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Compelling
agendas, attractive venues and new twists are the
key weapons conference organizers deploy to
attract new registrants and bring back old ones.
Domain Roundtable made a splash last
year with a series of technological
breakthroughs including the first televised live
auction (via the Internet) that allowed people
sitting at home to take part as easily as those in
the auction hall. We just published an exclusive
preview of the upcoming Roundtable show in
San Francisco in which new show Director Susan
Prosser filled us in on what is in store this
time around. I will be there to cover the event
for our readers (our comprehensive review of the
event will be posted a few days after I return
from the west coast).
I'm
also looking forward to T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s first
family oriented show at Disney World in May. I'll
be bringing my daughter to a conference for the
first time and she is looking forward to seeing
what I really do for a living and what kind of
people I hang out. She will have just finished her
junior year in college so the timing is great for
our whole family to do this event together.
I've
noticed at other recent shows that more and more
veteran domainers are bringing one of more of
their children along with them. At the last T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
West conference in Las Vegas in
February, Larry Fishcher brought along his
son Jeffrey and Dr. Chris Hartnett
was accompanied by his daughter Heather.
The month before, Rob Grant introduced his
daughter Caroline to colleagues at the
DOMAINfest Global conference in Los Angeles
and Howard Hoffman brought his son Mitchell
to a show before he graduated from Yale.
Veteran
domain investor Larry Fischer and his son,
second generation domainer
Jeffrey Fischer at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West
in Las Vegas in February 2008
Though
the domain industry has grown much larger in
recent years it still is small enough to have a
"family" feeling about it. After all,
there are very few people on earth who do what we
do so there
is a natural kinship there. That is reinforced
when you get to know husbands, wives and children
of your domain friends and colleagues. Disney
World and its highly regarded Grand Floridian
Resort will be a great place to do that.
Old
Scams Never Die
The
steady growth in the domain business means a
constant flow of newcomers are always entering the
industry. Those of us who have been around for
awhile tend to forget that and assume that
everyone knows the pitfalls to watch out for. One
veteran, Kevin Ohashi, decided to go the
extra mile to help forewarn newbies about the
scammers and spammers who prey on domain lovers
who are just starting to learn the ropes. Ohashi
set up a website at DomainSpammers.com
where he posts a frequently updated list of
schemes newcomers should look out for.
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The
new site is a timely one. I just got an
email this week from a reader who was
excited about a big offer he had gotten
for one of his domains. All he had to do
to make it happen was to pay for a
domain appraisal the "buyer"
requested before completing the purchase.
I can hear all of the old-timers
collectively groaning now! This is one of
the oldest scams in the business.
The phony
buyer insists that you use an appraisal
company he "trusts". Invariably
it is a fly by night outfit that the
"buyer" is either in cahoots
with or owns himself. After the seller
pays for the appraisal, the
"buyer" suddenly disappears.
There usually isn't a lot of money
involved so the newbie who gets taken
usually chalks it up to experience and is
too embarassed to admit they got ripped
off. The |
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that these kinds of crooks are out there
is a sad commentary on society but its the
world we live in. Check Kevin's site from
time to time to bone up on current scams
you need to be aware of. Forewarned
truly is is forearmed. |
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