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By Ron
Jackson
Editor/Publisher
(Delray
Beach, Florida) -
The landmark T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
2004
conference ended today with a single morning session featuring the
first annual meeting of the
World Association of Domain Name Developers
(WADND).
There was also discussion about the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
2005
location and ways the conference could be improved next time out
(not that many found much to complain about with this impressive
debut edition).
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Closing Session
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2004 |
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Rick Schwartz (L) and
Howard Neu, Esq.
(Note that Mr. Neu finally capitulated
and exchanged his usual nicely
tailored suit for a Hawaiian shirt Saturday).
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T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
co-founders Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu, Esq.
set up WADND as a new corporation this year. It is meant to
answer a long standing desire domainers have had for a
professional organization that will give them a voice in
matters that affect the industry. A WADND website will soon go
live with a mission statement and a list of newly elected
directors.
One of those directors will
be Dan Warner, the Chief Operating Officer of Dark
Blue Sea Ltd. (parent company of Fabulous.com). |
Warner,
one of the most respected executives in the domain
industry, agreed to serve despite an extremely hectic
work schedule that keeps him running an average of 60 hours a
week from his base in Brisbane,
Australia.
He immediately began offering suggestions for both WADND and
future T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show locations (San
Francisco
being his first choice).
Warner
suggested that membership on a private domain forum operated
by Mr. Schwartz be broadened to include qualified domain
owners who hold more than 100 names. Schwartz responded that
plans were underway to revamp the board and add 100 new
members.
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Dan Warner
COO, Dark Blue Sea Ltd.
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Schwartz noted that a key reason members of his board are
courted by companies that monetize traffic (and the reason so
many companies supported this show) is that many members hold
high quality portfolios of domains that produce targeted
traffic in heavy volume. While expanding board membership
Schwartz said he wants to maintain high standards for both the
people and portfolios represented. The greatest weight will be
given to the individual's personal reputation and desire to
share, learn and help move the industry forward. |
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With respect
to the location of the next show, Schwartz said this year's Delray
Beach Marriott location has proven to be so popular with
attendees that it will be the top choice to host again next
year. A Miami Beach location will serve as a backup.
Schwartz said there is a good chance the show will move to
the West Coast in 2006 as Warner suggested. Ron Sheridan (pictured
at left), the Director of Business Development for DomainSponsor.com
(this year's lead sponsor) said his company would
immediately commit to sponsoring a West Coast show. In
addition, it was announced that DomainSponsor has already
signed on as the lead sponsor for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2005. |
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Before Sheridan left the
podium he announced the winners of four Robosapien robots
that were selected from a lottery drawing entered by
visitors to the company's elaborate show exhibit. One of the
lucky winners, Russ Goodwin, shows off his in the photo at right.
A perfect prize for
future drawings might be one of the upcoming double DVD sets
featuring this year's conference seminars and activities
(including indexed chapters to easily find the material you
want to view). Multiple video crews taped all events and
Schwartz expects the set to be available by Christmas. You
will have to be an extremely good little boy to get
one from Santa though as they are expected to cost $995 per
set.
While that might take
shoppers at the local Blockbuster aback it is not
unusual for high cost, low production industry media. When I
owned a small chain of record stores I paid $500 a year for
one book (produced by Billboard magazine) listing
music industry contacts. |
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Shepherd of AshantiPLC Limited
isn't signaling
"touchdown" but he agreed plans to expand next
year's show will insure another winner. |
In
today's meeting the organizers agreed to an audience
suggestion that next year's show be expanded by a day. The
general consensus was that there wasn't quite enough time to
meet everyone one wished to meet this year. This year's show
ran Wednesday-Saturday. Next fall (same week in October) it
is planned to run Tuesday-Saturday (one day for registration
and welcome, three days with a full slate of activities and
a fifth day for a final business meeting as was held today).
The debut edition of
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. proved to be a fitting coming out party for
an industry that is ready to take its rightful place at the
center of the internet stage. |
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| Executives
from DomainSponsor.com, Fabulous.com and other leading
companies here all agreed that "traffic is king and
he who holds the traffic makes the rules." Guess
who holds the traffic? You and your fellow professional
domain owners.
Ten months of hard work
went into producing the show and we join others in
congratulating Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Neu on their remarkable success
with this event, success that we believe will help all
domainers, whether they were able to attend this year's show
or not. When we join forces to push the industry forward, we
all move forward.
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Click
for
Thursday Report
Click
for Friday Report
Editor's
Note: We
compiled so much material from the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2004 conference we
have decided to produce a special wrap-up of the entire week that we
will publish Monday afternoon (Oct. 25). This will include
additional information and photos not
seen in the three nightly reports we produced during the show.
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