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October 15, 2012

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Here's the The Lowdown from DN Journal,
updated daily
to fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name industry. 

The Lowdown is compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron Jackson.

Closing Day Photos & Highlights from the 2012 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Conference on Fort Lauderdale Beach 

The 2012 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference closed Wednesday morning (October 10) with a Farewell Breakfast at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Florida's Fort Lauderdale Beach. In my last post from 

the Ritz I left off with the names of those who won the 2012 T.R.A.F.F.I.C Awards that were handed out Tuesday morning (I'll have more on the Awards including photos of all of  the winners in a comprehensive show review article that will be out by the end of next week). 

Today let's resume with what happened over the final 24 hours of this year's big show. During the Awards Brunch I presented a report on current sales trends in the aftermarket based on data we use to compile our weekly domain sales reports. I'll be detailing those numbers for you in our October newsletter that will be out later this month. 

The bottom line from the sneak peak I gave the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. audience is that the total $ value of reported domain sales rose slightly from the previous quarter while the number of transactions and the median sale price both rose dramatically. While we are seeing very few six-figure and up sales, tons of  mid-range (four and five figure) sales are being made.

DN Journal's Ron Jackson updating the 
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
audience on current 
aftermarket sales trends
Tuesday morning.

Also during the brunch, Frank Schilling (who won his third Domainer of the Year Award that morning) gave a well received presentation detailing the revolutionary new iPhone based domain sales platform that his company, DomainNameSales.com has just rolled out. You will be happy to know that you do not have to park your domains with Frank's InternetTraffic.com (a program that has been limited to higher quality portfolios) to use the DNS sales platform. Anyone can download the app from Apple's App Store and start using it now (there is no version for Android phones and none is planned at this time). You can see a video with more details on how it works here

Frank Schilling of DomainNameSales.com telling the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. audience about 
the company's new turbo-charged mobile domain name sales platform.

The business day continued with a noon session on Monetizing Your Domains in Different Ways that featured four experts on topics including PPC, lead generation and development

The Monetizing Your Domains in Different Ways panel included (left to right
on the dais in the photo above): Chad Folkening (DomainPower.com)
Braden Pollock
(LegalBrandMarketing.com), Morgan Linton 
(MorganLinton.com)
and Michael Gilmour (ParkLogic.com)

In between sessions, attendees visited the various company booths set up in the exhibition hall located immediately outside the conference rooms. That gave guests a opportunity to meet account representatives face to face, see demos of the company's latest products and get any questions they had about a service answered on the spot.

Afternic's Neil Kavanaugh answers Brian Wick's questions at the company's exhibit hall booth.

Back inside the conference room, another session got underway at 1:30 Tuesday afternoon on How to Turn a Category Leading Domain Name Into a Category Leading Business. This session featured experts from BankRate.com and BankAds.com who run successful financial websites. BankRate.com's stable of sites includes CreditCards.com and several others built on category defining domain names. They also offer popular affiliate programs. 

 

(Left to right) BankRate.com VPs Hanno Damm and Michael Ricciardelli, moderator 
Howard Neu and Sean Sullivan of BankAds.com, at their Tuesday afternoon session. 

The final business session of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012 was the always popular Meeting of the Chiefs (Session 2, following an initial session on the opening day of the conference with a slightly different line up). This session, featuring eight well-known industry leaders drew a large crowd, continuing a trend we saw throughout the week - sessions that were some of the most well attended we've seen in years. 

Tuesday afternoon's Meeting of the Chiefs featured (left to right): Michael Berkens (TheDomains.com), Adam Dicker (DNForum.com), John Ferber (DomainHoldings.com), 
Michael Gilmour
(ParkLogic.com), Dr. Chris Hartnett, Ammar Kubba (Thought 
Convergence), Jeff Gabriel (DomainAdvisors.com) and Daniel Law (RookMedia.net)

While that was the final business session, a lot of networking (the most valuable aspect of any domain conference) was still to be done. The closing dessert and coffee party Tuesday night was a perfect spot for that. 

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012 attendees got in another round of networking, along with some 
great coffee, desserts, beer and wine at the show's Closing Party Tuesday night (Oct. 9).

As soon as the official Closing Party wound down another one  got started in a  16th floor suite at the Ritz. That was the DomainAdvisors.com late night party hosted by PPX International Chairman Gregg McNair. These events, held on most conference nights, are always fun and you never know what you will see next. 

The photo at right is a prime example. Who would have expected a disco party to break out led by veteran domain industry attorneys Brett Lewis (at far left) and Ari Goldberger (in the black T shirt at right), showing off their best John Travolta Saturday Night Fever era inspired moves. 

The Domainadvisors event ran until about 4am Wednesday morning but Diana and I threw in the towel around 1:30. 

Brett Lewis and Ari Goldberger really do 
have Moves Like Jagger!

I wanted to catch at least a little rest before the final event of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012 - Wednesday morning's Farewell Breakfast. This is more than a breakfast, it is a chance to spend a final couple of hours with people who have become close friends, reflect on the great week that was coming to an end and make plans to meet again.

The composite photo above  from T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012's Farewell Breakfast Wednesday morning (Oct. 10) features - In the top row, left to right - DomainHoldings CEO Jason Boshoff, Norway's Truc Tran, Protrada.com Founder Troy Rushton and Protrada's brilliant Business Development  Manager Louise Munck. In the midde row at left: Two former DNJournal.com Cover Story subjects - Rob Grant and Dr. Chris Hartnett. In the middle row at right: three of the people who make T.R.A.F.F.I.C. happen - Kimberly Howard, Barbara Neu and Ray Dillman Neu. In the bottom row: T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founder - Domain King Rick Schwartz (facing the camera at far right), holding  court at a corner table. 

For myself and most I talked too, this was an exceptionally productive T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference, one that certainly whetted the appetite for the late May 2013 show that will have the conference returning to Las Vegas for a highly anticipated event at the Bellagio Hotel

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founders Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu, their wives Alina and Barbara, Ray Dillman Neu, Kimberly Howard and Danny Pryor are all to be commended for the enormous amount of work they put into making T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012 such an enjoyable and rewarding experience for their guests. The current challenging economy makes it harder than ever to stage a profitable show but their approach has always been to do it first class or don't do it all, regardless of the cost. That's has allowed T.R.A.F.F.I.C. to maintain the support needed to run 23 consecutive shows with planning for #24 already underway.

(Posted Oct. 11, 2012) 


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