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With
the ongoing explosion of interest in the domain business, more
people than ever are looking for information and networking
opportunities with industry experts. Against that backdrop, DomainSponsor.com
(will full support from parent company Oversee.net) decided
to throw their hat in the major trade show ring by staging their
first DOMAINfest Global conference Jan. 31 – Feb. 3, 2007
in Hollywood, California.
They
came up with a perfect venue, the new Renaissance Hotel that
is part of the Hollywood & Highland shopping and
entertainment complex that also houses the Kodak Theater
(site of the movie world’s annual Oscar ceremonies) and Mann’s
Chinese Theater (known for its courtyard featuring the
handprints of Hollywood legends that have been permanently captured
in cement). The south side of the complex fronting Hollywood Boulevard
features the famed Walk of Stars while the Hollywood sign
looks down on the development from the hills facing the north side of the block.
The
Tinseltown setting provided a great stage for the many domain
industry stars who were on the program or just showed up to be a
part of the festivities. The show ran exceptionally well, especially
for a debut event of this size. DomainSponsor did host a pair of
smaller regional events last year in Barcelona, Spain and Los
Angeles and those “test flights” seem to have served them
well in preparing to join T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and Domain
Roundtable in the conference big leagues.
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Renaissance
Hotel - Hollywood, California
site of DOMAINfest Global 2007
Hollywood
sign - shot from the window
of our 9th floor room at the Renaissance
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Of
course, no one was surprised that Oversee and DomainSponsor would
prove to be terrific hosts. The company already had a legendary
reputation for the DomainSponsor parties that have been fixtures at
previous T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conferences. They had another unforgettable
party at this event and that soiree alone would have been worth the
remarkably low $395 conference registration fee (and even that sum
was refunded to DomainSponsor customers who did a minimal amount of
business with the domain monetization company).
DomainSponsor
is a giant in the PPC (pay per click) space so prior to the event we
had wondered how much sponsorship support they would get from other PPC companies for a show they would control. We were also curious to
see how aggressively the company would push the DomainSponsor
service during what was billed to be a general interest conference.
These were potential land mines that they managed to navigate with
aplomb.
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Sedo
booth in exhibit hall |
They
were able to persuade several competing PPC companies to sign on as
sponsors or set up in the exhibition hall, including Sedo.com,
Parked.com, Klickerz.com and iMonetize.com to name a few. If they
promised those companies they would be given a level playing field
during the show then they delivered. I never heard DomainSponsor
plugged or pushed during conference programs nor were they even
mentioned in signage dotting the show areas. Instead,
the company ran a separate track for DomainSponsor customers who
wanted to learn more about their latest system on a completely
separate floor of the hotel.
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Scene
from DomainSponsor User Track |
An
identical program for DomainSponsor users was presented
on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 so there was ample opportunity to
take part in the primary show track as well as sample
DomainSponsor wares for those so inclined. Many took advantage of
the opportunity to learn more about their new customizable landing
pages that allow user to choose multiple styles and graphics
(including uploading their own). You can rotate a variety of
different landers then use the new statistical reporting features to
see which landers result in the most conversions for your domain.
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This
dual track approach worked, giving the conference an independent
feel while at the same time giving the organizers an opportunity to
introduce themselves to new customers or provide guidance to
existing ones through the separate track a floor above the general
proceedings.
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got underway Wednesday evening (Jan. 31) with a brief orientation
session conducted by DomainSponsor’s Director of Business
Development, Ron Sheridan. He said that more than 300 paid attendees
were on hand and approximately 400 people overall with the speakers
and exhibitors factored in. Sheridan said the show agenda had been
shaped by requests they had received from the domain community. The
entire 160-person Oversee.net staff seemed to have a hand in making
it work as they had representatives everywhere making sure showgoers
were happy and had their questions or concerns promptly answered.
Shortly
after Sheridan kicked off the event, the crowd headed for the
opening night cocktail party, sponsored by Ask.com, at the Twist
Lounge, located just a few hundred yards away from the show’s main
conference room. |
Ron
Sheridan, DOMAINfest Global |
These social events often prove to be the most
productive parts of any conference. Certainly the panel sessions
provide very useful information on just about any sector of the
industry you might have an interest in, but the personal
relationships are forged at the parties, networking sessions and in
the hallways between events. None of those opportunities should be
missed.
This
opening night event went very well with excellent food available in
every corner of the room as well as at a central buffet line next to
the open bar. The lounge was jammed with old friends who spent the
evening catching up as well as people meeting each other for the
first time (many seeing friends made online face to face for the
first time).
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Above - opening night cocktail party
Left - attendees enjoy top notch buffet |
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Russ
Goodwin (Tidewinds Group) at left
with veteran domain investors
Grant Keiser & Donna Mahony |
Jude
Augusta (Internet Commerce Association Exec. Director), Tom
Murphy (BuyDomains) & Richard Meyer (American
Marketing) |
Before the evening was over I met at least half a dozen
people I have known on the domain forums for years, but had never
met in person. It was a particular treat to finally meet Donna
Mahony and her husband James. Donna has been selflessly helping
people learn about domains longer than I have been in this industry
(she was also featured in our February 2005 Cover Story on
women in the domain business).
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first full day of business Thursday (Feb. 1) got underway at 9am
with welcoming comments from Oversee.net CEO and Co-Founder Lawrence
Ng. The 28-year-old Ng is a remarkable example of just how much a
smart, motivated person can accomplish on the Internet, regardless
of their age. I had met Ng several times before but never had the
chance to be around him as much as I was at DOMAINfest Global. He is
an extremely personable and gracious man and I soon came to
understand that the warmth and hospitality I have witnessed from
everyone in his company (not just personally but in the way I have
seen them interact with others) is a direct manifestation of the way
Ng conducts himself.
Ng
talked about where the industry is going with great optimism,
especially now that we are witnessing massive amounts of advertising
money leaving traditional media outlets for the web. |
Lawrence
Ng
CEO and Co-Founder, Oversee.net |
Ng
then introduced
the first of the day’s two keynote speakers, the Internet Real
Estate Group’s Chief Visionary Officer, Mike “Zappy” Zapolin,
who was accompanied on the dais by company President Andrew Miller
(Zapolin
and Miller were featured in our September 2005 Cover Story about their
trailblazing firm).
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Mike
"Zappy" Zapolin
Internet Real Estate Group
Andrew
Miller
Internet Real Estate Group |
IREG
holds a phenomenal group of one-word category-defining domains likes
Software.com, Phone.com, Podcast.com, Chocolate.com,
Luggage.com,
Sweepstakes.com and many others. Zapolin recounted the company’s
remarkable history which included buying Beer.com for just $80,000
and selling it three months later for $7 million! They have also
developed and sold such gems as Diamonds.com, Computer.com and
CreditCards.com. These days, with the value of such prime Internet
real estate readily apparent, they are far more interested in
developing and holding their domains than selling.
They
have started adding Web 2.0 components to their properties that were
not available two years ago and Zapolin said this is helping to add
great value to their sites. For those not familiar with the term,
Web 2.0 generally refers to sites that have social networking
components that allow easy interaction between visitors such as
blogs, wikis or chat rooms and the ability to post user generated
content. The strategy engenders loyalty and repeat visitors to sites
that do a good job of implementing such features.
Zapolin
and Miller both emphasized the many advantages that a strong generic
domain provides, including critical search engine positioning. For
example, a Google search for chocolate brings up their Chocolate.com
ahead of the sites run by such world famous brands as Hersheys.com,
Godiva.com and Ghirardelli.com. This fact is one that many major
brand owners have still failed to recognize. Owning the generic name
of your industry makes you the gatekeeper for the entire category.
People usually search for the product before the brand and you
can direct the traffic from those search inquiries to any brand you
wish.
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Zapolin
and Miller covered far more ground than we can detail in this piece
about the entire conference, but DOMAINfest organizers plan to make
a DVD available that will allow you to hear what all of the speakers
had to say verbatim. Having access to the business building advice
provided by Zapolin, Miller and the other conference speakers we
will undoubtedly be well worth the price.
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Jeff
Kupietzky
General Manager, Oversee.net |
Next
up was a panel session on Financial Planning for domain investors
that included CPA Selwyn Gerber and four executives from Bank of
America; Sheena Malek, Rita Young, Keith Drake and
Ray Vasquez.
Oversee General Manager Jeff Kupietzky served as the moderator.
It
was very encouraging to see a mainstream bank like Bank of America
taking an interest in the domain space. BA is the bank that put
together the $60 million credit facility Oversee was granted last
month to help expand their operations. As banks come to understand
the value of domain names the day is coming when they will be widely
accepted as collateral for loans.
During
the lunch session that followed the financial planning seminar,
attendees were treated to a second keynote address from
TechCrunch.com Editor and Founder Michael Arrington. Arrington
writes the top blog in the technology space and is also intimately
familiar with the domain space after serving as the first CEO of
dropcatcher Pool.com. |
In his tenure at Pool (detailed in our
June
2004 Cover Story) Arrington had spectacular success, though at
DOMAINfest he credited the company’s rise more to Rob Hall and
Taryn Naidu (now with DemandMedia) than his own contributions as
CEO.
Like
Zapolin in the morning keynote, Arrington talked about the positive
impact Web 2.0 features are having on domain values. Arrington noted
the big plus is that user generated content is free. To show you how
valuable that can be, Arrington said MySpace.com (a company based on
this kind of free content) will earn $300 million this year.
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Content
also draws search engine interest which can help elevate any website
in the search rankings. Arrington advised everyone to start a blog,
even if no one reads it!
Arrington
said Web 2.0 elements are also coming to parking pages and that
DemandMedia’s eNom.com was working now on revolutionary pages that
will include content, social networking and community elements
designed to get people to come back to the pages over and over.
As
long as the overall economy remains strong, Arrington said he will
remain bullish on domains. With business startups increasing all
over the globe he pointed out that those companies will need domains
and, as these new businesses are springing up all over the globe,
they will need all kinds of TLDs, though .com will remain the most
important.
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Michael
Arrington
TechCrunch.com Editor & Founder |
Arrington
thinks the domain aftermarket would really explode if it was easier
for people to access available names. Today they are scattered
across multiple venues with differing purchase formats and
requirements.
“Executives are generally clueless about the domain
market so they end up just making up names,” Arrington said.
“Someone needs to hold their hand”. You can bet there are
already companies thinking about ways to make the process as easy as
Arrington envisions.
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