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whose
mission is to spur growth in
the Indian domain
market by making the public and
potential investors aware of the
value of high quality domains and
how they can benefit any
enterprise.
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Organizers
expected the giveaway - which
drew 1,000 online
registrations - would result
in hundreds of no shows (and
it did) - but they didn't want
cost to prevent people from
hearing the message they are
trying to spread. Those who
didn't take advantage of the
free offer don't know they
missed a day that others
pay |
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hundreds
of dollars to be part of
in other parts of the world.
Despite the no cost policy
there was no drop off in
quality - in fact it was an
extremely professional
production that ranks with the
best of any we have seen
in covering dozens of industry
conferences around the world
over the past 11 years. I
think that will be obvious to
you as you scroll through the
photos and highlights from day
two in this article. |
Above:
After some of the first guests were
in their seats DomainX hostess
Sneha Bhati (left) kept them
thoroughly entertained and engaged
while they waited for the rest of
the audience to get their nametags
and make their way into the Taj
West End Ballroom for the
official start of the program.
She did it by interviewing some of
this year's international guests
including Australia's Ned O'Meara
from Domainer.com.au.
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As
soon as the sign in process
concluded the day's busy
agenda began with a
traditional Indian Lamp
Lighting & Inauguration
ceremony. Again DomainX
honored their international
guests who traveled long
distances to attend the show
by making them part of the
lamp lighting ceremony.
Ron
Jackson (USA), Ned
O'Meara (Australia), Zak
Muscovitch (Canada) - seen
with his candle in the photo
at right - and Martijn
Schneider (Netherlands)
each lit a lamp channel before
Indian domain pioneer Deepak
Daftari concluded the
process by lighting the last
channel. |
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The
first session then began with the
first keynote address from
Mr. Daftari - a frequent visitor to
U.S. shows who is regarded by many
of his countrymen as the
"Father of Indian Domain
Investors."
Deepak
Daftari (eSiksha.com)
delivering his keynote address
Saturday morning (August ) at the 2015
DomainX conference in Bangalore,
India.
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One
the highlights of our trip to
India was a chance to spend
more time with Deepak and get
to know him better. He is a
humble man who goes about his
business quietly, so few
people know he ranks among the
world's most successful domain
investors and is also the
owner of several profitable
businesses and an investor in
many others. He has also
become part of DomainX's
educational mission by serving
as the conference's Brand
Ambassador.
It
was a pleasure to listen to
the great advice in his
keynote this morning and an
honor to follow him in
delivering the day's 2nd
keynote. I have always been
fascinated about the paths
that led people into the
relatively small and largely
unknown business of domain
investing. So, I shared my
own journey with the audience
- one that started as a
radio/TV broadcaster, followed
by a 12-year stretch in which
I owned a string of record/CD
stores. Then, when the
Internet wiped out
that |
DNJournal's
Ron Jackson addresses the DomainX
audience
in the 2nd of Saturday's
back to back keynote
speeches.
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business,
had the good fortune to
stumble upon domains
and discover what made this
industry more rewarding
than any I've ever been
involved with, especially on a
personal level that has
produced several lifelong
friendships forged with
kindred spirits in our always
fascinating field. |
Above:
A cross section of the audience at
the final day of DomainX Saturday
in India.
After
the keynotes Deepak and I were asked
to join international guests Ned
O'Meara, Zak Muscovitch and Martijn
Schneider, as well as DomainX
Founder and CEO Manmeet Pal Singh
at a press conference for
local media interested in what was
so important about domain names that
prompted people from around the
world to fly all the way to
Bangalore for this gathering. When
we reached the press conference room
I was stunned to see TV crews
and row after row of print and
online reporters. It was a real home
run in DomainX's quest to spread
the domain gospel through India, one
city at a time.
Above:
(left to right) Deepak Daftari,
Ned O'Meara, Ron Jackson and
attorney Zak Muscovitch
fielding questions from mainstream
reporters in Bangalore, India.
Another panelist, Martijn
Schneider (HousingAgent.com),
left his seat to take this photo and
DomainX Founder Manmeet Pal Singh
is also off camera answering
questions. Press reports from this
session are already
starting to be filed as I
write this.
Below:
DNJournal's Ron Jackson
fields questions about the domain
business and what brought him to
India from a KNN TV reporter
(this photo also taken by Martijn Schneider).
Below:
At the same time the press
conference was going on, .Desi
Registry Principal Siddharth Ohri
was on stage in the Taj West End
Ballroom offering a presentation on
the new gTLD that is probably closer
to being a "Super ccTLD"
in that it represents the culture, people and products originating from the Indian sub-continent
(India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri
Lanka).
Below:
Next up with a 90-minute outdoor
lunch break on the fabulous Prince
of Wales lawn at the Taj West
End Hotel were guests were treated
to a wide variety of Indian entrees
and desserts. It was a beautiful day
with great company and a terrific
idea by DomainX to dine outdoors.
Below:
The afternoon sessions resumed with
a Legal Panel covering UDRP,
URS and INDRP issues.
Panelists included (left to right)
Moderator Ankur Raheja, Na.
Vijayshankar (CEO,
CberLawCollege.com), Rodney D.
Ryder (Partner, Scriboard.com)
and Zak Muscovitch (Founder,
DNAttorney.com).
Next
up, Sushanto Mitra, Founder
& CEO of Lead Angels,
seen in the photo below, discussed
how Indian venture capitalists view
the domain space in a talk hosted by
Dr. Shurjo Ghosh.
A
presentation on IBM's Cloud
Business, handled by IBM Cloud
Business Development Leader Samarth
Kholkar, filled the next spot in
the agenda, followed by another
presentation, this one from Joeri
Bortslap (MD at Resello.com)
who is seen during his talk in the
photo below.
Below:
Resello
also had a spot in the sponsor exhibit
hall adjacent to the main
ballroom, an area that doubled as a coffee
and cookie break lounge. That's
where you see my wife Diana with our
new friends Pradeep Kumar
(left) and Ashvin Patel
(right).
Below:
Also in the exhibition hall, Sanjeev
Sharma from SS Consultancy
Services, was on hand to welcome
vsitors to his OpenSRS/Tucows
booth.
In
the final business session of
DomainX 2015, Deepak Daftari (center
in the photo below) returned to host
a Fireside Chat with Ned
O'Meara (Domainer.com.au) at
left and Martijn
Schneider (HousingAgent.com)
at right.
Below:
While business was now done - the
day was not over. It was time for a celebration
as DomainX handed out their 2015
Awards. The first for Domain
Magazine of the Year went to Ron
Jackson for DNJournal.com.
Below:
The next award for "Rising
Star" in Indian Domaining
went to Aishwin Vikhona (Aishwin.com)
earning him a hug from presenter Zak
Muscovitch (left).
Below:
DomainX then handed out
thoughtful Thank You awards
to 14 different show
participants who made special
contributions to the event, incuding
Dr. Shurho Ghosh (at right
below) with DomainX Founder &
CEO Manmeet Pal Singh.
Below:
Mr. Singh (at left) also presented
three special recognition awards -
momentos handed out to thank the
co-organizing team of tjhe
first DomainX last year - who are no
longer with the organization. They
are (left to right after Mr. Singh, Nishank
Yadav, Email.biz's
Anshul Goyal and Sibtain
Zaheer).
Below:
Next, DomainX invited Ron
Jackson to help Aishwin
Vikhona (right) launch his new
book - Sell Domains Fast
(available in both paperback
and ebook editions). The
launch capped a big weekend for
Aishwin as it accompanied his Rising
Star award noted above.
Below:
(Left to right) DomainX Co-Organizer
Gaurav Kholi, team members Pankaj
Vijayvargiya, Dhairya Cholera
and Hardik Modi and Founder Manmeet
Pal Singh then came onstage to
thank everyone in the appreciative
crowd for coming and making the
second annual DomainX conference
something truly special.
refers to the culture, people and
products originating from the
Indian sub-continent (India,Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka). -
See more at: http://registry.desi/#sthash.1raetzCz.dpuf
With
the final curtain having now come
down on DomainX 2015 we can
say that this show exceeded our
expectations in every way - from
the spectacularly beautiful Taj
West End Hotel, to the sights
and sounds
of Bangalore
to the non-stop
networking Friday to the
huge mainstream press response and
informative and entertaining
business day today, we could not
have asked for more. It all made our
first visit to India - a country we
have quickly come to love - a trip
we will never forget.
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