotional network that
currently has close to 60 partners, including
many leading registrars. Those
partners offer their customers direct access to
any domain name listed for sale at Sedo, and the
ability to purchase a domain from its current
owner directly at that partner’s site. Michlick's
resume includes over five years with major
registrar Tucows. He went on to found DomainCocoon,
where he continues to provide domain development
and management services, as well as custom
registrar creation, ICANN and ccTLD
accreditation consulting. He is also a
co-founder of DomainNameNews.com.
“I
am thrilled to be joining Sedo, and to having
the chance to work closely on the SedoMLS
Promotion Network,” Michlick said. “Given my
experience working with some of the world’s
leading registrars, and with domain management
and consultation, it seemed a natural fit
to join |
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Sedo’s
team. I look forward to the exciting opportunity
to help the largest global domain distribution
network grow.”
Sedo
President Ulrich
Essmann added, “It is wonderful news that
we have Frank on board and working with our
SedoMLS team. His years of experience in the
domain name industry are perfectly suited to his
new role, and we look forward to seeing the
SedoMLS Network continue to expand.”
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(Posted Oct.
4, 2011)
To refer others
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First
GeoPublishers.com Expo Provides a Wealth of Information
During Weekend Run in Chicago
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I'm
back
from
the first ever GeoPublishers.com
Expo that was held at the Fairmont
Hotel in downtown Chicago over the
weekend. The event got underway with a reception
hosted by GeoPublishers.com President Fred
Mercaldo Friday night (Sept. 30, 2011) and
continued with a jam-packed business day
Saturday that featured 10 separate sessions. Two
more Sunday morning before the show closed at
noon sent attendees home with some great tips
and invaluable information that will help
them strengthen their geodomain based
businesses.
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A
scene from one of the Saturday (Oct. 1, 2011)
business sessions
at the first GeoPublishers.com Expo at
the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.
I
sat in on every session (and stood for one - the
keynote talk that I gave Saturday morning) and
am working on a wire to wire conference recap
with photos and highlights that will be up
before the week is out. In the meantime, two
friends and fellow conference attendees have
already commented on their experiences at the
show; Nat Cohen wrote about on his DomainArts.com
blog and Michael Cyger (who, like Nat, is
a geodomain owner) posted at DomainSherpa.com.
GeoPublishers.com
is guided by a board that includes many former
members of Associated Cities, the
pioneering geodomain trade association that was
supplanted by the new group after some widely
publicized internal political issues
unfortunately caused the AC effort to stall.
With many taking a wait and see attitude
following the past turmoil and subsequent
transition to GeoPublishers.com, attendance at
their first Expo was light. However, those who
went enjoyed a heavyweight program
at a superb venue - a promising first step
that should help the geodomain industry move
forward and realize its massive
potential. GeoPublishers.com has assembled a
powerhouse Board of Directors who are all dedicated
to making that happen.
The
GeoPublishers.com Board of Directors
(left to right): Michael Castello (CCIN.com),
Peter Niederman (DenverRealEstate.com), Don
Jones (NewOrleans.com), Jessica Bookstaff
Doppelt (PigeonForge.com), Bill Hammack (NewOrleans.com), GeoPublishers.com Executive Director
Andrew Martin, President Fred
Mercaldo (Scottsdale.com), David Castello
(CCIN.com) and Gordon Borrell (BorrellAssociates.com).
There is one more board member who was unfortunately unable to attend - Scotland's
Tommy Butler (Glasgow.com).
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(Posted Oct.
3, 2011)
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you've been out of the loop lately, catch up in the Lowdown
Archive!
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