Editor's Note: We will be on a summer vacation break until July 23 when we will resume our regular updates in The Lowdown.

Location Locked In For 2025 ICA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas - Tickets and Hotel Rooms Available Now 

Last month I told you about next year's dates being set for the Internet Commerce Association's Annual Meeting in Las Vegas (those are January 26-28, 2025). At the time the ICA expected to return to Resorts World, the site of last year's meeting, however a final contract had not been signed. Until that happened, the non-profit organization that fights to protect domain registrant's rights couldn't start selling tickets and offering discounted hotel rooms. 

The deal with Resorts World is now done and even expanded a bit over last year when all of the ICA's rooms were in the Hilton at Resorts World. This year registrants can choose either the Hilton or the Conrad. You can book your room now at this link. You can also get your tickets for the event and this is something you will want to act on right away at the early bird price of $399 expires on July 31 (if you want to bring a plus one who is not in the domain industry you can add a ticket for them at just $199, so take advantage of that and let your mates be part of the fun too)!

The Annual Meeting will open with a Sunday evening event, January 26. On Monday (Jan. 27) the day will be devoted to Indoor and Outdoor Social Activities that will conclude with an Opening Evening Reception. The grand finale, Tuesday (Jan. 28) will include Sessions, Panels, Guru Tables and  AMAs (Ask Me Anything Q&As), then wrap up with a Closing Reception including some outstanding entertainment. You can get a sense of ICA Annual Meeting excitement by checking out photos from last year’s meeting at ica.vegas. We will, of course, be there again and hope to see you there too! 

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Digital Creators and Investors Will Be Connecting in Iceland at the First Digital Asset Congress in September

While domain names were the original digital asset, several others have earned a sizeable following in recent years. Creators who utilize both new and long established digital platforms, along with those who invest in them, will have an all encompassing new conference of their own to attend in September. That is the first Digital Asset Congress (DAC) that will run Sept. 23-25, 2024 at the Hilton Nordic Hotel in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The event will connect creative minds with seasoned investors and business leaders, while providing a broad overview of how to transform creative ventures into lucrative digital assets. The goal is to help attendees capitalize on the many opportunities within digital content, domain names and web infrastructures. 

Jason said the the heart of the Digital Asset Congress will be a  Networking Creator Lab where creativity and commerce will intersect, fostering a lively exchange of ideas and inspiration - all in one of the most beautiful locations on earth. The natural beauty wasn't the only reason he chose Reykjavik though. Reykjavik is strategically positioned between North America and Europe, making it a a central hub that facilitates easy and cost-effective travel for attendees from both continents. Jason noted, "This geographically advantageous location not only underscores the global significance of the congress but also ensures broader participation while keeping a mindful eye on keeping our carbon footprint lower."

You can learn more about the event at its official website and Early Bird tickets (at more than 50% off) are available now. If you plan to be part of the first Digital Asset Congress you will want to take advantage of that deal soon as prices go up after July 25. 

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Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Now? Outstanding Review of  Domain Industry History Has the Illuminating Answers

When people talk about when the domain industry began the conversation usually starts from what would seem to be the obvious place - the creation of the Domain Name System (DNS) from an idea born in 1983. But the story actually starts years before that - many years in fact - all the way back to 1958 when then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to spearhead research and development projects to extend the boundaries of technology and science, beyond immediate military needs. 

The evolution of that process led directly to the creation of the DNS with groundbreaking interim steps along the way including the launch of ARPANET in 1969, the sending of the first email in 1971, a 1981 paper proposing the creation of "Internet Domain Names" and ARPANET's switch over to TCP/IP in January 1983. An outstanding new Domain Name Industry History, published by Simone Catania, the Global Content & Communications Manager at InterNetX, details all of that early history but also continues the story right through to the point we are at today (a robust "future" that the original pioneers almost certainly could never have imagined).

It is an excellent reference that puts all of the key information in one convenient place that you will likely find yourself returning to over and over again. It will tell you what the original six TLDs, created at the end of 1984, were, what the first domain name ever created in January 1985 was (as well as the rest of the first ten, including the first .com domain in March 1985). There is also the first ccTLD (.US), when domain registrations were first made available to the public...and right on through just about every major development since then, including the new gTLD program that has pushed the number of TLDs available today past the 1,500 mark.

Author Simone Catania provided this list of some highlights from the article:

• In-depth analysis: A thorough exploration of the domain name industry's history, covering nearly 40 years of innovation, technological breakthroughs, and the emergence of domain names as fundamental to branding in the 21st century.
  

• Pioneer Profiles: Descriptions of Internet pioneers such as Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel, among others, whose contributions laid the groundwork for our industry.
  

• Fascinating Facts & Figures: From the first .com registered domains to the highest domain sales, this article contains data and statistics that outline the industry's evolution.
  

• Links to other resources: Navigate through the critical events and milestones with embedded links designed to deepen your understanding and appreciation of the domain industry's rich history.

Better yet, all of that is free of charge to anyone who wants to learn more about this amazing industry so many of us have found a home in today. It's a link I think you'll want to keep close at hand: https://snapshot.internetx.com/en/domain-name-industry-history-facts-figures/

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Can the ICA Top Themselves at 2025 Annual Meeting in January? With Dates Now Set We'll Know Soon

The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) has set the dates for their 2025 Annual Member Meeting in Las Vegas. It will be happening January 26-28 and will most likely return to Resorts World on the Strip where the very well received 2024 meeting was held. Final details on the venue are being nailed down now and are expected to be finalized within the next few days. As soon as that happens, tickets will go on sale. 

The annual meeting staged by the non-profit organization that fights to protect domain owner's rights has become a can't miss event.  The ICA has created a unique experience by focusing on social activity designed to create and strengthen relationships and taking a different approach to business sessions.

The latter are typically presented in one of two ways. In one, rather than have an expert interviewed on stage followed by a few minutes (at most) to ask questions at the end, the queries take precedence in a casual Ask Me

Anything (AMA) oriented format. Those questions often result in two-way traffic with the expert asking the audience member what their opinion is. ICA attendees are almost all industry professionals who have valuable knowledge and experience of their own to share.

Paul Nicks (GoDaddy VP, Domain Investors) in an AMA at the 2024 ICA Annual Meeting

The other format you can expect to see are expert roundtables that allow attendees to move from one table to another as their interests dictate, with each table devoted to a different service or topic. Again, you are encouraged to ask questions. The idea is to make sure attendees are able glean the information they want to get directly from leaders in the field.

One of the many popular expert roundtables at the 2024 ICA Annual Meeting

The January meeting will open with an optional social event Sunday evening, January 26. The first "business" day, Monday, January 27, will actually be devoted primarily to social activity, with a variety of events to choose from. 

Above: One of the many social outings members at the 2024 ICA Annual Meeting had to choose from was a hike through the magnificent Red Rock Canyon just west of Las Vegas.

This will give you a general idea of what the ICA and its members are all about. We hope you will join in Las Vegas in January. If you are not already and ICA member this would be a great time to join!

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NamesCon/ROTD Domain Auction & GoDaddy Q2 Premium Auction Heading Into Home Stretch  

While the 2024 NamesCon Global conference ended June 8, the annual live and online domain auction that Right Of The Dot runs in association with NamesCon is just wrapping today (Tuesday, June 18). Starting at 2PM US Eastern Standard Time (1PM Central), the remaining lots in the timed auction will be closing in 30-second intervals. 38 new lots have been added since the close of the live auction (held at NamesCon Global in Austin June 6) with a total of 563 total lots still available. Those include Tatiana.com, Abbie.com, DirectSales.com, FlightLesson.com, RemoteAcess.com and HeadHunters.org to name just a few.

People that missed the live auction can still participate in the online event by going to bid.rotd.com (anyone who registered online for the live auction is automatically registered for the timed auction). A downloadable .csv file of the current catalog is available here. Heading into the close, total revenue from the live/online events is just under $700,000 with a 48% sell-through rate. At the live auction the top sales were GNP.com at $140,000, Atlanta.org at $70,000, FEF.com at $50,000, PortAransas.com at $42,000 and Pharmacy.net at $30,000.

Another major online event, the GoDaddy 2Q Namefind Premium Domain Auction, is also nearing its conclusion but this one won't end until Thursday afternoon June 20 (US Eastern time). Approximately 400 no reserve domains were put on the block for the GoDaddy sale.

Image from Bigstock

On a related note, while NamesCon Global just ended, conference organizers said the dates and location for the 2025 show will be announced soon. Meanwhile, we've already gotten the dates for the 2025 Nordic Domain Days event in Stockholm, Sweden. It will be held April 27-29, 2025. Photos & highlights from this year's NDD event, held last month, are here.

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NamesCon Global 2024 Sent Guests Home with Priceless Connections and Invaluable Information

We're back from Austin, Texas where the 2024 NamesCon Global conference wrapped up an energizing four-day run Saturday (June 8). The event got underway Wednesday (June 4) at the downtown Omni Hotel where business sessions were held over the next three days, followed by a farewell Fun Day  held at Pelons Tex-Mex restaurant Saturday. 

We shot hundreds of photos at the dozens of business sessions and social events held throughout the week and are now putting together a comprehensive start to finish review of the domain industry's biggest annual event for you.  Update: That review has now been published as our latest Cover Story.

With that massive undertaking on the front burner, we will be moving our bi-weekly domain sales report back a couple of days this week only. Instead of coming out Wednesday evening we will release that report Friday evening (June 14).

Going into the conference, I had told you that I was especially looking forward to doing three highly anticipated interviews in the Keynote Hall on opening day (Wednesday, June 5). Each featured a superstar domain broker/consultant who has not only rang up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales but also helped take the industry to new heights through their innovative contributions to the business.  Clockwise from top left in the photo below, those conversations featured Hilco Digital Assets Managing Director Andrew Miller, Evergreen.com Founder Jen Sale and MediaOptions.com Founder Andrew Rosener.

As I expected, each of those sessions was a special event that provided the audience with invaluable information and extraordinary insight into how some of the most successful people in the industry have put together the amazing track records they have now. It was also a special  treat for all of us to see Jen Sale in person again. Jen is based in Australia and this was the first time in seven years that she has been back in the States for a live event. 

There were so many more highlights I'm looking forward to sharing with you, so I am going to get back to work on those right now!

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With NamesCon Global in Town Austin Will Be the Domain Capital of the World This Week

It's Showtime - and we're off to Austin, Texas to participate in and cover the 2024 NamesCon Global conference that will run Wednesday thorough Saturday (June 5-8) at the downtown Omni Hotel (also the site for last year's big show). Conference organizers have assembled an outstanding agenda for this year's event that will attract domain professionals from around the world. 

As I previously noted, opening day Wednesday will be an especially exciting one for me as I will be doing three separate interviews that will feature a trio of the most successful domain brokers in industry history. First up will be Hilco Digital's Andrew Miller (the subject of our current Cover Story), then Evergreen.com's fascinating Founder Jen Sale in back to back morning sessions that would be a great way to start anyone's day (especially since Jen is going

to share some tips on how to have not just a great day - but a better life)! After the lunch break, I'm looking forward to sitting down again with MediaOptions Founder Andrew Rosener. The last time we had a long talk it was a private conversation that went on for three hours and led to our widely read May 2023 Cover Story. 

In between those sessions and throughout the remainder of the week I'll be constantly on the move gathering as many photos and as much information as possible from all of the other business sessions and social events, so I can produce a comprehensive show review for you that we expect to publish early next week. Since activity at NamesCon Global runs day and night, I don't expect to be posting here while the conference is underway. Speakers and participants are traveling long distances at considerable expense to make NamesCon the invaluable event that it is, so I want to stay in the middle of the action to make sure we can include as much of it as possible in our final account of the industry's biggest annual event. 

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.XYZ Celebrates 10th Anniversary After Explosive Growth Takes Registry From One TLD to Nearly 3 Dozen

The .XYZ Registry will reach a major landmark Sunday, June 2, when the new TLD administrator turns 10 years old. The company, founded by Daniel Negari, has blazed an extraordinary trail  since its launch, one that came amid a high level of skepticism about .xyz's chances of breaking through the new gTLD clutter in a .com world. We wrote about that in a June 3, 2014 Lowdown post the day after the new extension launched. We noted then that the outcome would hinge on how well the TLD was financially backed and  marketed. The few new TLDs that were succeeding were doing it through major monetary investments and non-stop work to promote a new brand while starting from scratch in a seriously over-crowded field. 

Negari and his team clearly understood that as they hit the ground running, ignored the doubters (which we were among) and never looked back.  If anyone looks at where the .XYZ Registry is today (and are being honest with themselves), I think they would have to admit they never saw this coming - 3.4 million .xyz domains registered (among the top 5 gTLDs worldwide) with registrants including global brands like Google parent, Alphabet.xyz and Block.xyz (best known for their wildly popular Square payment processing business). 

Negari and company's canny networking and marketing efforts also helped them turn their TLD into a popular option in the startup world, as well as crypto and other new tech categories.  It's not just .xyz either. Along the way the registry has steadily been acquiring other TLDs, most from operators who had failed to gain traction with their extensions. The .XYZ Registry has 35 TLDs now. Negari believed his company could turn them into winners and no doubt a lot fewer people would bet against that now than they would have a decade ago.  

The current TLDs in the .XYZ portfolio

I know I've mentioned marketing several times already, but as another example of how thoroughly .XYZ does that, you need only look at how they are celebrating their 10th anniversary. It started with a press release on May 24 but that first one was just the first of ten press releases! They are coming out one a day with each telling the detailed .xyz story in a series of chapters that will culminate June 2. There is a ton of interesting information in those chapters and fortunately they have all been assembled on the .XYZ blog so you can see them all in one place. .XYZ's main office is in Santa Monica, California but in January 2014, six months before .xyz launched, we snapped the photo of Daniel Negari at right while he was giving us a tour of additional office space he had just leased in Las Vegas. When I look at it

now it makes me think of the theme song from that old TV Show, The Jeffersons, "We're Movin' on Up!" When we climbed those office stairs in 2014 I don't think anyone, other than Daniel of course, could have envisioned just how far up his new enterprise was headed!

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Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day in the United States, a national holiday when most businesses will be closed while Americans honor and mourn those who died while serving in United States Armed Forces. Memorial Day is also viewed as the unofficial start to summer and with that comes an extended weekend for many, filled with family gatherings, cookouts, trips to the beach and travel near and far. It is easy to take those things for granted but they came at a high cost and we will be forever grafetful to those who served and gave all to preserve the freedom we enjoy today.

(Images from Bigstock)

(Posted Memorial Day - May 27, 2024)  

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NamesCon Global 2024 Ready to Roll with World Class Speakers and Ambitious Agenda for 4-Day Event in Austin

It's almost here! The 2024 edition of NamesCon Global, the domain industry's biggest event for investors, developers and service providers will get underway Wednesday, June 5 at the Downtown Omni Hotel in Austin, Texas, the historic capital of the Lone Star State. It will continue there through Saturday, June 8 when the shows closes with its traditional Fun Day.

You may recall that last year, for the first time, NamesCon Global ran concurrently in the same Austin venue with Cloudfest USA, America's premier event for the Internet infrastructure industry. That will be the case again this year and anyone who buys a ticket to one of the events can also attend any sessions they wish in the other. That productive pairing was possible because WHD Events GmbH owns both events (they also produce the world's biggest infrastructure conference, the main Cloudfest conference that attracts thousands of attendees to Rust, Germany in March of every year). 

I've always looked forward to NamesCon Global but never more so than this year because, on opening day, I will have three separate face to face fireside chats onstage in the Keynote Hall with groundbreaking domain brokerage and consulting legends Andrew Miller (Managing Director, Hilco Digital Assets), Jen Sale (CEO, Evergreen.com) and Andrew Rosener (CEO, MediaOptions.com). If you're going to NamesCon and hear these three speak, you're going to go home with a vastly better understanding of what it takes to succeed in this business and life beyond it (a topic that Jen has some especially illuminating advice about).

Our sessions are set to run at these times on Wednesday, June 5:

10:25am - Andrew Miller's High-Stakes Deals: How Does He Do It? Andrew Miller of Hilco Digital Assets has overseen some of the most significant, high-profile deals in domaining. His blockbuster transactions include Chat.com, Gold.com, Home.com and Universal.com - and the companies he has founded include CreditCards.com and InsuranceQuotes.com. Andrew will candidly discuss what it takes to set up and close high-stakes deals. Andrew, by the way, also happens to the the subject of DNJournal's current Cover Story.

11:15am - WWW: Whois, Wellbeing and Wanderlust – Domain and Life Learnings with Jen Sale. The quickest way from Point A to Point B is a straight line, but where’s the fun in that?  Jen Sale will tell you how adding a sense of adventure to not only your domaining career but your whole life can lead to greater prosperity—and greater wellbeing. If you want to take advantage of what an online career can offer- on your terms - you'll want to hear what Jen has to say!

2:40pm - The Climb To The Top: A Conversation with Andrew Rosener. Andrew Rosener has been the force  behind some of the biggest deals in domain history – including selling Prime.com to Amazon, Zoom.com to Zoom, and X.com to Elon Musk. Named Escrow.com Broker of the Year for six consecutive years and featured on renowned life-hacker Tim Ferriss’s podcast, Drew has reinvented domain valuation methodology, investing strategy, and figuring out what’s about to rock the digital world next so join us for a peek under the hood of his massively-successful domain industry machine - and, if you missed it, be sure to check out our May 2023 Cover Story about Andrew - one of the most widely read articles we have ever published.

These three sessions are just part of an extraordinary agenda NamesCon Global has put together this year. Take a look at it and the full list of exceptional speakers and, if you haven't gotten a ticket already, there's a pretty good chance you will want to get one now. I hope to see you in Austin but for those who can't be there, we wil, as always, be putting a complete show recap together for you as soon as we get back home from what is shaping up to be a landmark event.

Andrew Miller
Managing Director, Hilco Digital Assets

Jen Sale
CEO, Evergreen.com

Andrew Rosener
CEO, MediaOptions.com

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.ORG in the News with BIG Sale of Humanity.org and Registry Making $180,000 in Prize Money Available for 2024 Impact Awards

May has been a good month for .ORG with the latest feather in the popular TLD's hat being a $225,000 sale of Humanity.org that Sedo reported this week (we will be charting the sale when our next bi-weekly domain sales report comes out Wednesday evening, May 29. That is not only the biggest .org sale of the year to date, it is also the biggest non .com gTLD sale of the year in any extension. 

The monetary value of high quality .org domains was established long ago but the TLD's greatest value comes from being the trusted internet home for so many outstanding individuals and organizations around the world. Every year , the .ORG administrator, Public Interest Registry (PIR) recognizes many of the best of them with their annual .ORG Impact Awards. It is an event that spotlights outstanding mission-driven people from the global .ORG Community for their positive contributions to society. Nominations for the 2024 competition opened this month and will remain open through June 

19. Any person ororganization with a .ORG domain can enter, free of charge. To nominate an organization or individual for a .ORG Impact Award, just visit www.orgimpactawards.org.

The entries will be evaluated by a judging panel of leaders in the Internet, nonprofit, and marketing sectors and winners will be chosen in seven different categories:

• Health and Healing

• Quality Education for All

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Environmental Stewardship

• Hunger and Poverty

• Community Building

• Rising Star

Organizations may apply for multiple categories of awards if more than one category is a good fit. The top five entries in each category will be named as finalists on August 13, 2024, and will be eligible to be named the 2024 .ORG of the Year. Winners will be announced on October 8, 2024 at an in-person awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.  

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Defining Success: With $300,000+ Sale of Pose.com New Kate & Todd Partnership Already Paying Off 

At the beginning of this year Buckley Media Founder and star domain broker Kate Buckley revealed she, in tandem with new partner Todd Henderson, were combining their resources to create a new full service domain brokerage and branding agency at Defining.com. That partnership has already paid off with several high end transactions - most under NDA - but also one that she was able to share with us today - Pose.com at $302,670. Defining.com represented a private seller in making this one happen. We will be charting the sale when our next bi-weekly domain sales report comes out May 29th and Pose.com will almost certainly rank among the top ten publicly reported sales of the year to date (it would stand at # 6 if it were on the chart today). 

The sale happened to come at a time when I was already putting together a story on Kate & Todd's new company and how it came together. We expect to be publishing that by the end of this week. Of course, Kate (who was profiled in a 2018 DNJournal Cover Story) is already one of the most familiar faces in the industry and Todd, who has an incredible record of branding success, soon will be. If you're going to NamesCon Global in Austin in a couple of weeks, you will have a chance to meet both of them there and also see them on stage in one of the most highly anticipated sessions of show week (June 4-7).

(Image from Bigstock)

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.ART Registry Celebrates 7th Birthday With Over a Quarter Million Art Lovers Using the Definitive Domain

The .ART domain registry is celebrating its 7th birthday this month. Since launching on May 10, 2017, .ART has become the Internet home for over 254,000 artists, creators, museums, galleries, and institutions around the world. Over that time, the TLD has established itself as an essential digital space for artistic expression and cultural engagement. .ART earned that position by consistently leading various initiatives, leveraging the synergy between art and technology, that clearly demonstrated their commitment to nurturing a dynamic community of creatives and art enthusiasts.

Here are just a few of the many examples and milestones the registry has to celebrate today:

• Art Therapy Initiative: Establishing a $1 million scholarship fund for Art Therapy graduate studies at George Washington University, .ART continues to support programs that harness creativity for healing, positively impacting lives and communities.

• Presence at AAM Annual Meeting: Demonstrating ongoing support for museums and cultural institutions, .ART will again participate in the American Alliance of Museums’ annual meeting. 

• Healing Powers of Art: This year, .ART was proud to have produced an impactful documentary exploring the therapeutic roles of art in mental well-being.

• Digital Innovation in Art Award: For the seventh year, .ART proudly sponsors this award as part of GP Bullhound’s ALLSTARS, celebrating technological creativity in the art world. Learn more and enter here. 

• Meet the .ARTists: A series of monthly live-streamed webinars that has elevated the profiles of diverse talents within our community. The growing awareness of .ART has attracted notable figures and businesses like Sharon Stone (SharonStone.art) and rising AI star Pika (Pika.art), underlining the expansive appeal of the .ART domain. 

• Launch of ID.art in Beta: The beta launch of ID.art marks a significant advancement in digital identity, offering innovative tools for artists and creators to showcase their work and connect globally

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Nordic Domain Days 2024 Wrapped With a Record Crowd on Hand for Non-Stop Networking and Updates on the Latest Industry Trends

On Monday we told you about the Nordic Domain Days (NDD) conference getting underway that day in Stockholm, Sweden. The two-day show concluded Tuesday evening (May 14, 2024) with another record crowd on hand for the event that Lars "LG" Forsberg founded in 2015. Once the dust settled in Sweden's beautiful capital city, we circled back around to LG to get his take on how things went this year.

"Nordic Domain Days 2024 built upon the success of our previous events, and our attendees could tell that this was the case from the feedback we received during the event," Forsberg began, with his eye already on the next one. "This was our seventh event in nine years, and next year will be our 10th anniversary. While we cannot reveal the dates, it's safe to say that NDD 2025 will happen in Stockholm in mid-May unless something earth-shattering happens."

May 13 & 14, 2024 - Stockholm

Above: Stage host and moderator Robert Jacobi welcomed a capacity crowd  to Nordic Domain Days 2024. (All photos in this article are courtesy of Nordic Domain Days).

Below: At center, IT.com Director of Channel Development Tess Diaz was
one of many Americans who made the trip to Stockholm for NDD 2024.

LG noted, "Something unique about this iteration of Nordic Domain Days was the composition of the audience. With ICANN CPS in Paris the week before, a larger portion of our crowd came from North America and the Asia Pacific region, as they were already in Europe. The NDD team is always happy to see new people at the conference, and with yet another growth spurt at roughly 20% over last year, we are in or around the sweet spot of our desired size."

Above & Below: Every survey of domain industry conference attendees produces
 the same results - the main reason people go to conferences is to take advantage of the 
networking opportunities. Proving them was job #1 for the NDD 2024 team.

LG confirmed that, noting, "It has always been the team's intention to maintain a specific size for the event, not exceeding 400 attendees. This deliberate choice allows us to prioritize the quality of our venues and the intimacy of our space, ensuring that each attendee feels valued and can engage in meaningful conversations. The idea behind Nordic Domain Days has always been to be a place for Excellent Networking and good conversations. 

Above & below: NDD 2024 attendees building new relationships and strengthening existing ones. 

While the emphasis on networking that did not come at the expense of an exceptional business agenda that was jam-packed with informative and invaluable presentations and panel discussions. LG noted, "Our main stage agenda is an integral part of NDD and we will always provide it to facilitate conversations before and after each session."

The dozens of business sessions at NDD 2024 gave attendees plenty to think and talk about, including (above) a presentation from Radix's Varun Punjabi who provided "A Deep Dive into an E-commerce Seller's Journey & E-commerce Domains".

Another (below) featured Sedo's Christian Voss (left) and Team Internet's Matthias Kaiser (center) with Domain Crawler's Rickard Vikstrom to talk about Domain Mastery: Navigating Success in Traffic Domain Investing.

LG added, "This year, there was also a focus on collaboration in tackling DNS Abuse and Registrant Data Validation. The EU directive NIS2 was heavily featured, as was e-identification. On the other hand, NDD 2024 held our first-ever Aftermarket session, which was very well received. I can already disclose that NDD 2025 will feature even more on this particular subject," LG added.

Above (left to right): Braden Pollock (LegalBrandMarketing.com), Alan Shiflett (GoDaddy) and Giuseppe Gaziano (GGRG.com) presented NDD's inaugural session dedicated to the domain Aftermarket. 

In conclusion he noted LG Forsberg added, "The NDD team and I are very happy with how the event turned out, and we can't stress enough that to make this event happen, we rely on our many partner's support and the attendance of our awesome industry!"

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Experts from Both Sides of the Atlantic Gathered in Sweden for Today's Start of Nordic Domain Days

LG Forsberg founded Nordic Domain Days in 2015 to serve as a yearly domain industry event for the Nordic geographical and cultural region that encompasses Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. The industry as a whole knows no bounds though, so well-run regional conferences like this continue to attract increasingly larger crowds year after year as domain professionals from other parts of the world come in to make or strengthen connections in the world's fastest growing markets.  

The 2024 edition of Nordic Domain Days that got underway at the Clarion Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden today is no exception with domain pros from the U.S., the UK, throughout Europe and beyond on hand for two full days of wide ranging business sessions and face to face networking.

May 13 & 14, 2024 - Stockholm

Sedo Premium Broker Mark Ghoriafi and GoDaddy Domain Investing Community Manager James Iles (who is also an outstanding journalist) are there and are sharing some photos with us so we can give you a peak into the busy proceedings.

Things actually got off to an early start Sunday evening (May 12) when Forsberg (standing at top center) welcomed some of the first to arrive in Stockholm to a VIP Dinner. 

Above: Braden Pollock (LegalBrandMarketing.com), Nordic Domain Days Founder LG Forsberg and Sedo Premium Broker Mark Ghoriafi ready for the show to begin this morning in Stockholm.

Above: Of the 15 business sessions held on opening day one of special interest to domain investors was this afternoon discussion about the current state of The Aftermarket that featured (left to right) LegalBrandMarketing.com Founder and angel investor Braden Pollock, GoDaddy Senior Director of Global Sales and Product Leadership Alan Shiflett and Host Giuseppe Graziano, the Founder of brokerage and consulting firm GGRG.com.

LG Forsberg noted that this was the first Nordic Domain Days session ever to focus solely on the domain aftermarket. The panelists gave the audience advice on how to build and manage a successful domain name portfolio while also sharing insights into recent aftermarket trends.

As we write this, opening day at NDD was winding down with a Grand Social Event at the Living Room Bar & Main Stage at the Clarion. 

Of course, one of the premier attractions at Nordic Domain Days is the historic and beautiful host city, Stockholm, Sweden.

Enjoying an evening stroll around Stockholm are (left to right): Mark Ghoriafi, Nicole Derseweh (Creator and CEO at Love Lox), Braden Pollock, Alan Shiflett, GoDaddy Marketing Director Trip Briscoe and James Iles.

Day 2 of Nordic Domain Days gets underway bright and early Tuesday morning at 9:30am (local time) and continues through a 7pm Farewell Dinner.

(Posted May 13, 2024) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
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Revelation of  $8,515,000 Price Paid for Gold.com Ramps Up Buzz for Andrew Miller's Appearance at NamesCon Global

Coming off last month's news that Hilco Digital Assets Managing Director Andrew Miller helped broker the $15.5 million sale of Chat.com last year (the 2nd highest publicly reported domain sale of all time), anticipation has been building for Andrew's keynote session at the upcoming NamesConGlobal conference in Austin, Texas (June 5-8). Thanks to George Kirikos, who just reported the previously undisclosed $8,515,000 price paid for Gold.com in March, the needle on the buzz meter has just been pinned to the right because Andrew's hands are all over this one too. 

In a post on his FreeSpeech.com site, George revealed he found the exact price paid for the domain in an SEC filing made by the parent company of subsidiary JM Bullion, the new owner of the domain. Long time readers know George has been bringing gems like this to light for over 20 years now. That information has given the industry at large a huge boost in credibility as these sales clearly demonstrate how valuable these top tier assets can be. 

With the sale a public record now, Andrew was able to confirm George's reporting of yet another blockbuster win for the Hilco team. Coincidentally, Andrew also happens to be the subject of our current cover story, titled The Sound of Success: How Record Breaking Domain Deal Maker Andrew Miller Keeps Hitting the Highest Notes. If you aren't already familiar with his story (one we first chronicled in one of our earliest cover stories back in 2005), checking out the new profile will give you some great insight into how Miller has been consistently orchestrating deals at this level for so long.

We will be adding the Gold.com sale to our charts when our next bi-weekly domain sales report comes out Wednesday evening (May 15). It will take over the top spot on our Year To Date Top Domain Sales Chart, at a price that is over 7 times higher than the current leader. Gold.com will also take a place among the 10 highest verified publicly reported sales of all time.

Andrew Miller

(Posted May 10. 2024) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
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After Successful Debut in Dubai Last Fall, Domain Days Answers Call for an Encore With Release of November Dates 

With Nordic Domain Days coming up next week in Stockholm, NamesCon Global set to go next month in Austin, Texas and the London Domain Summit following in August, the 2024 domain industry conference calendar is really starting to heat up. That being the case, it seems appropriate that the year's final major event, will be held in the UAE's dynamic desert metropolis, Dubai, on November 5th and 6th. That's when Domain Days will return for an encore after a very successful launch last fall. 

Domains Days Founder Munir Badr announced the 2024 dates when the show will return to the  popular venue where it launched last year, the Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah. Munir said ticket sales and hotel reservations will be opening later this month. 

The ground-breaking 2023 event, with IT.com Domains as the title sponsor, attracted nearly 200 attendees and 40 speakers from around the 

world. The Internet Commerce Association's Legal Counsel, Zak Muscovitch, was a featured speaker. Zak said, "After only a few minutes at Domain Days it was clear that Munir had exceeded all expectations and put on a first class domain name conference, not to be missed. Everything about Domain Days is top notch including facilities, organization, speakers, and attendees." 

LegalBrandMarketing.com CEO Braden Pollock, who also served as a moderator at Domain Days, added, "What I enjoyed the most about Domain Days was not only were there lots of familiar faces, but I also met serious players from other parts of the world that don’t normally make it to US based domain conferences. After the first event, it became a must-attend conference."

These scenes (above and below) from the 2023 edition of Domain Days provide a peek at how Munir Badr and his team utilized the spectacular Dubai skyline and harbor to provide an unforgettable backdrop for their debut event. They are committed to making the 2024 conference even better and will be giving us updates to share with you as they develop in the weeks ahead.

(Posted May 6, 2024) To refer others to the post above only (and not the full Lowdown column) you can use this URL:
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