The 2018  NamesCon Global conference continued Monday (January 29) with another full day and night of business sessions and social events (including the big Water Night charity fundraiser) at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. (If you missed our opening

day report covering activities Sunday you will find those photos and highlights here).

Above: Monday got off to a start most people in our business would not expect to see - a real live rock star on stage - not as a musician - but as the keynote speaker at a domain conference! Yet there was Megadeath's Dave Ellefson being interviewed by Andrew Allemann (DomainNameWire.com) in a Fireside Chat format.

Below: It only took a few minutes for the audience to realize that NamesCon had made a great choice in Ellefson (below) whose knowledge of business and domains is right up their with this world renowned expertise in music. The Megadeath bassist and co-founder is also the author of several books, including the autobiography "My Life With Deth" and music business how-to book "Making Music Your Business...A Guide For Young Musicians". He is also the owner of EMP Label Group/Combat Records and coffee company Ellefson Coffee Co. It made for a highly entertaining and informative hour that made a very positive impression on the NamesCon audience.

Above: The Exhibit Hall opened immediately after Ellefson's appearance and the Sedo/InterNetX booth, located right next to the entrance to the Keynote Hall, was a huge hit thanks to Sedo Chief Marketing Officer Christian Voss (above) having a classic DeLorean (of Back to the Future movie fame) brought in to match the company's current promotional theme - Domaining of the Future.

Below: Back in the Keynote Hall a few minutes later Jonathan David Lewis of McKee Wallwork + Co. delivered a talk on Using Survival Psychology to Build a Resilient Brand. After 10 years of proprietary research, Lewis provided a how-to guide for navigating uncertain times by correlating survival psychology with modern business, teaching us how to adapt and embrace change.

Above: At the same time an adjacent meeting room, Michael Gilmour from ParkLogic.com, covered Data Mining for Revenue with Registries and Registrars.

Below: In yet another session at the same hour, just down the hall, an expert panel featuring (left to right) moderator Stu Homan,  Sherry Hildebrand (MarkMonitor), Ryan White (Digicert) and Brian Cute (CEO at the Public Interest Registry) covered Domain Security 101.

Above: Back in the Keynote Hall at noon there was a Fireside Chat about DNS, Digital Identity, Blockchain and Smart GeoFences featuring Tim Favia (Donuts) Justin Newton (Netki) and Sean Eilers (GeoNetwork). The three discussed Donuts.ventures investments in DNS innovation, how Netki's Digital ID and Wallet Names make blockchains safe and compliant for a broad range of business and personal use cases, and how GeoNetwork's platform of smart geofences is able to pinpoint any location on Earth, down to a square centimeter. 

Below: At the same time on the .GLOBAL Breakout Stage down the hall, the topic was nTLD Case Studies: Rising Above the Noise with Bill Sweetman (standing at left) moderating a panel discussion that featured (seated left to right) Christa Taylor (dotTBA), Jennifer Molina (.luxury),  Trevor Bowden (.ECO), Toby Hall (MMX) and and Karn Jajoo (Radix). 

Above: The afternoon sessions continued with one featuring Lisa Box from WP Engine in the Keynote Hall delivering a talk titled Ice Cream, Roller Skates, and Gen Z. Today Millennials and Gen Z want their habits to be anticipated, with each experience better than the last, so this session centered on  new research from WP Engine & the Center for Generational Kinetics to illustrate how brands need to evolve if they want to survive in today's competitive market.

Below: In an afternoon walk through the Exhibit Hall we saw NameSummit Co-Founders Jason Schaeffer (at far left) and Steven Kaziyev (2nd from right) telling visitors to their booth about the Pitchfest Global Competition they are doing in conjunction with NamesCon for the 2nd annual NameSummit conference coming to New York City August 6-7, 2018.

Above: At mid-afternoon we caught Rightmesh's  Chris Jensen (left) and John Lyotier's popular session titled How Do You Move From Domainer to Cryptopunk? There are many parallels between Domaining and the Blockchain and Crypto worlds. Their workshop applied hard-won lessons from the domain industry towards these new opportunities. 

Below: Just down the hall other attendees were learning about Navigating the World of geoTLDs from five expert panelists, (left to right) Alfredo Pinochet (LatinTLD), Solomon Amoako (MMX) Dirk Krischenowski (.Berlin), Rick Silver (N49) and Stuart Fuller (CenralNic).

Above and below: In day 2's final business session Monday, Haseeb Rabbani from Blockgeeks drew a large audience in the Keynote Hall to hear his explain What Is Blockchain?

With Monday's business day done NamesCon Global attendees headed out for a mix of casual dining or private company dinners to one of the week's major events - the WaterNight fundraising dinner for the Water School.

Above: At one of the private company functions hosted by Weebly at Craftsteak in the MGM Grand, Uniregistry Founder Frank Schilling popped in to see long time friends including Weebly's Head of Strategic Partner Sales, domain industry veteran Chris Sheridan (at right).

Below: Meanwhile the big WaterNight fundraising dinner was getting underway at the Havana Club in the Tropicana. Even though NamesCon Founder Richard Lau sold NamesCon last year, he was back to oversee the fundraiser for his favorite charity. Richard (at left below) is chatting with Morgan Linton about one of the items in the Silent Auction that was part of the event.

Above: With information about the Water School projected on a screen above the bandstand, musicians and prominent magician Justin Willman entertained attendees. The goal for the evening was $50,000 in donations. In celebration of his sale of NamesCon last year, Richard Lau committed to personally match pledges and donations made at WaterNight. They raised $34,852, which will be doubled to just under $70,000 thanks to Richard. Sponsors have  committed another $10,000 so to reach their goal of $100,000 after Richard's match, they hope to raise another $10,148 in donations and pledges. For those at the show, pledge cards will be available at the NamesCon/MMX party at Hakkasan Tuesday night.

As I write this Tuesday, day 3, of NamesCon is still underway (with day 4 still ahead Wednesday). I'll have all of today and tonight's photos and highlights for you in my next post from Las Vegas.

The  2018 NamesCon Global conference got underway Sunday (January 28) at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. The 5th annual event that attracts domain investors, developers and service providers

from around the world kicked off with a full slate of business sessions as well as a busy evening of social events.

Above: NamesCon Global attendees filled a ballroom at the Tropicana Hotel for the official start of the 2018 conference Sunday morning at 11am.

Below: NamesCon President Soeren von Varchmin was on hand to welcome the crowd and he  invited a series of special guests to the stage. 

Above: Soeren is also the President of World Hosting Days (now known as Cloudfest) who bought the NamesCon conference from Richard Lau and his partners last year. He invited Richard to join him for a champagne toast and to wish him well with the Water Night fundraiser for the Water School that will be held Monday night (an event that Richard returned to oversee). Shortly after this, Richard's NamesCon Co-Founder Jothan Frakes joined them on stage and he was also  featured in the day's final business session in his current role as Executive Director of the Domain Name Association (more on that a bit further down).

Below: NamesCon debuted a new feaure for their opening day schedule - Tool Talks - a series of 15-20 minute presentations from various service providers and industry experts that ran continuously from Noon to 5pm. The first one featured the founder of popular registrar Dynadot, Todd Han.  

Above: In the next Tool Talk Hexonet's Tony Kim covered the Future of Domain Search - ways registrars can help customers find relevant domain names for their needs.

Below: While the Tool Talks continued other sessions were running in an adjacent ballroom.  In this one Alex Melen from SmartSites gave attendees tips on Developing a Domain Name and Selling a Business.

Above: In another special session after the 1pm lunch break Matt Holmes from Handshakin gave the audience advice on how to Use Your Blog to Connect with Industry Influencers.

Below: Next we checked back in at the .GLOBAL stage to see what was happening on the Tool Talks track and caught this presentation on Selling Domains with Confidence Anywhere in the World delivered by Payoneer's Director of Strategic Accounts Brandon Abbey (left) and the company's GM for B2B Services, Scott Reynolds.

Above: We stayed in the same room to catch a talk from Morgan Linton (BoldMetrics.com). Morgan gave his Top 10 Tips for Startups Trying to Raise Their Seed Round.

Below: We then headed across the hall to catch what industry veterans Jonathan Tenebaum (NameJet) and Monte Cahn (RightOfTheDot.com) had to say about Domain Auctions and Brokerage: A Path to Monetizing Your Domains. Jonathan and Monte (at right) will run the big NamesCon live domain auction Tuesday afternoon.

Above: At 3:40pm we returned to the Tool Talks sessions for an announcement from the .CLUB registry in which they unveiled their new Names.Club. Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Sass detailed the program which makes premium domains from multiple new gTLD registries available with no interest, five year financing. 

Below: In the final main track session of the day NamesCon Co-Founder Jothan Frakes (who now runs the MERGE! Conference in Florida with Ray Neu) took the stage under a new hat as Executive Director of the Domain Name Association (a role he accepted on an interim basis last fall). Jothan provided details on the benefits of membership and participation in this important industry organization.

Above: With the business day over we made the first of three stops on the evening social schedule - a Happy Hour in the .CLUB suite at the Tropicana that was held to celebrate their launch of Names.Club. Among those on hand were (left to right) Jose Vicente from Spain, Abner Duarte from Boston (originally from Brazil) and Deepak Daftari from India. At the start of the day NamesCon President Soeren von Varchmin called Deepak to the stage to present him with a special Most Voluminous Moustache Award. I think this photo explains why Deepak was recognized :-)

Above: The next stop may have been the most impressive one of the day. I went over to NamesCon's annual Woman in Domaining Dinner at the new Robert Irvine Public House Restaurant at the Tropicana to snap some photos. I was stunned by the record turnout of some 120 of the leading ladies in our industry!

Below: Lisa Box, Vice President Strategic Alliances and Business Development at WP Engine (2nd from left) played a lead role in getting this annual dinner started and it his grown by leaps and bounds every year since. 

Above: The Woman in Domaining Dinner grew so large this year it overtook two of the biggest sections of the Robert Irvine Public House Restaurant.

Below: This table was graced by (clockwise from left to right) KW Boswell, Kathy Nielsen, Judith McGarry, Kina Merdinian, Barbara Neu and Diana Jackson.

Above: Immediately after the Woman in Domaining Dinner all attendees got back together for NamesCom's big Opening Night Reception at the Tropicana.

Below: While a jazz trio filled the air with music guests were able to spend the next four hours networking with fellow domain and Internet enthusiasts from around the world.  

Above: Another scene from the NamesCon Global Opening Night Reception that was sponsored by the .GLOBAL Registry.

Below: .GLOBAL CEO Rolf Larsen and VP Jeanette Soderlund Sause welcomed guests to the opening night party and also handed out prizes in random drawings.

After: As you would expect from a conference called NamesCon Global, guests came from all over the world including a large contingent from India. While originally from India, DNProperty.com's Suresh Raghavan, at far left, has actually lived in the U.S. (Detroit) for the past 20 years, so he didn't have to travel quite as far as his compatriots.

Below: Of course, there was no shortage of U.S. natives at the reception either. Left to right below are Barbara Neu and Diana Jackson (both from Florida) and Tessa Seelos Holcomb (BrandIT.com) from California.

Above: As I noted in a post in our Lowdown section a few days ago, good people are the big attraction for me at NamesCon. One of the old friends I enjoyed catching up with at the opening night reception was Philadelphia based attorney/domain investor/developer John Deneen (left).

As I write this Monday's business day 2 is still underway with a full evening still ahead. I'll have all of the Monday highlights for your in my next post from Las Vegas.

NamesCon Global kicks off its 5th annual run today (Sunday, January 28, 2018) at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. The 5th annual event that draws domain investors, developers and service providers from around the world officially opens at

11am (local time) but the networking was already in full swing Saturday with early birds arriving throughout the day. 

Above: NamesCon attendees come from dozens of countries around the globe. Among the first early birds to arrive Saturday where Dhananjeyan Thangavelu (left) from Guam and Aishwin Vikhona from India.

Below: Even though the show doesn't start until today NamesCon thoughtfully opened a badge pickup booth Saturday so early birds could get their credentials and programs well before the bulk of the crowd (and longer lines) would appear Sunday morning. At left is Abner Duarte (a native of Brazil who now lives in Boston) and at far right GoDaddy's Aftermarket GM & VP, Paul Nicks.

Above: Trellian/Above.com Executive VP Nancy Bianchi checking in Saturday.

Below: When guests arrived they were asked how long they have been coming to NamesCon. Those who have been making the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas since the show started in 2014 were given this special lapel pin commemorating their 5 Years at NamesCon.

Above: The Saturday night view of the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas where NamesCon Global 2018 will run today through Wednesday (January 31). 

Below: A walkway across Tropicana Boulevard connects the Tropicana Hotel to the MGM Grand (New York New York is at the left). One of NamesCon's biggest social events will be held Tuesday night in the Ling Ling Lounge at the MGM's world famous Hakkasan night club. 

Above: After a Saturday night dinner with friends at the MGM, heading back across the walkway to the Tropicana's upper level entrance. If you have been in our business for a long time and see a name on a sign odds are the first thing you think of is "I wonder if they have their name in .com"!? I checked and Rich Little does (nice website too). Maybe that is a sign that I've been doing this too long but I still can't help myself.  :-)

Below: So the stage is set and a little later this morning (2pm for our friends in the Eastern time zone) NamesCon Global 2018 will officially be underway. I'll have daily show photos and highlights for you in the column as the week unfolds. Being back among domain friends from all corners of the globe reminds me yet again how fortunate we all are to be in a business where work is so much .fun!

When  I head out to Las Vegas this weekend for the NamesCon conference that starts Sunday, I will be going to see more than just domain industry colleagues (though that is certainly reason enough to go to the big show). I also go (and keep going) to these events to see some great people. Braden Pollock of LegalBrandMarketing (who was profiled in a November 2011 DNJournal Cover Story) is certainly one of the best of them.

Shortly after NamesCon, on February 7, 2018, Braden will be honored as the Big Brother of the Year in Los Angeles! That is truly a great thing. The only thing I can think of is greater is that not one person

Big Brother Braden Pollock and Daniel

in this business who knows  Braden will be surprised to hear this - that is the kind of person he is and has always been. But enough about Braden - what about that handsome young man in the photo above? OK, they're both handsome - but I mean the one on the right - Daniel!

2018  is shaping up as a great conference year - one that will kick off in Las Vegas Sunday (January 27) when the 5th annual NamesCon conference gets underway. Over the past few months I have been filling you in on the details of other major 2018 shows as information has come in to us. I just learned today that the MERGE! conference, that debuted last October will be returning to Orlando, Florida for their second annual event - but it will move to a new venue and new dates. The show that combines multiple fields of interest, including domains, cryptocurrency, blockchain and hosting, will move up a month to September 15-18, 2018 and it will move to the beautiful Hilton Lake Buena Vista Hotel, adjacent to Disney Springs,  putting attendees within walking distance of all of great restaurants, shopping and attractions there. 

Above: A view of the walkway from the MERGE! show venue - 
the Hilton Lake Buena Vista in Orlando - over to Disney Springs. 

Below: An evening view of the Hilton Lake Buena Vista pool area.

Above: The spacious halls at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista 
will provide a great space for networking.

Below: A view inside the MERGE! conference hall 
where attendees will gather in September 2018.

MERGE! was co-founded and conceived by Ray Neu and Jothan Frakes. Ray (who was one of the 24 expert panelists in our just published 2018 State of the Industry Cover Story) has 15 years of conference experience in the domain investment, startup, crowd sourcing, security, and technology innovation realms. Jothan (who was profiled in a July 2014 DNJournal Cover Story), brings a special flair for connecting ideas and people – evidenced by past successes in co-founding NamesCon, DomainFest and three other networking / opportunity conferences in the digital space over the past 25 years.

$199 early bird tickets for the 2018 event are already on sale. It's not to early to go ahead and book your hotel room either. MERGE! has secured a $149 a night rate - an excellent value for a hotel of this caliber in the center of the world famous Disney/Lake Buena Vista vacation paradise.  

This could be your room at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista Hotel for MERGE! 2018

We will have more details on MERGE! and 2018's other major conferences as they develop in the weeks and months ahead. 

Donuts,  the world's largest operator of new gTLD domain registries with over 200 extensions in their portfolio, announced today that they have concluded a $500,000 cash sale of Home.loans - the

highest figure ever reported for a new gTLD domain. Donuts credited Senior Domain Consultant Jebidiah Burnett for closing the record sale. 

Matt Overman, Senior Vice President of Sales at Donuts, said "We're excited to be affiliated with yet another innovative business that's leveraging the power of a Donuts premium name. Blake is an amazing entrepreneur with an outstanding track record launching new businesses. He purchased the best possible name for his new venture. We look forward to supporting the rapid growth and success of home.loans in its marketplace."

The free tickets offered in this article have all been distributed now and the giveaway is over. Congratulations to the five winners!

The 5th annual  NamesCon conference gets underway a week from Sunday (January 28, 2018) at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. The show attracts industry veterans from around the world but organizers of the event also go out of their way to welcome newcomers - knowing their energy and fresh ideas are critical to  continued growth and innovation in this business.  Toward that end NamesCon has given us five free tickets to the upcoming show (currently priced at $799 each) with the provision that they can go only to people who have never been to NamesCon before. 

The tickets cover show admission only - winners will have to take care of their own transportation and lodging needs. NamesCon left it up

to us to decide how to hand them out. I wanted to keep it simple and also reward regular readers (who will be the ones most likely to see this offer before all of the tickets are claimed). The method I settled on will also give me a chance to show you the kind of daily show coverage we post from NamesCon in this column every year (the kind we will be providing again during its 2018 run from January 28-31. 

Here is how it will work. I am going to give you a link to our closing day coverage of the 2017 edition of NamesCon last January. After you click the link, scroll through the photos and highlights from that day until you reach the final photo on the page. Read the text above the photo and that will give you the name of the person in the photo who is having their head shaved to raise money for the Water School (nearly $90,000 was raised that night)! Then just send that person's name and your name to me via email to Editor at DNJournal.com. The senders of the first five emails I receive with the correct name will get the tickets. 

A scene from the 2017 NamesCon conference in Las Vegas last January.

Again, remember you will only be able to use this ticket if this would be your first NamesCon and show organizers will verify that is the case when I send them the list of winners. As soon as I have the first five in I will add a message to the beginning of this post (in bold red) to let you know all of the tickets have been claimed. If anyone does not redeem their free ticket or NamesCon determines it is not their first show, I will go down the line of emails received and offer the ticket to the next person in line). 

So here we go - this is the link that will take you to the page where you will find the name you need to know: http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2017/dailyposts/20170127.htm  - Good luck and I hope to see you at NamesCon!

I've always been  a fan of country code domains (ccTLDs). I wound up in this business only because I was reading a computer magazine one day in 2002 that had an ad placed by Neustar announcing that America's .US country code domain was being opened to all U.S. citizens for the first time (originally it was reserved for government agencies, schools, etc). In doing further research on that development I stumbled upon the domain business at large and the rest, as they say is history. 

I soon learned that in many countries the local ccTLD was just as popular (if not more so) than the globally dominant .com extension with Germany's .de and Great Britain's .co.uk among the most prominent examples. However, it doesn't stop 

Global flags image from Bigstock

there as every nation on earth has their own unique country code domain and an aftermarket has developed for many of them - especially among citizens and those doing business within a specific country. 

Radix, the domain registry founded by serial entrepreneurs Bhavin Turakhia and Divyank Turakhia, has appointed Sandeep Ramchandani as its new global CEO. Launched in 2012, Radix  owns and operates 10 Top Level Domains including nine new TLDs (.ONLINE, .STORE, .TECH, .WEBSITE, .SPACE, .PRESS, .SITE, .HOST and .FUN) and one re-purposed ccTLD in .PW.  Radix currently has over 3 million domains under its management. 

Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Ramchandani as CEO, Bhavin Turakhia, who has been serving in that role and will continue as Radix's Executive Chairman, said, “Sandeep, with close to 15 years of experience, and having played key roles across our registrar, service provider and registry businesses, has consistently built talented teams, delivered results and demonstrated exceptional leadership. Despite intense competition among new TLDs, he has evolved Radix into a profitable and fast growing business, with over $12 million in top-line revenue. We remain extremely bullish about the registry space and are looking for avenues to re-invest our profits.”

Elaborating on his immediate plans as the 

Sandeep Ramchandani
Radix CEO

new CEO, Sandeep Ramchandani said, “Just as the first few years of Radix were about demonstrating proof of concept, the next few will be about growing awareness and delivering accelerated growth. We are also actively looking to acquire more TLD assets to reach newer segments of the market while leveraging economies of scale. My mandate is to grow Radix into one of the largest global players, and given the team and resources at my disposal, I feel confident of being able to achieve that goal.”

The 35-year-old Ramchandani has been with Radix since its inception as the VP and Business Head. Prior to Radix, he was with LogicBoxes, an enterprise consulting business, which was one of the businesses acquired along with Radix parent Directi by Endurance International Group in 2014. 

The 2nd annual edition  of New York's NameSummit conference will be held in a new  location next summer. The big event that debuted last August at the Hilton Midtown Manhattan Hotel will move a few blocks south to the Westin Times Square for the 2018 show that will be staged August 6th & 7th. 

Jason Schaeffer, who co-founded the conference with Steven Kaziyev, gave me the Lowdown on the 2018 event this afternoon. Schaeffer said, "Our first event provided unsurpassed networking opportunities for the lucky attendees and a positive showcase for domains and new TLDs. I’m happy to say that we are back to help anyone in the digital

branding space, and remain committed to a providing a platform to showcase domain names as an integral part for a branding initiatives."

NameSummit Co-Founders Steven Kaziyev (left) and Jason Schaeffer 
at their debut event in New York City in August 2017.

Schaeffer added, "Thrilled by the feedback and overall success of the inaugural NameSummit, Steve and I turned our attention to find a way to add more value for attendees, speakers and sponsors. Building on the startup and coaching component of the conference was important, so we have created Pitchfest Global for 2018."

"Jodi Chamberlain is returning with us to make sure the event is a success," Schaeffer added. "Be sure to join us at NamesCon where the NameSummit team will be at Booth 1 to share more information about Pitchfest Global and accept applications to become a Pitchfest Global participant."

Schaeffer closed with this - "Whether you have one follower or 1 million, whether you are the brand, work for one, or are one in the making, NameSummit’s experts will show you how to build your brand and connect with your audience. You can register for NameSummit 2018 to be a part of Pitchfest Global at The Westin Times Square with a special NamesCon discount for $199, limited to the first 50 registrants, or use the CODE: NamesCon."

New gTLD registry operator Radix issued a report (.pdf file) on their premium domain sales over the last two quarters of 2017 today. The data, presented in infographic style, showed Radix banking just over $1.38 million in premium sales in the second half of the year. Over $614,000 came from new premium domain sales with the rest generated by premium renewals. The company said 64% of premium names that had been sold through the registrar channel and were up for renewal for the first time were renewed.

Radix's most popular premium extensions, both in terms of the number sold and the dollar amount generated, were .online and .tech. .Online generated $157,000 of the new revenue in 2H-2017  with .tech close to the same amount at $153,000. One other Radix TLD, .fun, generated six figures with $127,000 in premium sales. 

The report also listed the company's top individual premium domain sales for 2H-2017. A trio of sales made through GoDaddy topped the list with Mint.tech, Wit.tech and Mirror.fun selling for $12,999 apiece. One other domain reached five figures - Track.tech - at $10,320. Those are just a few highlights from the full report that you can download here (.pdf format).

Nicolai Bezsonoff is taking on a new role with industry giant Neustar, Inc. The company announced today that Bezsonoff will now lead the Registry Solutions business as VP and General Manager, transitioning from his current role of VP and GM of Security Solutions. Neustar said that will put Bezsonoff in charge of  supporting the world’s largest core registry and digital naming service.

Bezsonoff is well-known in the domain world, having previously co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer of the .CO domain administrator, which was acquired by Neustar in 2014. The press release Neustar issued today noted, "Under Nicolai's tenure .CO had incredible growth and became one of the most successful domain extensions in history, with more than 2.2 million domain names registered by people in 200 countries. He has more than 20 years of experience running businesses and consulting on functions ranging from strategy, finance, product, technology and sales."

Nicolai Bezsonoff
VP & General Manager, 
Registry Solutions
Neustar

Bezsonoff said, "I’m excited to continue this journey with Neustar and take on a more active role leading passionate teams dedicated to delivering digital naming services that are second to none. Working for an industry pioneer that continues to be at the forefront of the domain name industry provides an undeniable platform to raise the bar even higher on creativity, increased engagement and deeper insight for innovative brands.” 

As an eternal optimist I have always loved New Year's Day. The start of a new year symbolizes a fresh start and an opportunity to have not only a better year than the one  before (no matter how great - or not so great - it may have been) but possibly one's best year ever. It is a blank canvas ready to be filled in with whatever you want to make of it. That is enough to give the day special meaning for anyone but for me it has significance even beyond that.

Image from Bigstock