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Despite
the rock bottom price, the NamesCon content may be richer than
ever. I spent the entire day hopping from one session to another across
three different tracks and also popped into another discussion in the Workshop
Rooms. The amount of valuable information flowing from those panels was
remarkable and I was constantly reminded of how nice it will be to have online
replays of all sessions available to registrants
soon. Thanks to those, we will all have plenty of time to catch up on
whatever we miss live this week.
Above:
The day officially began with von Varchmin welcoming the crowd to the event,
doing so from the comfort of his own home in Barcelona, Spain. While
everyone was excited to see NamesCon return, the opening moments were a
time for reflection as Soeren paid tribute to a friend of so many of us, the beloved founder of Domaining Europe, Dietmar
Stefitz,
who passed in 2020. In honor of Dietmar, NamesCon produced a moving video tribute
that was shown before people down to business (as Dietmar surely would have
wanted them to do). The photo below is a screenshot from that video, one
that reminds us how much our unique industry is not just a business, it is
also a family.
Above:
To get the opening day of business under way, Soeren introduced NamesCon's two
primary moderators - Bill Sweetman (Name Ninja), at top right, and Christa
Taylor (DotTBA.com) in row 2. Then the moderators for additional
sessions were introduced, including Braden Pollock, Jay Paudyal (Urban
Skill), Andrew Allemann (DNW.com) and Ron Jackson (DNJournal.com).
Below:
Soeren then got the things rolling on the Keynote Track by having a
Fireside Chat with his Barcelona neighbor, NameAgency.com
Founder Jordi Gasull. Jordi is a veteran domain investor, developer and
broker who is known around the world as one of the industry's nicest guys.
When I met Jordi in person for the first time at Dietmar Stefitz's 2017
conference in Berlin, I felt I already knew him well because of how
many good things I had heard about him over the years.
Above:
NamesCon Online 2021's first panel discussion was a State of the
Industry: Corporate Leaders session that I had the honor of
moderating. It was the first of three sessions I am doing this week as an
expansion of DNJournal's annual State
of the Industry Cover Story (the 17th annual edition was published
last week). On Thursday I will have a panel featuring leading Domain
Brokers and on Friday I will speak with top tier Domain
Investors and Developers.
I
couldn't have been happier to have four of the industry's most experienced
and most innovative leaders on today's panel. They included CentralNic CEO Ben
Crawford (top left), DAN.com CEO Reza Sardeha (top center), Radix
CEO Sandeep Ramchandani (top right) and, next to me in the 2nd row at
right, GoDaddy VP, Domains (Investors & Corporate), Paul Nicks.
All of their companies are experiencing extraordinary rates of growth and
they expect that boom to continue in 2021.
The
first afternoon session on the Keynote Track was titled We're Richer
Together: Fractional Ownership as an Asset Class. The panel discussed
the possibility of fractional ownership of high value domains names finally
gaining traction. The idea has been bandied about for years but many experts
think its time has finally come. The panelists were (clockwise from top left),
Chad Folkening (Leader, RealtyDAO), moderator Andrew Allemann,
MediaOptions.com CEO Andrew Rosener and DAN.com CEO Reza Sardeha.
Below:
Next up, the subject was SEO Domains: A Crash Course in
Valuations that featured (clockwise from top left), Sean Markey
(Publisher, Rank Theory), Grace Adato (SEO Analyst, Hennessey Digital),
Kalin Karakehayov (Founder, Edoms.com) and moderator Braden
Pollock.
Above:
By now many of you have probably heard about the red hot new audio only social
media platform Clubhouse (currently available only as an Iphone
app). Many domainers have already adopted the invitation-only service so this
timely session, Learn about Domaining on the Clubhouse Platform,
was widely attended. It featured (clockwise from top left), Jeff Sass (CMO,
.CLUB Domains), Andrew Rosener (CEO, MediaOptions.com), Michele
Van Tilborg, President, .CLUB Domains), Braden Pollock
(LegalBrandMarketing.com) and Aishwin Vikhona (Founder,
iLoveDomains.com).
Below:
The grand finale of the Keynote Track Wednesday was a Domain Investor's
Journey, in which a panel of experienced domain investors discussed
how they got into the business and found their place in it. The popular
session featured (clockwise from top left) moderator Alan Shiflett
(Director, GoDaddy), Mike Mann (DomainMarket.com), Jamie Zoch
(DotWeekly.com), Jason Sheppard (Domain Folks) and Josh Reason
(DNWE.com).
After
the Keynote Track business sessions ended .CLUB presented a LIVE
comedy show featuring award-winning comedians Lauren O'Brien and Jesse
Egan but I wasn't able to get the Zoom link to the show to work for me. I
know others did get in, so it must have been some local issue on my side. I
tried to console myself by remembering Groucho Marx's immortal words
(paraphrased a bit to suit the occasion), "I would never want to go to a
club that would allow someone like me in anyhow!" :-)
On
a more serious note, to show you how much invaluable content is available at NamesCon
Online, two of the best sessions ran before the conference even
started! Soeren von Varchmin (left, above) pre-recorded a
pair of Fireside Chat interviews with pioneering domain investor/brokers - Andrew
Miller (ATM Holdings), above right, and Andy Booth (Booth.com),
below right, that were made available this morning as special previews
before the show started. Since they were pre-recorded the replays are already
available for registrants to watch. These two gentlemen have been involved in
some of the biggest domain sales on record and you will want to make a point
of listening to both at your first opportunity.
At
the same time the Keynote Track was running, action was fast and furious on
the Breakout Track with most sessions clocking in at a brisk 15 to 20
minutes each. Ultimate pro Peter Schiwinge (above) expertly
managed the traffic and moderated throughout the day. I regrettably missed
the first session because, at the time, I was onstage myself over on the
Keynote Track. That was a Global Domain Report 2021 – Facts &
Recommendations for Domainers and Registrars, presented by Marco
Hoffman (InterNerX) and Christian Voss (Sedo). Knowing how sharp
these two guys, this is the first session I will be watching when the
replays go up!
The
Breakout Track continued with the first part of Drew Walsh's Development
Series: Starting to Capture Interest and Build a List. Drew (above),
who runs MovingSites.com, offered some great advice for domain developers.
Right after Drew, Michael Gilmour (ParkLogic.com) delivered another
can't miss session - Investing in Domains as a Business, Not a Hobby.
Next
up the merger of the DNA and the i2Coalition was covered by
Christian Dawson (executive Director i2Coalition), above left, and Alvaro
Alvarez (EVP, General Counsel & Secretary, Donuts Inc.), above right,
in a session titled Stronger Voice Together: DNA & i2Coalition.
The Domain Name Association began as a trade association focused on promoting
growth, innovation, education around domain names. In 2020, the DNA merged
with i2Coalition as the DNA recognized the opportunity to increase both
resources and reach to grow awareness, adoption, and access by forming the
largest Internet infrastructure advocacy group in North America.
Unfortunately,
I missed a session on Blockchain DNS with Brad Kam (Founder,
Unstoppable Domains) that fell during the lunch hour but got back on the
Breakout track at 1:30pm (US Eastern time) for the session above titled Valuing
a Domain Name According to the Iceberg Method that was presented by Clement
Genty (Associate Researcher - ENSAM, Arts & Metiers). Clement's Iceberg
method was created from scientific research in the context of a PhD
thesis.
In
the next session (below) CentralNic's Tony Kim and Francesco Cetraro,
delivered an illuminating session called Don't Leave Money on
the Table: How to Maximize Your Profits as a Domain Registrar or Reseller.
If you are in that business, you will want to put this one on your replay
list.
Wednesday's
Breakout Track concluded with the sessions above and below. Above, Neha
Naik (Director of Channel Partnerships at Radix)
interviewed speaker, author and consultant Ryan Foland who gave
his take on New Domains in the Marketing & Personal Branding Space.
Below, Michiel Grotenhuis (COO, FLATsite) discussed
How Domain Investors Can Benefit From FLATsite. FLATsite is a
WordPress static site generator that gives you a platform to make all of your
WordPress sites faster and more secure.
As
soon as the Breakout Track ended, I headed over to the Workshop Rooms
to catch an excellent Internet
Commerce Association presentation on Defending Domain Name
Investing (photo below). The important topic was covered by ICA
General Counsel Zak Muscovitch, Board Member Nat Cohen and
Executive Director Kamila Sekiewicz.
NamesCon
Online is an around the clock show. While the ICA session was wrapping
up, the America's Track was just getting started with a late afternoon
session (below) on How to Value Domain Names Step-by-Step,
presented by Michael Cyger (DNAcademy.com).
In
a second America's Track session at 6pm (below) .CLUB's Jeff Sass
moderated a discussion called Domain Names: From the Outside Looking
In. Jeff talked with influential marketers
from outside our industry to see what they really think and understand about
domains. Jeff is at top left, with the
panelists (clockwise after Jeff) including Jason Falls (Cornett),
Leo Morejon (ProveItMatters.com), David Berkowitz (Serial
Matters) and Elisabeth Klughardt (Open Eye).
As
I write this Wednesday night, NamesCon is finally in a short lull, but the
action resumes at 12 Midnight U.S. Eastern time when the South Asia
Track opens! Being human (or a reasonable facsimile of one) I do need
sleep, so I will have to cover that Track the way I did for the first
NamesCon Online conference last September. After NamesCon
concludes and all of the replays have been posted, I will watch the South Asia
sessions and give those a post of their own that will be published next
week.
Right
now, it is time to start getting ready for Day 2 Thursday. I will be
back on stage at 11:20am (US EST) for my next State of the Industry
panel featuring leading Domain Brokers Monte Cahn, Dave Evanson,
Cate Lim and Jen Sale. Tomorrow night I'll be back
here with the Day 2 photos and highlights for you.
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