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Rick Schwartz:
Finding good venues is our single hardest job. We have to
find the right place, with the right facilities and overall ambience
to make the conditions right for what we are looking to accomplish.
Disney was a real long shot until we went there. I
think you can’t help but get inspired when you look at the
creativeness surrounding you and the vision and a dream that one man
had. A dream that continues long after his life. A legacy that many
of us may be interested in from a business point of view.
I think that feeling will translate into what we do. How we can
take a place or website and develop it so people all over the world
will want to come and spend time there. Howard and I always had a different
way of looking at what a domain show should be and what it
should accomplish. The first thing has always been to slow
everyone down. We are all in overdrive, running and multitasking
and have so many things going on all the time that seldom do we have
time to stop and take inventory of where we are at. Sometimes not
doing something can pay bigger dividends. So we have always been of
the mind to slow folks down. Dial it back a notch or two. Relax and
engage. Doing that allows great things to happen.
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Rick
Schwartz |
You don’t have to be working every minute of the day to still
accomplish things. If you plant a seed you have to have the patience
to watch it germinate. Some things you just can’t rush. Sometimes
we just need to catch our breath. So the foundation of T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
was to get people away from the computer, phone and other
distractions and put them in an environment of like minded people
where they could share ideas and keep each other motivated.
Remember, this was a pretty lonely business at one time.
Just you the screen and a keyboard. Now there are thousands of folks
doing similar things. So we hope being in the shadows of the greatest
creative genius who ever lived, that a little of that
“Magic” will inspire some of us to higher levels and greater
achievements. This is a show about inspiration. This show is about
thinking past the domain industry. Most of us have already “Mined
our gold.” The next phase is how to use that gold in the
industrial world. How to allow our minds to gather what we have
learned and apply it outside the Internet.
Most of us came from different backgrounds and |
| came to the net
with a different idea and point of view. The reason we all get
together are what we have in common and how we can collaborate to
achieve new heights. We may invest in domains today, but it sure
does not mean we don’t invest in other things as well. I think
that people that may not come to Orlando because they don’t see
this as a business center will be making a big mistake. The
timing certainly trumps the location and in this case, both the
timing and the venue are perfect.
The proof will be what we
accomplish at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.. Will you participate or will you read
about it? Besides all the regular things and besides the extra
networking sessions we have planned, I have something very
special to present and I will talk about it later in this
interview. What I have is worth getting on a plane and coming to
Orlando. Mark my words. |
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DN Journal: Though this is
being billed as the first family-oriented T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show – it
seems to me that every T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show has been a family
event for the two of you. Your wives (Alina Schwartz and Barbara
Neu) and Howard & Barbara’s son Ray have been a big
part of the conference from the start and I know from personal
experience that they have been exceptionally gracious hosts to all
of the attendees, making sure they feel right at home. Their efforts
have made all of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conferences feel like family
gatherings for everyone who attends.
Howard Neu: The difference
between T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and all other conferences is that we are a
family owned and operated show and we always give the personal
touch to make everyone feel at home and know that they are among
friends. We couldn't run these shows without our families and
we are hoping that many attendees will grab this opportunity to
bring their families to this fabulous venue.
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Howard
Neu |
|
Rick Schwartz: We have
shunned the corporate image in favor of a down home, hands on,
family way. The folks we really target appreciate it. In a world
where customer service is usually |
|
Rick
and Alina Schwartz |
a frustrating experience, I think
we show how accessible we all are anytime during the show. We are
there. We handle whatever situation occurs and then our wives and
Ray go that extra mile to make sure things run smooth and needs of
the attendees are met. Each attendee is personally welcomed and that
is a whole different experience than you find at any trade show
anywhere. Alina, Barbara and Ray go to great lengths to make sure
that everyone’s needs are met. It’s like having a show with “Concierge
service.”
It also demonstrates how important family is. We know that having
the encouragement and understanding of your family is a very
important element of what we all do. And when family comes, they are
instant celebrities. I still can’t get the vision of Sahar’s
Sarid’s mother and sister at the Florida show last year out of
my mind. They were welcomed like rock stars and indeed they
were. They always had a crowd around them and they were welcomed
with open arms as was Rob Grant’s beautiful family and
folks like Larry Fisher’s son and Chris Hartnett’s
daughter.
What we do involves the family and we go out of our way to
get the family involved. We are hoping that Orlando being on Memorial
Day weekend would give folks a better chance to come with their
families or have their families fly down to meet them later in the
show without moving the show to the summer which is not inside the
business cycle and too many folks are distracted with vacations and
other interests. |
|
Howard
Neu's son Ray and wife Barbara |
DN Journal: Let’s talk
about the agenda
now. You have said that you intend to put a greater emphasis on networking
as that aspect is listed as most important to the vast majority of
show attendees. What opportunities are you setting up to facilitate
more networking?
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Rick Schwartz: To start, we
are having a minimum of two different networking sessions that folks
have said over and over again that they love. In addition we are
going to try a few new things with smaller networking groups of
people that may have similar interests.
I think the layout of our
convention area will allow us to do things we have never done
before. The entire place is network friendly. Lots of places for
intimate conversations. The schedule itself will be looser.
This show will have more down time. Coffee type time. The cocktail
parties will occur in the exhibit hall which is also another great
opportunity. Our default on this show is networking. Add the parties
and meals and it is wall to wall with just a few interruptions for
some serious discussions that affect us all.
|
Schwartz
and Neu share a laugh at the
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Las Vegas
(February 2008) |
DN Journal: Tell us about the
overriding theme for this show and some of the individual
sessions you have set up that you think will be especially
compelling?
Rick Schwartz: The industry
is no longer under attack. It is under a full out assault.
When domains like LH.com get reversed hijacked and you see
more and more linking of domainers in a bad light and being
accused of not being legitimate, the forces against us are easier to
attract than our defenders. Parked pages are under attack as “Non
use.” That is a major issue we need to talk about and
discuss.
We will talk about contingency plans. While folks are so busy
talking about how weak the dollar is, it is the lack of those weak
dollars that are largely responsible for the current crisis.
Businesses are going out of business not because their sales are
down, they are in trouble because they have been caught in an
unplanned money crunch. I want to hear from the parking companies
how they see things? How are they going to protect the livelihood of
so many? What does the future look like if domainers begin to develop
their most trafficked domain names? Less traffic, more providers, is
consolidation coming? These are tough questions to ask your
partners. But questions that still need to be answered and defined.
I think what all this means is it makes transparency, moot.
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DN Journal: T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
has had a great series of keynote speakers in the past. As of this
writing I don’t see a keynote speaker listed on the agenda. Are
you planning to have one or will you take a different tack with this
show?
Howard Neu: We did a poll to
see what people think of our keynote speakers. While every one
of them has been interesting and conveyed important messages, the
poll indicated that keynote speakers are not that important to our
attendees. We have already
|
| signed up a keynote speaker for New
York later this year (our first female), but are going to
present more interesting, entertaining and interactive programming
at Disney World. |
Rick Schwartz: When our
survey after the last show revealed that the respondents could care
less about the keynote speaker I was stunned. It was nearly
unanimous. I am still shocked about the result. I really
thought folks would understand and be excited to have folks like Steve
Forbes, Jim McCann, Ben Stein, Terry Jones,
John Reese, Tom Gardner and others. But it seems just a
few are. So New York will be our last scheduled keynoter. We will
have Barbara Corcoran who is a regular contributor to the Today
Show and was an early pioneer in using the Internet to sell
hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate to foreign investors
in New York City. Her company has expanded nationally and she has a
common sense way of looking at business. What she has to say is very
valuable and I hope folks will come away with the intended
result.
DN Journal: You
will be having another major live domain auction staged by Moniker.com. All of the records for
one day live sales have been set at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows but in 2008 sales totals
at various shows put on by three different promoters have been softer than
they were in 2007. Do you think this is because a deteriorating general
economy is starting to affect domains or is it just a matter of the
overall pie being split into smaller pieces among the many venues
that are competing now?
Rick Schwartz: I think that there
is some saturation but that is a small piece of the equation. I
think more importantly is the quality of the domains being offered
and the prices that are being asked plus the audience that you
attract. If you have qualified buyers, if the domain is good and the
price is reasonable, the domain is going to sell because the
risk is small and the reward is still open ended.
Scene
from the last Moniker/T.R.A.F.F.I.C. auction in February 2008
Rick Schwartz: In an economy like this, marginal domains will be the ones that
will suffer the most. The majority of the domains I see, are just
plain worthless. In times like these folks get more choosey.
But they don’t stop buying. I think the market is still expanding.
New investors are always coming in and some are coming in with
deeper pockets and looking for a new area to invest in. The things
we have taken for granted for a decade or more are now being
realized by others. I would expect volume of domain name sales to continue
to go up.
The economy will fuel more transactions as “Circumstance”
comes more and more into play. 2008 will be a record year for
domain sales even with the economic conditions we currently have.
2007 may have been a better year, but there will be more significant
opportunity in 2008 and beyond. The worse things get, the more
opportunity will open up. It’s like birds hunting worms after it
rains. I think I have a special gift to help folks find worms!
Big, fat, juicy, worms.
There are two types of guides you can follow in turbulent times.
Ones that get scared and take cover and pull back, or ones that know
that this is the best time to hunt for great deals,
bargains, opportunities and can be life changing. I love a
great down turn like this. I would suggest that 2008 could be the
biggest year ever for those that pay attention and understand the
great opportunity we have.
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DN Journal: Competition has
increased in every corner of the industry and certainly the trade
show space is no exception. As the pioneer in the major conference
category, what strategy are you employing to stay on top?
Howard Neu: T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
has been and will continue to be the Gold Standard of trade show
conferences in the domain space for 3 reasons:
-
We have nothing
to sell and are not one dimensional as most of the other shows
and simply are out there to promote the industry.
-
We
are leaders and continue to provide creative programming that no
one else has presented or even given any thought to, so we do
not copy other shows.
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- We
are a family of hard workers who spend almost every waking hour
on how to improve our product and give people a reason to
attend. Our programs are always on the cutting edge of
what is happening in the industry and are meant to challenge our
attendees to push the envelope
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Rick Schwartz: No
question that many have tried to dethrone us over the years. But
they all miss the key ingredient. T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is the
leader because we lead. We set the tone and the agenda and our
issues are always timely and cutting edge. We work on the schedule
until just days before the event to make sure we discuss what we
need to. We ask the hard questions even when it is hard to ask. You
can’t be cutting edge without ruffling feathers.
It’s a tiny industry and the needs we had in 2004 have
evolved. For example at the first shows everyone moved around
together. From meals to the seminars and basically everyone attended
both. As things progress we have been splintered. Some come to
lunch, others have private lunches. Same with dinner. So the needs
have changed as the industry has matured and relationships have
developed. That was why we implemented an “open night” in which
folks can have small get togethers and dinners and then come back to
the hotel and attend the beach party.
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Food
service at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. has
always been top notch |
In 2009 you will see us respond to those needs and more as we
change the networking which now is largely based around meals and
breaking bread to a less structured meal schedule and other
networking opportunities. This will reduce costs for both us
and the attendees as our food costs are the single biggest expense
of the show. We will still feed you with slight modifications and
without taking out what makes T.R.A.F.F.I.C. great. It gives us more
choice of venues as our requirements will be different. It allows us
to go to more intimate surroundings that can cater to our needs in a
more hands on way. I think when folks hear what transpired in
Orlando it will just reinforce our leadership role once again.
DN Journal: Though our
industry remains healthy compared to the general economy, when
people hear so much bad news around them human psychology is such
that they start pulling back themselves |
| “just in case”. However
with all of the challenges facing domain owners this would seem to
be a time when it is more important than ever to stay connected
with your colleagues and get some insight on the best course for
meeting the challenges head on. What are the key issues you think
the industry faces and how will a trip to Orlando help equip domain
owners to deal with those issues? |
Howard Neu: Some of the key
issues that will be addressed are:
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What
do domainers do in a downward economy?
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Will the Snowe
bill or other legislation lead to the taking of our property?
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Are parking
companies a thing of the past?
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How do we go
about monetizing our domains?
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Should we be
partnering with developers?
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Should we
become more concerned with SEO?
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Will the annual
increase in registration costs by Verisign cause us to drop most
of our domains?
Rick Schwartz: In general I think the biggest issue is how are domain
owners going to respond to those that want the assets we own. That
trumps all other issues whether folks realize it or not.
| I think the
economy has to be a factor only because we have traffic from so many
affected industries. Some industries are being hit harder than
others and we are seeing some fallout. I think the fallout may get
much worse. Too many retailers have been caught in a cash crunch and
are in financial trouble. Some sectors may be thriving in an economy
like this. But overall, |
| I think this is much more serious than the
recession of 2000. I think things are in place that if a turnaround
does not happen soon can have a devastating long term impact. The
U.S. economy will have several opportunities to rebound. But in each
scenario it depends on a certain group to save the day. If they
don’t show up to save the day, it could be pretty bad. Really bad.
But really bad equals really good for those with resources
and income that can take advantage of those conditions.
The good news is that whether things are good or bad are probably
different from person to person. If you are sitting in a strong cash
position, there will be some great opportunities whether
it’s buying a great domain name or a piece of property at a
fraction of what the cost might have been a year ago. Or even a
company in trouble. Those short of cash will be forced to sell
domains they otherwise would not sell. So that creates a great
opportunity for those |
Business
has always been brisk at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
and Schwartz said opportunities will continue to
abound despite a slowdown in the economy. |
| sitting on cash and forces domains to the
market that otherwise would not be on sale. So that is why I said
earlier that 2008 will be a record year for domain sales. There
really is little question in my mind. The recession actually forces
folks to do more business. To get aggressive. To reach out. |
DN Journal: Gentlemen, thank
you for your time. Is there anything you would like to add in
closing?
Howard Neu: Rick
and I wish to thank all of our sponsors and exhibitors for sticking
with T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in this downturned economy, with special thanks
to our "partners" Moniker.com in putting on the
best auctions with the best domains, TrafficZ.com for being
our Diamond Sponsor for the 2nd year and putting on the best parties
in the industry, Parked.com for our Pool and Beach parties
(this one is going to be the best yet) and Fabulous.com for
creating T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Down Under which will take our concept to new heights in
Australia in November.
Rick Schwartz: I think that
it is up to each individual themselves whether they will prosper
during this recession or whether they will suffer. Those that pull
back automatically lose whether they know it or not. They lose by
default. This is the time to give gas and accelerate. It’s like
being Evil Knievel. You must jump over all those cars
or busses or canyon or you lose. Those pulling back on the throttle
at this point in time will crash. Those are the folks that will be
forced to sell decent domains at market prices or even below market
as they get desperate. So when you see what is coming, it is easy to
have a strategy. There is no question that there will be more
opportunity on the net right now than ever before since any of us
have been online. Those that don’t believe it, won’t find what
is out there. Those that do will be at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and
always be on the hunt to seize the best opportunity ever.
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|
Now I decided to leave the best for last.
So for those that are still reading, a reward is
about to come. With my new found time, I am working on a
surprise. Something that I hope will help attendees look
past just their domain names. It’s always about vision.
You see something, you have an idea, and you employ that
idea. I believe this item alone will have them kicking
themselves for not being at the right place at the right
time. All I can say is I have found something so cutting
edge that I believe it will make your jaws drop. The
$$$ associated with this project are larger than any other I
have ever seen in all my life. I never saw a billion dollar
product before this month. I have never seen recurring
revenues like this until this month. So I am going to expose
it to the sharpest people on the planet at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
You will see what I believe is the most exciting
business, sales, advertising and strategic tool to come to
the market since the Internet itself. The application is so
wide, encompasses so many industries and the multiples are
so stunning, that I dare anyone attending not to be
intrigued and have their minds racing the minute they see
what it is I am talking about. I even predict a special
article just on this |
| ground breaking invention once I
unveil it at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. if all goes as planned. There is
only one real reason to come to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and it always
boils down to one single word. “Opportunity.”
This time I’ll be serving it on a silver platter.
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