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We
arrived at the Tropicana Hotel
in Las Vegas late Monday afternoon,
joining almost 600 others who are
converging at the beautifully renovated
property for the debut edition of NamesCon,
the highly anticipated conference founded
by industry veteran Richard Lau
that is being orchestrated with the
invaluable help of show co-ordinators Jodi Chamberlain
and Jothan Frakes. 
A
view of the Tropical Hotel entrance shot
early Monday evening (Jan. 13, 2014)
as the first NamesCon conference was getting
ito full swing at the Las Vegas
landmark. 
At
the registration desk, Todd Reum and his
wife Jeanette get their badges from NamesCom
staffer Justin Bush. Todd and Jeanette
were two of 581 people that had
registered for NamesCon by late Monday
afternoon. More are expected to register on site
today before the first business sessions
begin. 
While
people were registering at the entrance to the
conference center, Jothan Frakes (on the
stage where conference sessions will take place
starting today) held an orientation session
for the 100 speakers that will be
fetaured in 30 business sessions today
and tomorrow. Jothan and Jodi Chamberlain both
have extensive experience in staging domain
industry conferences and, though ths is the
first for NamesCon Founder Richard Lau, his
reputation has helped attract a remarkably large
and diverse group of registrants, speakers and
sponsors for a show that was announced only
three months ago. 
At
8pm last night, the first big event of NamesCon,
the .XYZ
Opening Night Cocktal Party, hosted by the
founder of the Las Vegas based new gTLD
registry, Daniel
Negari, got underway in the Tropicana
Lounge with a wall to wall crowd on hand. 
Some
special guests at the opening night party with NamesCon's
Jothan Frakes (far left) were (left to right
after Jothan) Las Vegas Mayor Pro Tem
Stavros S. Anthony (the city's 2nd
highest ranking official), DotVegas
President and CEO James Trevino and
DotVegas's Tyson Mackay. NamesCon
has attracted a vibrant mix of industry veterans
and newcomers alike. It was a pleasure for us to
see some long time industry friends and
colleagues in person for the first time in
years, including Donna Mahony, Brian
Null, Grant Keiser and Dale Porter,
just to name a few. 
Above
(left to right) Diana Jackson, Domain
Boardroom founder Donna Mahony
and Domain Boardroom member David Harrison
at NamesCon's Opening Night Party hosted
by .XYZ. 
Familiar
and always friendly faces in the crowd also
included (above)
DomainCapital's Gregg Freeman (left)
with veteran domain investor Page
Howe. And
below, three members of a huge Go
Daddy contingent at NamesCon,
a group that totaled at least 16 at last count:
(left to right) Greg Silvius (my long
time executive account manager), Aftermarket
Director Paul Nicks and Director of Sales
Operations at Afternic.com/GoDaddy Dave
Helgeson. 
The first
full day of business at NamesCon get
underway at 9:55am local time today (12:55pm in
the Eastern U.S.). It will be a very busy day
with a jam packed agenda
followed by the show's signature
social/networking event, Water
Night, that gets underway at 8pm at
the Tropicana. Water Night is also a major
fundraiser for a great charity - the Water
School. I'll
have the photos and highlights from today and
tonight's activities for you in this column
tomorrow. NamesCon continues through
Wednesday evening with a half-dozen keynote
speakers among the main events scheduled over
the next two days.
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