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December 21, 2012

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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.

Highlights From DNJournal's First 10 Years: Conferences in Tech Meccas Silicon Valley and Seattle Put Domains on The Map + Fascinating People Now

On Tuesday I began running a series of highlights from DN Journal's first 10 years - an anniversary we will officially reach on January 1, 2013. As I noted then, the first T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in October 2004 at Delray Beach, Florida gave domain investors a central place to gather and compare notes. T.R.A.F.F.I.C. moved the ball a lot further down the field in January 2006 when it took the domain story into the heart of the Silicon Valley with a conference in Santa Clara, California

 

A scene from the 2006 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Silicon Valley conference in Santa Clara, California.

This show established the domain business and a desirable sector for internet investment and triggered a major influx of capital from venture companies and private investors. It also became possible to finance domain purchases in the same way you could get a mortgage to buy a house. DomainCapital.com founder Rob Alfano, whose company pioneered domain financing, had a high profile at this show (and his company continues to finance domains today).

DomainCapital.com Founder Rob Alfano at the 2006 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Silicon Valley conference. 

All of the major tech companies, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft had representatives at the show looking into what this domain explosion was all about. Google even hosted an official evening party for show registrants at their global home base in nearby Mountain View. Domains had become serious business. 

Three months later, in April 2006, another conference that had been started the previous year by Name Intelligence founder Jay Westerdal, Domain Roundtable, set up shop near Microsoft's front door, with a show in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington. One of the fathers of the Internet itself, Vint Cerf, showed up to speak at this one, further cementing the domain industry's reputation as a corner of the Internet where big things were happening. 

Internet pioneer Vint Cerf (right), with 2006 Domain Roundtable producer 
Jothan Frakes, speaking to conference attendees in Bellevue, Washinton.

The captains of the domain industry were in Seattle too with many of those recognized as Name Intelligence Award winners in their respective categories (DN Journal picked up its first of three consecutive NI Awards for Best Industry Coverage at this event).

Name Intelligence Award Winners (left to right): Michael Collins (Afternic)
Eric Harrington (Moniker)
, Bill Mushkin (Name.com), Show Producer Jothan Frakes of 
Name Intelligence
, Paul Stahura (Enom), Clint Page (Dotster) and Tim Ruiz (GoDaddy).

The boom was officially underway and it would continue to expand as the year went on (to be continued).

Owen Frager

One other note today, while we are talking about industry leaders, I wanted to point out that the 2012 edition of Owen Frager's annual series of profiles called Domaining's Most Fascinating People is currently being published with four of the five profiles already up and the final installment due Christmas Day

You can now read all about Escrow.com's inimitable Andee Hill, the late great Dan Brown (better known as Danno), ICA Legal Counsel and fierce defender of domain investor's rights Phil Corwin and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder, noted domain attorney and all around renaissance man Howard Neu. On December 25th, Owen plans to publish this year's grand finale, a profile of ShopCity Founder Colin Pape who took on Google and not only lived to tell about but actually soared to new heights. 

The recogniton for these five people is well deserved. Give yourself an early Christmas present and check Owen's series out. 

(Posted December 21, 2012) 


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