With the opening sessions at two major domain conferences, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in Milan, Italy and the GeoDomain Expo in New Orleans,  less than three weeks away the agendas are firming up for both events. 

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. promoter Rick Latona just announced on his blog that representatives from France's fast growing .fr reigstry, AFNIC, will be in Milan. Until recently the .fr registry was one of the most tightly regulated ccTLD extensions in the world but AFNIC has loosened the reins to make the extension more accessible and that is fueling growth for .fr.  

AFNIC just published a very interesting white paper (.pdf file) on the global secondary market for domain names and it is refreshing to see a fair and balanced view of professional domain investors in their report. 

In keeping with the show's ccTLD theme, many other registries will also be featured at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Milan including Russia's .ru administrator that is sending three representatives to the show. With interest in the conference ramping up the official show hotel, the Milan Marriott has now sold out, however Latona provided links to some nearby alternatives in another blog post yesterday. The event runs April 27-29 so now is the time to act if you want to be part of it. You can review the full agenda here. 

Speaking of hotel rooms, the GeoDomain Expo, scheduled for April 28-30 at the Roosevelt Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New Orleans, got some good news today. The hotel had told the Expo that any remaining rooms in their block would be taken back today and made available to the huge crowd of people coming into town for the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival that will be running at the same time. However, the hotel relented today and gave the Expo one more week (through Wednesday, April 14) to offer rooms for the conference at a discounted rate. 

With that concession, the GeoDomain Expo decided to also extend their early bird registration rate ($995) through the 14th as well. After that it will go up to $1,195.