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Keynote
Speaker Bill Karamouzis of Hallpass Media
(left) was interviewed
by DomainSherpa's Michael Cyger Monday morning
(October 17, 2011).
At
11am T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s Exhibit Hall opened, giving
attendees a chance to learn more about the companies
whose services they are interested in using (or already
use) as well as get to know leaders of those companies
personally.
Above:
Manning registrar InternetX.com's booth at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
2011
were (left to right): Claus Barche, Hakan
Ali and Thomas Mörz.
Below:
Catherine Harry (ParkLogic.com) gives Roy
Messer a demo of
the company's innovative domain monetization and
management platform.
Shortly after the Exhibit Hall opened,
the first panel discussion at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011 - From
Here to Eternity: The Impact of New gTLDs -
got underway in the conference hall.
Above:
The Impact of New TLDs panel Monday
morning (Oct. 17) featured Sedo CEO Tim
Schmacher, Peter Dengate Thrush
(the former ICANN Chairman who now works
with Minds+Machines), Michael
Berkens (RightOfTheDot.com), moderator
Howard Neu, Jothan Frakes (Sedari.com)
and Monte Cahn (RightOfTheDot.com).
At
right: Peter Dengate Thrush makes his
case in favor of the
unlimited number of
new gTLDs that ICANN will begin
rolling out next year. The history of the
expansion program and its pros and cons were
discussed during
this lively hour. |
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The afternoon sessions began
with Google critic Scott Cleland
detailing what he sees as the sins of the
search giant that he covered in depth in his
book, Search
& Destroy: Why You Can't Trust Google Inc.
With
PPC earnings down so drastically in recent
years, and a complete lack of transparency at
Google and Yahoo, Cleland found a lot of
supporters for his position in the audience.
Cleland
also sat in on the next session, a panel
discussion that delved further into issues
with Google and Yahoo.
At
left: Google critic Scott Cleland,
author of Search & Destroy: Why
You Can't Trust
Google Inc. speaking Monday (Oct.
17) |
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Below
(left to right) are Michael Gilmour
(ParkLogic.com), Tim Schumacher (Sedo)
and Frank Schilling (InternetTraffic.com)
who were panelists for the next session - Barbarians
at Our Gates: Does Google and Yahoo Turly
Understand Traffic and Intent of the
User? They were joined on the dais by
Scott Cleland, Adam Dicker (DNForum.com),
and T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s Rick Schwartz. |
Next
up was T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Test Track,
a session that gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to
persuade one or more members from a panel of investors
to put a specified amount of money into their venture
in exchange for a percentage of the business. Marco
Marcovici presented a pitch for his NGrams.com
project while Kevin Wood sought a development
partner for Companion.com. Marcovici and Wood
both got some tips on their ventures but neither
secured an investment at this stage of their projects.
Marco
Marcovici of NGrams.com (standing at left)
tells a panel of investors why
they should back his plans for the domain.
The panel included (left to right):
Roy Messer, Gregg McNair, Michael
Mann, Adam Dicker and Dr. Chris Hartnett.
In the next session, Stuart Lawley,
Chairman and CEO of ICM
Registry (operator of the new .xxx
extension and the lead sponsor for this year's
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference) discussed prospects for the
TLD with the biggest early investor in .xxx domains, Frank
Schilling. Among other things in their wide
ranging discussion, they revealed that Frank paid $1.65
million for a prime portfolio of .xxx domains.
Frank
Schilling (left) and Stuart Lawley fill
attendees in on the new .xxx extension.
The
business day Monday (Oct. 17) closed with the most
well attended Speed Networking session I've
seen in years. Those who took part were able to spend
10 minutes each with a half dozen different people
from fields the attendees specified in advance that
they want to make contacts in. The software that
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. uses to match up speed networking
participants is made by Network Research Group, the
same company that developed the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
smartphone app detailed earlier in this article.
The
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Speed Networking session Monday
(Oct. 17) drew a full house
(just one corner of the crowded room is shown in the
photo above).
With the day's business now done,
guests got dressed up for the official T.R.A.F.F.I.C
Party sponsored by the ICM
Registry. They were bussed to the W
Hotel for an event that started at 8pm and was
still going strong when we left shortly before
midnight.
Above:
Guests in one of the two club rooms set up for
the
ICM Registry's Official T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Party Monday
night (Oct. 17, 2011)
| The ICM Registry came up with a very
well received set up for their party
areas. There was a front room with a buffet,
bar and dance floor that gave the space a nice
modern night club vibe. Then for those who
like a quieter environment to talk (and
domainers love to talk) they set up a
second room (seen in the photo above) adjacent
to the first with comfortable tables, lounge
chairs and sofas, its own bar and a coffee
station.
It made for a great place to hang out and
chat while also being able to easily go back
and forth between the two rooms whenever you
felt like a change of atmosphere. It was very
well done and I didn't see anyone who wasn't
having a great time in an atmosphere enlivened
by a dance troupe that appeared in a multitude
of colorful costumes.
At
right: Four of the beautiful belles at the
T.R.A.F.F.I.C./
ICM Registry ball: (left to right): Diana
Jackson, Peggy Ploss, Judi
Berkens and Dr. Linda Hartnett. |
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Below:
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder Howard Neu (left),
his wife
Barbara Neu and the ICM Registry's
Director of Sales Vaughn Liley
with two of the dancers that graced the
Monday night party.
Though many had a late night out
there was a larger than usual crowd on hand back
at the Ritz ballroom Tuesday morning for the
start of the final business day at
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011. For full details on
what happened Tuesday (October 18) proceed
to page 3. |
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