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T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
would return to Las Vegas for the next three
years in a row, continuing to use the beautiful
Venetian Hotel as its base. The primary benefit
of going to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is the opportunity to
network face to face with the top people in
the domain industry. Schwartz and Neu
understood that and speed networking was a
centerpiece of their May
2006 conference in Las Vegas.
Attendees
at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas conference in
2006 took advantage of every networking
opportunity. This speed networking event
was a big hit and remains a conference fixture
today.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s
live domain auction continued to grow at
the May 2006 Las Vegas show with $2.1 million
in sales (a record at the time - but a mark that
would be surpassed many times in later years as
the industry entered a boom period - largely
stoked by T.R.A.F.F.I.C. itself). That year's
auction also produced was was the highest .net
sale ever reported up to that time - Sex.net
at $450,000.
When
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. returned to Las Vegas in March
2007 for its next show there, I was
stunned when I walked into the Venetian ballroom
on opening day and saw the biggest crowd ever
at a domain conference up to that time - over
600 attendees. That's when I knew this
industry had "arrived".
That was also reflected in a new auction sales
record of $4.3 million, doubling what had
been rung up the previous year.
Part
of the then record-breaking crowd at the 2007
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas conference.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C's
four-year run in Las Vegas (all at the Venetian
Hotel) concluded with the February
2008 show - the last one produced there
by co-founders Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu. It
was another successful show, but Schwartz and
Neu decided it was time to send the show to
new locations around the world (that fall
the first international T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference was held in Australia).
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founders Rick Schwartz (seated) and Howard
Neu at the
2008 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas conference -
the last one they personally produced.
As
all T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows do, the 2008 Las Vegas
conference attracted all of the industry's
leading figures.
In the photo below, my wife Diana visits
with legendary domainer and long time friend Frank
Schilling of InternetTraffic.com.
While
the 2008 show was the last one Rick and Howard
ran in Las Vegas, they still attended the January
2010
show that Rick Latona
staged at the Hard Rock Hotel there
(under a licensing agreement). If gave Schwartz
and Neu a rare opportunity to enjoy a
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show with their families as spectators
- a welcome respite after years of hard work.
That
week I spent a night out in Las Vegas with Howard
Neu, his wife Barbara and son Ray.
One of our stops happened to be at the Paris
Hotel Cafe directly across the street from
the Bellagio Hotel. While having dinner
on the outdoor patio there I
snapped the photo below of Howard and Barbara
with the Bellagio in the background. At the time
none of us new that over three years later, when
they decided to run a show in Las Vegas again,
it would be at the Bellagio where we had
gone to see the world famous dancing
fountains (the best free show in
Vegas).
For
more on why Schwartz and Neu decided to take
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. back to Las Vegas after a long
absence, see our show preview interview with
the conference co-founders in our May
Newsletter. I will, of course, be at
next week's conference to cover it for you and I
hope to see many of you there in person. It's
not too late to register
if you want to make it to the big event.
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