I took part in the Meetup this afternoon after accepting Jodi's invitation to conduct  back to back fireside chats with two very special women. I first interviewed Neustar VP of Registry Services and long time friend Lori Anne Wardi who had a great story to tell about helping build .CO from scratch into an asset that Neustar spent $100 million to acquire last year (Neustar wisely made Lori Anne  part of their top management team after the acquisition). The audience clearly enjoyed the session and took Lori Anne's very good advice to heart.

Immediately after talking with Lori Anne, world class special effects makeup artist Bonnie Wiener - known as Bloody Mary -  joined me on stage to tell her remarkable story. When Bonnie's plastic surgeon husband unexpectedly walked out on her she had to start over from scratch. On a whim she took an FX makeup course and went on to be one of the  

Neustar VP Lori Anne Wardi and DNJournal's Ron Jackson right before their fireside chat today at the Women's Meetup in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

world's greatest make up artists for movies and TV - specializing in blood and gore - hence the Bloody Mary brand. Bonnie has worked on many major movies including blockbuster Titanic and hit TV shows like The Walking Dead.

Bonnie became so well-known after Titanic she started selling he own lines of makeup and is now the #1 supplier of camouflage makeup to the U.S. military and has licenses to sell sports team face paint for dozens of pro and college teams. It is a multi-million dollar business that also led to the publishing of her book I Can Do This: The Bloody Mary Story. She also wrote a comic book that has been licensed by Universal. Hers is an amazing story of someone turning a major setback into a huge triumph and I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing her.

Bonnie Wiener - AKA Bloody Mary - during our fireside chat this afternoon.

The Women's Meetup will conclude with another full day tomorrow - coinciding with the first day of pre-show cabana networking for THE Domain conference. On Sunday there will be another day at the cabanas plus an entire day of conference inside a conference sessions for DOMAINfest at THE Domain Conference. TDC Then officially opens with a Welcome Party Sunday night. I'll have daily photos and highlights for you here.

(Posted September 25, 2015)