In the next
session (above), the founder of the GGRG.com
brokerage, Giuseppe Graziano (at top left, speaking
from Lisbon, Portugal) joined me for
an in depth look at the current State of the Domain
Industry: Aftermarket. After a gracious introduction from Christa
Taylor (mmx.co), we talked about the top sales this
year and the latest trends we've seen in the aftermarket.
Overall the news has been very good for domain investors and
service providers, with many in the latter group reporting
double digit increases in year over year revenue in the most
recent quarter. With Covid-19 shutting down so much
traditional activity in the brick and mortar world, businesses
quickly discovered that it is critically important for
them to create or strengthen their online presence.
That has driven good results for all categories including
.coms, ccTLDs and non .com gTLDs - all of which we talked
about. While
I missed the face to face, in-person interaction that usually
goes hand in hand with NamesCon, I have to admit there is a
lot less stress and travel expense involved when all you have
you have to do is pull up a chair in your office to
participate in the show! |
The Thursday business
day continued with a panel discussion titled Chart Your Own
Path to Success with nTLDs that featured, clockwise from the
top right, moderator Christa Taylor (Minds + Machines), Morgan
Linton (Bold Metrics), Matt Overman (Donuts) and
Jason Sheppard (Eagle Nebula Media). As the program noted,
"There’s an old saying in domaining: “The best time to
buy a domain name was many years ago. The next best time is today.”
Besides the main highways to success in domaining, there are
also many side-roads. These experts detailed innovative uses of
new TLDs and how investors and developers can turn their
insights into action.
In the final Keynote
Hall business session of the day attorney and ICA Legal
Counsel Zak Muscovitch (top left) interviewed David
Bernstein, Lead IP Counsel to Booking.com and a
renowned UDRP Panelist. They covered what the U.S. Supreme
Court’s decision on Booking.com means for trademarks, generic
.com domain names, and the UDRP. To see how these legal experts
answered questions about how the Booking.com case affected the
law, whether there will be more UDRPs, if it is easier to
trademark a generic.com and what rights a Booking.com trademark
provides, be sure to catch the replay of this session if you
missed the live session today.
With the Keynote Hall
sessions done, attention turned to NamesCon Online's live
domain auction. During the event, six domain experts
provided live commentary throughout in an entertaining Domain
Auction Red Zone session. The group included, clockwise from
top left, Tess Diaz (DomainSherpa), Shane Cultra (Uncomfortable.com),
Andrew Rosener (MediaOptions), Kate Buckley (Buckley
Media), Ammar Kubba (afterTHOUGHT) and Braden Pollock
(LegalBrandMarketing.com). As of this writing (shortly after
the auction concluded), official results from the sale have not
been posted yet. Those should be available tomorrow. In the
meantime, these talented ladies and gentlemen made the sale a
world of fun to watch!
Even after the auction
ended, Michael Cyger (DNAcademy.com) was still hard at
work over on the America's Track, conducting a premium
session on Domain Investing 201 (the follow up to
101 Wednesday) with this presentation focused on Turning
Your Hobby Into a Business. Michael is a masterful
instructor and it's no surprise he has turned DNAcademy into the
go-to resource for a high quality crash course in domain
investing.
One final note today -
another cool aspect of NamesCon.Online is the Networking
Lounge. Multiple virtual tables like the one above are set
up and allow registrants to take a seat anywhere they want for
private conversations or group talks. Speakers often come in to
answer questions after their sessions. Each participant has
their camera and microphone turned on, so you can have a
lively real time discussion with fellow attendees any time
you want.
Hard to believe but Day
3 Friday is already upon us. I'll have a wrap up on the
closing day sessions and activity for you in my next post. By
the way, it is still not too late to register
(just $59) and get access to replays of all of the conference
sessions until the end of September.
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