|
Above:
Barbara Neu (left) and Kathy
Kepler (center) at the MERGE!
conference
registration desk where attendees
like Jasmine Gonzalez (right)
signed in for the show Saturday
morning.
Above
& Below: At 12 noon Saturday MERGE!
Co-Founders Ray Neu (left) and Jothan
Frakes officially welcomed their
guests to the 2nd annual edition of
their big event in Orlando.
Above
& Below: MERGE! made sure
attendees got to know each other
with a facilitated networking
session conducted by Howard
Neu that immediately followed
welcoming remarks from the
conference founders. There are a lot
of new people to meet at MERGE!
because the show covers much more
ground that just the domain business
(represented by The Domain
Conference track within MERGE!).
That is just one of six components
in the MERGE! mix - the others
currently being Blockchain, CMS
Summit, SubMERGE! (eCommerce),
Security and TLDFest
(another domain track but this one
focused on new TLDs). Those
"conferences within a
conference" work both
independently as part of the MERGE!
whole. For example, the CMS Summit
held three business sessions
Saturday morning before the overall
show opening at noon Saturday. Since
our readers are predominantly from
the domain space most of our show
coverage will focus on those areas
but we will also be sampling
sessions from other tracks as time
allows. All of the MERGE! components
are integral parts of doing
business on the web so all are
relevant to anyone who has an
interest in moving beyond domains to
full scale development of one or
more websites.
Above:
Trellian/Above.com VP Nancy
Bianchi chatting with a fellow MERGE!
attendees during the facilitated
networking session Saturday. The
session was structured to insure
that attendees could spend one-on
time with around two dozen different
people in the course of the hour.
Above:
In one of two domain track sessions
that started at 2:45 pm Saturday an
expert panel covered Part 1 of what
will be 3 parts devoted to Direct
Advertisers over the course of
the show. This panel featured (left
to right) Sam Tseng (ParkingCrew.com),
Matthias Kaiser (COO,
Traffic.Club SARL), David Warmuz (CEO,
Trellian/Above.com) and moderator Christa
Taylor (CEO, dotTBA Inc.).
Below:
At the same time in a nearby
breakout room Phillipe Collin
(CEO, Frogan's
Addresses for All) conducted
a session on how the Frogan's
namespace can be utilized.
Above.
For 2018, MERGE! has a vastly
expanded, more friendly Exhibit
Hall space that attendees will
want to spend time in. Here GoDaddy
Aftermarket Product Manager
Joe Styler is fielding
questions about the services offered
by the world's largest domain
registrar.
Below:
The Exhibit Hall is a also a great
place to relax with friends over a
game of table tennis, some
time on the nearby golf putting
surface, a spin of the .CLUB
Roulette Wheel (for free gifts) and
other diversions.
Above:
In part 2 of the 3-part series on Direct
Advertisers, a new panel was on
stage at 3:30pm Saturday with this
one featuring (left to right): Marlon
Phillips (VP Sales, Protected
Parking), James Tuplin
(Director of Business Development,
Bodis), Mike Robertson
(Director of Business Develoment,
Fabulous.com) and moderator Christa
Taylor (CEO, dotTBA Inc.).
Below:
They were followed by a second panel
of experts that provided Secrets
of Domain Leasing in the day's
final domain track session. The
panelists were (left to right)
Stevan Lieberman (Attorney,
Greenberg & Lieberman), Jeff
Sass (CMO, .CLUB), Victor
Pitts (Premium Domain Head,
MMX.co) and moderator Alvin Brown
(Publisher, Kickstart
Commerce).
Above
& Below: In the final overall
session of the day Saturday (one
that crossed multiple boundaries in
the MERGE! universe) CrowdSync
Founder Justin Davis delivered a
very well received 90-minute Interactive
Keynote Address. Davis provided
a fast-paced critique of audience members' websites, focusing on user experience and design. By the end of it,
the audience has a new battery of ideas for
their own sites and an entirely new perspective on how to design better experiences online.
Above:
With the business day done, the
place to be after night fell was at
the MERGE! Hospitality Suite,
hosted by Fabulous.com. It is
a comfortable, spacious place to
meet friends and make new ones while
enjoying free snacks and drinks -
the perfect way to cap a busy day at
the conference.
Below:
(Left to right) Mike Robertson
(Fabulous.com), Kevin Kopas
(Co-Founder .ICU Registry) and Kelly
Peterson (Automattic), catching
up in the MERGE! Hospitality
Suite Saturday night.
Above:
Sam Tseng (ParkingCrew.com)
in the center of the action
at the MERGE! Hospitality Suite
Saturday nght.
As
I write this the Sunday business day
is underway with another full slate
of business sessions that will be
followed by The Domain Conference
Welcome Cocktail Party hosted by
Siteplug this evening (with
that in turn followed by another
night in the MERGE! Hospitality
Suite that will be open to all
attendees). I'll have all of the
Sunday photos and highlights for you
in my next post from Orlando.
|
|
|
|
|
(Posted
September 16, 2018) |
|
|
