| future is bright as
the world continues to beat a path through the
Internet's doors, an ever increasing flow of traffic
passing through doors that domain and website owners
hold the keys to.
For those who could not make it to Fort
Lauderdale Beach I'm hopeful this article will allow
you to share an experience that never fails to pay
dividends. While I posted daily photos and
highlights from the conference in our Lowdown
section as the event unfolded, the jam-packed
schedule didn't leave time to include a lot of
photos and details that this complete show
review will give me time and space to accommodate.
If you are interested in seeing the daily
reports posted while the show was underway you can
see those at the links below (we arrived at the Ritz
three days early to do some pre-show
reporting that you will find at the first two
links):
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011 was
supposed to start Sunday morning (Oct. 16) with
networking along cabana row overlooking the Atlantic
Ocean (the cabanas are shown in the photo below
that I snapped on a previous visit to the Ritz last
spring).
Unfortunately
that freak marathon rainstorm drove Sunday's
activities indoors, so only the early birds who
got into town Friday or Saturday had a chance to fully
enjoy the cabanas, a unique attraction that helps make
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s South Florida shows special.
Above:
Some of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. attendees who got into town
early hanging
out at the ParkLogic.com
cabana: (Left to right) George Hong, Mike
O'Connor,
Judi Berkens (and Bandit), Michael
Gilmour, Donny Simonton and Brian Wick.
Below:
Susan Lawrence (Above.com) and Germany's Stefan
Hansmann enjoying
a glass of champagne on cabana row before the storms rolled
in.
The
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. registration desk also moved from
poolside to the indoor conference area where floor to
ceiling windows still gave guests a sweeping view of
the ocean. Right on schedule at 12 noon, the smiling
faces of Barbara
Neu and Alina Schwartz were at the desk
where they began dispensing
show credentials.
Veteran
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. attendee Larry Fischer gets signed
in at
the show's registration desk by Barbara Neu and Alina
Schwartz.
Right after
registration began a networking party got underway
in the same area with guests greeting old friends and making news ones,
oblivious to what had become a steady downpour
outside.
Victor
Pitts, Jason Boshoff (CEO, DomainHoldings.com)
and Jason's wife Tosha
do some catching up Sunday afternoon at the Ritz.
At
4pm those who were making their first trip to a
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference were treated to a newcomers orientation
led by show founders Rick Schwartz and Howard
Neu. The session featured an excellent video
history of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. that was put together by Danny
Pryor.
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
newcomers watching
a special video detailing
the show's history and role in shaping today's
domain industry.
By 6pm Sunday
just about all of the more than 300 T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
attendees had arrived at the Ritz and headed for Sedo's
big opening night cocktail party. The
pioneering domain company also used the occasion to
observe Sedo's 10th anniversary alongside their
industry friends and clients.
(Left
to right): T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder Howard Neu,
Sedo Co-Founder & CEO
Tim Schumacher, Sedo's Director of Sales (North
America) Kathy Nielsen and
Sedo Marketing Associate Keith White get ready to
share a 10th anniversary cake.
Sedo,
whose home base is in Cologne, Germany, brought
some of their homeland's unique flavor to their
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. party with lovely hostesses dressed in
native attire.
Drs.
Chris Hartnett and Linda Hartnett with two of Sedo's
lovely hostesses.
Among
those enjoying the opening night cocktail party were
(left to right): Steven Kaziyev,
Ammar Kubba, Amanda Waltz, Tessa
Holcomb, Bob Olea, Adam Dicker
& Omar Kubba.
Also
on hand to kick off T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2011 at Sedo's
opening night cocktail party were
(left to right): the ModelStore.coms's Bianka
Krausch with Jason Ellin and Chad
Folkening.
As
they always do, Kamila Sekiewicz (NameDrive.com)
& Jenna
Wehner (at the
center of the group above) lit up the room with
their bright smiles.
The
kickoff cocktail party wound down a little after 8pm,
but the night was just beginning for many
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. guests who went on to one of several
parties, dinners and events that were held Sunday
evening. Many of those were hosted by companies that
treated clients and friends to a special night
out.
Diana
and I had the pleasure of joining Frank
Schilling (InternetTraffic.com)
for a dinner party that he threw for several dozen
friends and business partners at popular Fort Lauderdale
Beach restaurant Steak 954. It
was truly a memorable night that started with
guests being ferried from the Ritz to the restaurant
in the biggest limo I've ever seen. In fact, the limo
appeared to be longer than the four blocks to Steak
954, so I'm not sure it really needed to move at all!
You could enter the back door of the limo at the Ritz,
walk through the vehicle, then exit through the front door
and find yourself at the restaurant! (OK, that may be a
bit of an exaggeration, but not by much).
Howard
Neu marvels at the limo Frank Schilling sent to pick
up his guests.
Inside
the limo, Michael Berkens snapped this photo
of Rob Grant,
Diana Jackson and Ron Jackson on the
ride from the Ritz to Steak 954.
Frank
Schilling waiting for his friends to arrive at Steak
954 (By the way,
did anyone get the name of the cologne Frank wears?
It seems to work incredibly well!).
Above:
Bob Olea, Frank's mentor Gary Chernoff and
Gregg McNair at Steak 954.
Below:
Frank Schilling surrounded by some of his
guests. In the back row (left to right) are
Kimberly Ann, Ray Neu (peeking over
Frank's head), Ilze Kaulins & Marty
Kaulins. Front
center are Rick Schwartz & Monte Cahn,
with Barbara Neu & Alina Schwartz to
their right.
Below:
Frank Schilling (at far right) told guests
how much he appreciate their support for his new
domain monetization platform (InternetTraffic.com),
an initiative that has shaken up the parking
business and led to the new company winning several
of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards
that were handed out two days later (more on that on
page 3
of this article).
The
full day of social events that T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
uses to kickoff their conferences gives guests an
opportunity to get to know each other better before
everyone starts getting down to business. Since the
biggest benefit of attending any conference is building
relationships, that has proven to be a master
stroke on Schwartz and Neu's part.
The show's
business agenda would kick off first thing Monday
morning (October 17). For all of the details on
that, proceed to
Page 2.
|
Coming
up on Page 2:
-
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
iPhone App
-
Keynote
from Bill Karamouzis
-
The
Impact of New gTLDs
-
Google
critic Scott Cleland sounds off
-
T.R.A.F.F.IC.
Test Track
-
Frank
Schilling & Stuart Lawley Onstage
-
Speed
Networking
-
The
ICM Registry's Official T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Party
-
and
much more...
|
|
Photo Credits: In addition to
our own photos, many photos in this article came to us
courtesy of Barbara Neu (shown seated and
surrounded by some of her many friends in the photo
above). T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is a big event and having
Barbara share her superb photographic eye allows us to
cover a lot more conference ground than would be
possible otherwise. Proceed
to page 2. |
