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Diana
and I arrived
in
Valencia, Spain Tuesday evening (April 24)
a little after 6pm local time to get ready for the
Domaining
Europe 2012 conference that will be
held here Thursday through Saturday (April
26-28) at the Sorolla Palace Hotel. Show
founder Dietmar Stefitz, who, with the help
of veteran conference organizer Jodi
Chamberlain, is staging his fourth
industry event here, surprised us by appearing at
the airport to personally welcome us and drive us
to the sleek Sorolla Palace where we were ushered
into a top floor suite overlooking this beautiful
city on Spain's Mediterranean coast.
Knowing
this would be our first visit to Domaining Europe,
the keynote speakers from Dietmar's last
conference, Michael
and David Castello, had told us to be
prepared to be wowed by the city, its
friendly people and the hospitality shown by
Dietmar, the show host who runs Inverdom.com.
They were certainly right on all counts. |
The
Sorolla Palace Hotel - Valencia, Spain
Site of Domaining Europe 2012
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Shortly
after we checked in we rendezvouzed for dinner
with Jodi and two of the show's earliest arrivals,
veteran domain investor Hennie Groot Lippman
(who came in from Germany) and Daniel
Eisenhut, the Chief Strategy Officer at Luxembourg
based EuroDNS.
(L
to R): Ron and Diana Jackson
(DNJournal.com), Jodi Chamberlain
(Co-Producer,
Domaining Europe 2012), Hennie Groot Lippman
and Daniel Eisenhut (EuroDNS) at the
El Timenol Restaurant in Valencia, Spain
Tuesday night (April 24, 2012).
One
of Valencia's many claims to fame is that it is the
birthplace of the famous Spanish dish paella.
So, all of us but Daniel (who opted for octopus!)
ordered the local favorite. After the very
enjoyable dinner (that followed an all night
flight from Tampa to Atlanta to Paris to Valencia)
we headed back to the hotel for a much need good
night's sleep.
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With
a free day today (Wednesday, April 25), we
took Dietmar's advice to get onboard one of
the Valencia Bus Turistic double
decker hop on hop off buses to best see the
city's many attractions.
When
the bus arrived at the famed Santa
Maria Cathedral at Plaza de
la Reina, we hopped off to tour the
indescribably beautiful 13th century
landmark that is home to a chalice that many
believe is the Holy Grail (the cup
that Jesus and his disciples drank
from at the Last Supper).
We
saw the impressive vessel along with the
countless works of priceless art, statuary
and architecture that make this one of the most breath-taking buildings on the
planet.
After
touring the cathedral and enjoying a diet
busting lunch on the plaza (gelato and a
giant chocolate filled croissant) we
jumped on another bus to continue the city
tour. We enjoyed it so much we are going to
return tomorrow morning for a second
circuit. The one we took today was a historic
route. The other offering is a tour of the waterfront
and the futuristic architectural gems in
that district.
We'll
get back in time for the official opening of
the conference at 4pm Thursday when DomainHoldings.com
CEO Jason Boshoff will speak at the
first session. I'll be on stage at 7pm to
moderate the day's closing session on New
gTLDs. |
The
stunning Santa Maria Cathedral
towering over
Plaza de la Reina in Valencia,
Spain (April 25, 2012)
An
inside view of the Santa Maria Cathedral
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Domaining
Europe 2012 Founder Dietmar Stefitz
and Diana Jackson at tonight's
impromptu dinner at
La Piazza in Valencia, Spain (April
25, 2012) |
By
the time we got back to the hotel this
evening many more attendees had arrived at
the Sorolla Palace to check in early for the
start of the show tomorrow afternoon. About
two dozen of those guests met in the hotel
lobby at 8pm for some informal networking
that morphed into an impromptu dinner at a
nearby Italian restaurant - La Piazza.
Led
by Dietmar and Jodi, the group walked in
unannounced, transforming an otherwise slow
weekday night into a bonanza for the
delighted restaurant owner. In keeping with
the "domain family" nature of the
gathering, Dietmar arranged to have a wide
variety of dishes brought out to each table
to be shared family style. |
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(L
tor R) PPX International Chairman Gregg
McNair, Melissa Gabriel (wife of
DomainAdvisors.com President Jeff Gabriel)
and NameDrive.com Director of Business
Development Kamila Sekiewicz were
among those in the Italian dinner
"flash mob"
Wednesday night (April 25, 2012) at La
Piazza in Valencia, Spain.
The
only problem was that this unplanned dinner
was not part of the original conference
agenda (nor its budget). That left
the restaurant staff facing the unwelcome
task of compiling a huge stack of individual
checks. Toby Clements of TobyClements.com
instantly became their hero (and the
winner of a hearty round of applause from
his dining companions) when he decided on
the spot to make his company the sponsor
of the dinner (an honorific accompanied by
both widespread appreciation and a stiff
tab!) |
Domaining
Europe 2012 Pre-Show Dinner Sponsor Toby
Clements and his wife Stephanie
at Wednesday night's impromptu event at La
Piazza in Valencia, Spain (April 25,
2012).
Toby
will also be a featured member of the show's first
panel discussion - Sell Your Domain: A
Broker's Roundtable - Thursday afternoon
at 4:30pm. I'll have photos and highlights from
that session and all of the other opening day
events in my next post from Spain. |
