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Above:
Monday began with an enthralling
keynote Fireside Chat in which Jothan
Frakes interviewed world
renowned TV, radio and Internet
producer/entrepreneur David Sams
(left), whose resume includes
helping launch the original Oprah
Winfrey Show. We covered David's
career in depth in a September 2011 Cover
Story). In a related
note, this afternoon (Tuesday, Oct.
17) the Domain
Name Association named
Jothan as their Interim Executive
Director. Our congratulations to
him on that appointment.
Below:
A round of multiple business
sessions followed at 10am Monday
including this Domain Market
101 presentation from NameJet
executives (left to right) Scott
Pruitt, Greg Davis and Jonathan
Tenenbaum.
Above:
Another 10am session was The
CMS Showdown, a part of the CMS
Summit (one of several
conferences held simultaneously
under the Merge! umbrella).
That session was led by Jason
Nickerson (standing at the
podium). Other sessions held at that
hour covered The Contractual
Nature of the Domain Name System
and New TLDs: Purported and
Specific Examples.
Below:
The next round of sessions that
started at 11am included Digital
Branding Strategies That Work
featuring BrandIT
Chief Strategy Officer Jochen
Kieler (left) with Bill
Sweetman (NameNinja) moderating.
In nearby meeting rooms other
attendees could sit in on WordPress
with Kat Christofer or the
first of two of the day's two
sessions about Domain Name
Disputes.
Above:
The Merge! schedule includes a daily
two-hour lunch break giving
attendees ample time to get
something to eat and still have time
to visit exhibits and do some
informal networking. At most major
domain conferences .CLUB has
a big presence in the Exhibit Hall
and Merge! has been no
exception. Above (left to right) are
.CLUB Co-Founder and CEO Colin
Campbell, CMO Jeffrey Sass
and three visitors to their booth - Christa
Taylor (dotTBA Inc.), Jay
Westerdal (.Feedback) and Joe
Alagna (Afilias).
Below:
Brother and sister domain investing
team Ilze Kaulins-Plaskacz (ExcellentDomains.ca)
and Marty Kaulins at the BoldGrid
booth.
Above:
Sponsors - the people who make all
conferences possible - could also be
found at tables lining the hallway
outside the Merge! meeting
rooms. Escrow service provider Payoneer.com
could be found there. Here industry
veteran Brian Gilbert (NameTime.com)
visits with Payoneer Director of
Strategic Accounts Brandon Abbey
(right). Gilbert recently
incorporated Payoneer's secure
payment platform into his company's
offerings.
Below:
After the lunch break business
sessions resumed at 2pm including
this one on Appraisal and
Valuation of Intangible Assets
(Domains, IP, Brands). The
expert panelists included (left to
right) Tessa Holcomb (BrandIT),
Ryan Colby (Token Fest LLC), Dmitriy
Chemlin and Larry Fischer
(GetYoutDomain.com).
Above:
Also at 2pm, attorneys Paul
McGrady (Partner, Winston &
Strawn LLP) and Mike Rodenbaugh
(Rodenbaugh Law) held their second
session of the day on Domain
Disputes. Paul is seated
directly below the Merge! video
screen and Mike is in the next seat
to the right. These sessions were
part of the McGrady Domain
Academy track at Merge!.
Additional 2pm business sessions
included Global Diversity and
Inclusion and Everything You Ever
Wanted to Know About Joomla!
Below:
I was in an annual meeting for Internet
Commerce Association
members at 3pm so only had a chance
to slip out for a few minutes to
catch one session during that hour -
one that was led by fellow ICA
member George Hong (Guta.com)
who provided advice on
Engaging With the Chinese Buyer and
Market. Other 3pm sessions
covered Social Media, Conversion
Rate Optimization 101 and BYOD
(Bring Your Own Domain) -
with the latter session devoted to
domain development tools.
Above:
A highlight of the Monday afternoon
agenda was .CLUB CO-Founder and
CEO Colin Campbell's 4pm
keynote speech. Colin is a
serial entrepreneur who has had some
phenomenal successes as well as a
painful flameout. He candidly
discusses both in a way that every
entrepreneur can learn a lot from
and be encouraged by (in fact he is
writing a book about it). Colin has
a fascinating life story that you
can ready in our September 2016 Cover
Story).
Below:
The day's final round of business
sessions started at 5pm and included
Homepage Thowdown in
which Justin Davis (standing,
from Madera Labs) offered valuable
critiques of attendee's websites.
Above:
Also at 5, Crypto innovation:
Meet Embermine was held in
the main hall. Embermine Co-Founder
and CEO James Drake (at far
left) and his team (all standing)
talked about Blockchain and
how to engage in the vast
opportunities there. Meanwhile, in
other meeting rooms topics included Keeping
Your Startup in Tune, Every
Project is a Story and UX
Innovation: Frogan's Addresses
with Philippe Collin.
Below:
When the business day was done
attendees headed out for dinner. Diana
Jackson and Barbara Neu
(right), along with their husbands,
tried out the High Velocity
Sports Bar located within the
conference hotel - the Orlando
World Center Marriott - and were
met with an astonishingly large
platter of nachos (along with plates
of sliders and giant pretzels). We
dubbed Monday National Blow Your
Diet Day to commemorate the
occasion!
Above:
After dinner many Merge!
attendees got back together in the
show's spacious Hospitality Suite at
the Marriott. Eddie Sixto,
standing at front center, greets Gregg
McNair and Nat Cohen (who
are better seen in the shot below).
Above:
These guests in the Merge!
hospitality suite came from around
the world. Left to right are Marco
Rinaudo, Craig Pratka, Reidar
Rytter-Fjoeren, Victor Pitts
and Alexander Schubert.
Below:
I always enjoying seeing my long
time friend Rob Grant (left)
who holds one of the world's best
portfolios of .com real estate
domains. Rob also has a great life
story that we told in our April 2008
Cover
Story).
Above:
Seeing these gentlemen is always a
pleasure as well. Left to right are
attorney Stevan Lieberman,
Sedo CEO Tobias Flaitz,
Hotels.club Founder George
Verdugo and BrandIT Chief
Strategy Officer Jochen Kieler.
As
I write this we are midway through
Tuesday's day 4 at Merge! The
conference concludes with a half day
tomorrow (Wednesday, October 18). We
will be making the short trip back
home to Tampa right after the show
closes so I will put the Tuesday and
Wednesday photos and highlights
together in a final column when I
get back and post those for you on Thursday
(October 19).
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