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I've
really missed geodomain
conferences but, after a 5-year
hiatus, that hole in the show
calendar's heart will finally be
filled in May 2016. I
got word from Josh Metnick,
the co-founder of the original GeoDomain
Expos (the last of which was
held in New Orleans in 2010),
that he is organizing a new event
called GEO.CEO,
that will put geodomains and apps
front and center once again. The
event will be staged May 4-6,
2016 in Los
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Angeles
at the Hyatt Regency LAX
Hotel which currently has a
massive $60 million
remodeling project underway (the
property was known as The Concourse
before Hyatt purchased it last
summer and began the renovations
expected to be completed in
1Q-2016)). This will be the first
geodomain specific conference since
an event called the GeoPublishers
Expo was held in Chicago
in 2011.
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GEO.CEO
Founder Josh Metnick |
Metnick
gave himself 11 months of
lead time because he is
intent on getting everything
right to make sure GEO.CEO
will be a show that is here
to stay. If you take a look
at the Participants
page on the
GEO.CEO website you will see
he is already off to a
great start with Dan
Pulcrano
(Boulevards MetroNews), Ammar
Kubba (ThoughtConvergence),
Jothan
Frakes (FrakesOnAPlane.com),
Michael
Berkens (TheDomains.com),
Monte
Cahn (RightOfTheDot.com),
Mark
Daniel (DomainHoldings),
Nat
Cohen (Telepathy
Inc.), Page
Howe (Dot LA), Tom
Brackey (Brackey
& Freund), George
Minardos (dotBuild)
and Tommy
Butler (Glasgow.com)
among the many industry
leaders already confirmed
with many more to be
announced in the months
ahead (I will be there too
of course). |
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The
things I loved most about
the geo shows were the people
(extremely bright
entrepreneurs who were all
about building businesses)
and the development
focused agenda. Clearly
both will return in a big
way at GEO,CEO. Metnick
already has a list of topics
likely to be tackled next
May including: |
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Some
variation on Geo.com vs.
word.Geo vs. Geo.gTLD -- with a
positive tone. i.e.,
"Plenty of room for innovation,
plenty of room everybody"
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The
future of mapping technology
integration & 3D/VR mapping
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Myanmar,
Cuba, Vietnam, Space --
marketing online to formerly
closed destinations
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Special
sessions on monetizing
State.com's and State-focused
websites
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"Micro-moments"
-- designing for micro-attention
spans
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Implementing
cohesive web/mobile/app
strategies
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Best
Geodomain software platforms
(including insight into how
Tommy Butler manages to maintain
900 websites around the Glasgow
area alone)
Tours
of the L.A. offices of ICANN and
Google are also on the preliminary
agenda. With so many new
gTLDs based on geo locations now
live (like .nyc, .london
and .berlin) and many more
coming, plus the continuing and even
growing strength of .com
geodomains, Metnick, the former
owner of Chicago.com, thinks
the time is right for a new geo
focused show. It looks like he has
landed a great venue too. The
renovations underway at the Grand
Hyatt LAX include a brand new conference
center and the largest
ballroom space in the LAX area. While
Metnick is planning for 500
attendees, there is enough room to accommodate
as many as 1,500.
Artist's
rendering of the new ballroom at the
Grand Hyatt LAX Hotel
The
Grand Hyatt LAX will also have a new
Event Lawn providing open
air space in an oasis like
setting and state of the art
guest rooms featuring 55” flat
screen televisions in all rooms. You
couldn't ask for a more convenient
hotel to the Los Angeles airport
either. The Hyatt is the closest
hotel to LAX and it has a
complimentary shuttle that runs every
10 minutes (though the hotel
is closest to the airport, the
rooms have been sound-proofed.
It is the only property at LAX that
has double-soundproof windows
to eliminate airport noise).
Registration
for the CEO.GEO is already open
with a $699 early bird ticket
available (after that sale ends the
door price of $1,599 will be in
effect). You can get GEO.CEO updates
as they are posted by boomakring
either GEOCEOConference.com
or GEO.CEO.
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