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and
highlights here).
NamesCon Global continued with
another full day (and night) of
activity Monday, January 28 (our day
2 photos and highlights are here).
The big show then sprinted to its
conclusion with another very full
day and night Tuesday, January 30,
followed by the lone event that
brought the curtain down Wednesday -
a two-hour roundtable brunch with
industry experts. In this article we
have the photos and highlights from
the final two highly productive and
entertaining days for you.
Above:
The business day Tuesday (January
29) began with an excellent panel
discussion titled Data Rules
that detailed how the domain
industry leaders on the dais use
data to improve their businesses.
The panelists included (left to
right): Pinky Brand (RegistryOffice.com),
Bhavin Turakhia (Directi,
Flock & Radix), Rolf Larsen (.GLOBAL),
Richard Merdinger (GoDaddy)
and Akram Atallah (Donuts). Below:
In the next session at 11am in the
Keynote Hall, WP Engine Vice
President of Strategic Relations
Lisa Box provided some great
insight into The Future of the
Mobile Web. Lisa has also been
the guiding light in developing the
annual NamesCon Global Women in
Domaining gathering into such an
important event.
Above:
Also at 11, but on the RegistryOffice
Stage on the opposite side of the
exhibit hall, Andrew Allemann
(DomainNameWire.com), at
left, interviewed Blake Janover (Home.Loans)
and, at right, Mike Kugler (Vacation.Rentals)
about their historic half-million
dollar purchases of the new gTLD
domains their businesses are being
built upon. Below:
After the noon lunch break, Andrew
Allemann moved over to the Keynote
Stage to join three colleagues on a
panel discussion presented by the Internet
Commerce Association (ICA)
about Verisign's recent price
increase for .com domains.
Left to right are Elliot Noss
(Tucows), moderator Derek Newman
(Du Wors LLP), Andrew Allemann
and ICA Legal Counsel Zak
Muscovitch.
Below:
At the same time the session above
was running in the Keynote Hall,
another popular event was happening
on the RegistryOffice Stage - The
DomainSherpa Review in which a
panel of experts gave their opinions
on the value of domains owned by
attendees who wanted valuation
estimates for their names. The
panelists (left to right) were
moderator Tess Diaz (DomainSherpa),
Shane Cultra (DSAD.com), Andrew
Rosener (MediaOptions.com and
current DomainSherpa owner) and Michael
Cyger (DNAcademy.com and
DomainSherpa Founder).
Above:
Throughout conference week,
attendees also had an opportunity to
visit dozens of the industry's
leading service providers in the NamesCon
Global Exhibition Hall. This
group, including industry veteran
Deepak Daftari (at far left,
from eSiksha.com) all came to the
big event from India where
they are involved in one of the
world's fastest growing domain
business communities. Below:
Lauren Tussey, Vice President
of Operations at 101Domain.com,
welcomes a visitor to the popular
registrar's booth in the Exhibition
Hall.
Above:
At the Above.com booth we
found (left to right) Above.com/Trellian
CEO David Warmuz,
ProtectedParking.com VP of Sales Marlon
Phillips (who was visiting from
his company's both adjacent to
Above.com) and Above.com/Trellian
Executive VP Nancy Bianchi.
Above:
The Public Interest Registry's
.ORG booth was also a popular
stop in the Exhibition Hall. They
had one of those walk-in chambers
that blow money or paper objects in
a vortex around you while you try to
catch them. In this case, those
brave enough to step inside tried to
snare slips of paper that named
prizes the visitor could choose from
for playing. Below:
Donuts Inc. Senior Domain
Consultant Jebidiah Burnett
(center) chatted with a steady
stream of visitors to the company's
booth. Donuts is the biggest new
gTLD registry operator in the
world with more than 200 extensions
in their vast portfolio.
Above:
Sedo and sister company InterNetX
used a huge stack of
multi-colored plastic blocks to
build their expansive booth at the Exhibition
Hall's main entry way. Veteran
domain investor Howard Hoffman
(left) stopped by the booth to chat
with InterNetX Marketing Team
Leader Michael Piotrowski. Below:
Jodi Chamberlain (32Events.com)
helped Radix Registry man (or
in this case, woman) their booth.
Here Jodi is seen with NamesCon
Global attendee Prince Wyvener.
Above:
After returning to the NamesCon Global
stages at 2pm we found Cyril
Fremont (.Best) in the Keynote
Hall giving attendees details about
the .Best Social Network. Below:
At the same time on the
RegistryOffice Stage a fascinating
panel discussion tackled Turning
Chaos Into Growth: Sucessful Domaining
in a Post-American World. It
featured (left to right): Moderator Bob
Mountain (Afternic), Mark
Kychma (DNPric.es and
Registra.rs), Tumay Asena (Nokta),
Tony Kim (Hexonet), Stuart
Fuller (CentralNic) and Jin
Yang (GoDaddy).
Above:
At 3pm in the Keynote Hall .GLOBAL
CEO & Founder Rolf Larsen
detailed Proven Strategies for
Global Reach. Below:
Meanwhile, on the RegsitryOffice
stage, the topic was The Good,
The Bad and The Ugly in Premium
Sales - a clever title for a
panel discussion about the characteristics
of success and failure for new gTLDs.
The panelists were (left to right)
Moderator Christa Taylor,
Donuts Co-Founder Daniel
Schindler and three
representatives from MMX.co -
Solomon Amoako, Michael
Salazar and Tony Farrow.
Above:
NamesCon Global offers multiple
ticket levels. If you get the VIP
pass it gives you access to a
very convenient lounge where you can
find refreshments, a comfortable
seat and table to get some work done
or hold a meeting, or a place to
just visit with fellow attendees you
want to catch up with. Industry
veterans Fred Mercaldo (left)
and Rob Grant were among the
familiar, friendly faces seem
in the VIP Lounge this week.
Above
& Below: In the final business
session Tuesday, January 29, Wordnik
Founder Eric McKean welcomed
attendees to the Keynote Hall at 4pm
for her presentation titled The
More Language Changes. The
brilliant lexicographer explained
the main ways in which words are
made in English, how to judge a
word's staying power and how you can
use this knowledge in the world of
domains.
While
the Tuesday business day was done
the networking was not as NamesCon
Global hosted a Closing
Reception from 5pm-8pm that was
open to all in the VIP Lounge.
Below: domain investing legend
Larry Fischer (left) and broker Tessa
Holcomb chat with VPN.com CEO
Michael Gargiulo at that event.
Above:
Among those in the crowd at the
Closing Reception Tuesday night
were afterTHOUGHT Founder &
CEO Ammar Kubba (left) and NameJet
General Manager Jonathan Tenenbaum. Below:
When Kina Merdinian (Co-Founder
and Executive Director of the Global
Discoveries Network Foundation)
decided to apply some lipstick
before a took I shot of her and PerfectName.com
Founder Greg Ricks, I suggested
Greg might benefit from the cosmetic
as well but he didn't seem to be
fully on board with the idea.
After
three full days and nights at NamesCon
Global 2019 there was still one
thing left on the agenda, the Expert
Round Tables event that was held
during a two-hour brunch from
11am-1pm Wednesday, January 30.
Above:
The Expert Round Tables
involved setting up five large
brunch tables with an industry
expert seated at each one to answer
any questions attendees might have.
The experts came from different
sectors so guests could choose the
ones of most interest to them. The
experts included Bill Sweetman
(Name Ninja), seen here at his table
dispensing advice on Working with
Domain Brokers. At other tables
you could find Braden Pollock
(LegalBrandMarketing.com) on Getting
Started, Drew Walsh
(Moving Sites LLC), on Developing
Domains, Christa Taylor (DotTBA)
on Applying For a TLD and
attorney Derek Newman (Newman
Du Wors LLP) for those needing Legal
Expertise. Below:
While picking up invaluable advice,
attendees could fuel up for
their trips home with coffee,
pastries and other light snacks.
Above:
Fellow Floridian and long time
friend Chad Folkening (VNOC.com)
was among those on hand for the
final event, Expert Round Tables,
at NamesCon Global 2019
Wednesday, January 30. Below:
A full house at Braden Pollock's
table Wednesday.
Now
that this very well received 6th
edition of NamesCon Global is
history, conference organizers have
already begun planning for the 2020
show that will be held in Austin,
Texas with the dates and venue
still to be determined. Whenever and
wherever that turns out to be, it
will remain a must do event
on the industry calendar. Our thanks
to NameCon/Cloufest CEO Soeren
von Varchmin, Senior
Marketing Manager Helga Neumer
and the entire NamesCon team for
another extraordinarily well done
event and for making our job of
covering it for DNJournal
readers such a pleasure.
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