|
I
got some very welcome news this morning. As I
reported last week there have been some issues between
the co-owners at Associated Cities/Geos that for
a time looked like they might derail next month's GeoDomain
Expo in San Diego. Though the dispute
only recently broke into
 |
public view, the
core issues have been a source of contention for
well over a year now. Those centered on how the
organization should be structured and what its
future mission should be. |
|
On
Monday evening acting AC board chairman Dan
Pulcrano announced that the
GeoDomain Expo would go on. At the same time, a
fellow co-owner of the group, Skip
Hoagland, said he would not stand in
the way of that decision. Hoagland and some
other AC members felt that with time growing
short before the Expo dates, it mighht be
best to postpone the show until the
organizational dispute was resolved, allowing
the board to devote its full attention to the
conference. |
This morning Pulcrano told
us the owners and board have come to an agreement
which should put all of these issues to rest and allow
AC to continue the impressive growth of both their
association and their signature conference. Pulcrano
said, "On Thursday, the Board of Managers and all
owners of Associated Geos, LLC voted unanimously
to:
-
Officially
green-light the 2009 GeoDomain Expo in San Diego.
Although this was a foregone conclusion and
previously announced, the legal vote affirms that
the entire leadership group is now fully and
officially committed to the event's
success.
-
Create
three trade associations of GeoDomain owners:
Associated Cities, Associated States
and Associated Countries. Each group of .com
domain operators will elect its own leadership
and manage its own activities.
-
In
addition, the Board voted to appoint Executive
Director Patrick Carleton to fill a vacant
Board seat.
|
I am personally
delighted to hear this news because I believe
that Associated Cities/Geos and the GeoDomain
Expo are invaluable assets to the domain
community at large (not just geodomain owners).
With their total dedication to building
domains into thriving businesses they serve as
an example for all domain owners whose long term
goal is to build out the best of their own
domains. The GeoDomain Expo provides direction
on how to get that done. |
|
While the leadership dispute drew some negative
attention to the organization, I don't think it really
surprised anyone who has spent time trying to get a
group to go in one direction. When you consider
this particular group is composed of highly
successful entrepreneurs who are used to managing
enterprises on their own (and have track records that
show their methods have worked) it is not surprising
that with their different management styles they found
it difficult to reach consensus.
However
in the end wisdom prevailed. AC co-founder Josh
Metnick of Chicago.com (the person who
originally conceived of the Associated Cities idea) told
me a few days ago, when the board turmoil has reached a
crescendo, that even though the situation was very
painful for him he was sure that the concept
for AC and the GeoDomain Expo was bigger than him or
any other person in the organization's
leadership. He was confident that in the long
run those concepts of working together to cross
promote each other businesses and grow the geo space and
the industry at large would continue to flourish. I told
him I had no doubt he was right and couldn't be happier
that the leadership is again working together to make
that happen.
(Posted March
20, 2009) |
