Today in The Lowdown: The stars are lining up for the Domainer Mardi Gras conference that runs in New Orleans Thursday through Saturday of this week. With the world famous Mardi Gras celebration as a backdrop, DMG already had a lot of appeal and now with the city also celebrating the Saints first Super Bowl win ever this week's show is shaping up to be one people will never forget.

The State of the Industry January 2010: We Asked 16 Domain Experts If We Hit Bottom in 2009 and Will See a Rebound in the New Year 

The severe global recession that started in 2008 and continued through 2009 hasn't been kind to many businesses, including our own. Yes, we have fared better than most others, especially the traditional media platforms with whom domain owners and developers directly compete for advertising revenue. However, this high flying industry has had to shoulder more than a little pain of its own.

The important question now is having gone through such a major downturn, is the worst behind us? Can we expect better times in 2010? To get some answers to those question we consulted some of the industry's leading domain investors and developers, top level company executives, monetization experts and attorneys for our 6th annual State of the Industry Cover Story. 

As always, to keep things fresh, we called on several new contributors as well as respected industry veterans who have shared their expertise with us in the past. 
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Opportunity is Knocking and DOMAINfest Global 2010 Attendees Are Ready to Answer After Record Breaking Show in Santa Monica

By Ron Jackson

After debuting with three consecutive top notch annual shows in Hollywood, California, Los Angeles based Oversee.net took the risk of tampering with success and moved their popular DOMAINfest Global conference across town for the 2010 edition that ran January 26-28 in Santa Monica. I've always believed in the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but soon after arriving at the new venue, I understood that the show's organizers were putting their faith in a different time tested axiom, "never rest on your laurels."

That philosophy and a willingness to spend the time and money it takes to continually one up themselves resulted in a record breaking crowd turning out in Santa Monica where DOMAINfest Global cemented its reputation as a can't miss event.  Click here for the Full Story 

Extreme Makeover - A New Leader, New Venue and New Format Made the 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas Conference a Pivotal Event

By Ron Jackson

The 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas conference that  ran at the Hard Rock Hotel January 21-23 marked a turning point in the popular series that began with the first large scale domain show in October 2004. This was the first time that conference co-founders Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu were not at the helm of a T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in America.  Under a new partnership agreement, Schwartz and Neu turned the operation of five of this year's six T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows to Rick Latona - starting with the Las Vegas event. 

Latona introduced several changes with this conference, including a new show venue at the Hard Rock Hotel and a revamped show schedule. Despite a technical snafu that interrupted the live domain auction, the overall end result was another crowd pleasing show that upheld the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. tradition.  Click here for the Full Story 

2010 Domainer Mardi Gras Preview: Show Director Michael Ward Tells Us What's in Store in New Orleans Feb. 11-13

By Ron Jackson

After a successful debut last year, the Domainer Mardi Gras conference returns to New Orleans February 11-13 for a unique, fun-filled event that plays out right in the middle of the Big Easy's world famous Mardi Gras celebration. This year's event will move even closer to the action with the show's new location at the New Orleans Marriott, located just two blocks away from Bourbon Street.

The show got off of the right foot last year with a crowd pleasing event that drew universally positive reviews. People had so much fun that DMG's biggest challenge this time around may be topping their own performance from a year ago. We hooked up with DMG Executive Director Michael Ward to find out how he plans to make the 2010 edition of Domainer Mardi Gras even better.     
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Domainer Mardi Gras returns to 
New Orleans Feb. 11-12