Even though I ended up getting to know pretty much everyone who buys and sells domains for a living through DomainingTips.com, I’ve decided to fly across the ocean and attend one US domaining conference in 2011. Let’s hear some suggestions: which conference would you recommend and why?
Why just one conference? The thing is, I’m involved in quite a few industries and even though attending conference after conference would be a lot of fun, it’s just not sustainable due to the fact that I live in .eu and have an insane schedule to say the least 🙂
I know a lot of you guys have attended at least one domaining conference, can’t wait to hear some suggestions. Or if you’re in the same boat (getting ready for your first domaining conference), I’d love to hear which one you ended up choosing.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
I’ve only been to one domain event – DOMAINfest’s Power Networking Day in New York last August. It was a great introduction to the industry, and offered the right balance of informative panel discussions, guest speakers, and opportunities to network with other attendees.
As far as the large conferences go, DOMAINfest in Santa Monica strikes me as being one of the most organized. I’ve heard nothing but great reviews from people about the auction, the speakers, and (of course) the parties.
I was set to attend DRT in the Bahamas this year, but ended up changing my plans (although I still have non-refundable tickets to the Bahamas). I’m going to do my best to make it to TRAFFIC in Miami in October.
There are actually a lot of smaller events I wish I could attend, such as Mike Law’s Rocky Mountain Domain Conference next month in Denver, and some of the South Florida and Southern California Domainer Meetups. Sometimes it can be easier to forge connections and talk to people in smaller settings. Chef’s DNCruise also seems great, and people raved about it last year.
But for the big conferences, DOMAINfest would be my first choice, followed by TRAFFIC, and DRT if it wasn’t happening in a place that required exorbitant hotel fees.
January 28th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
traffic is the oldest conference and I heard their food is great, never went myself but that’s what I would choose unless Im on a diet hehehe
January 28th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Look at my name and guess who I’m rooting for =))))
January 28th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Hi,
I hate traveling and never go to conferences any more (had plenty of them in my career), but I am seriously considering going the Rocky Mountain Conference organized by Mike Law which is being held in Denver on February 26th. The reasons I am considering are:
1) A great lineup of speakers
2) Very professional and to the point
3) Very reasonably priced for a full day of speakers (48.88 – my income this year)
4) A chance to meet and network with people involved with many aspects of buying and selling domains (marketing, legal, etc.).
5) A chance to say hello to Mike who I think is a great guy!
My vote is Rocky Mountain Conference.
January 28th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
You could also consider one of the European conferences. Domain Vermarkterforum in Germany (this year in Hamburg, http://domainvermarkterforum.de/ ) if you speak German or wait until DomainFest announces if/where they will do something in Europe this year.
If you’re willing to travel all the way over here to North America, it probably makes sense to attend some of the events that last several days to maximize your exposure and networking.
I do like many of the smaller events and meetings a lot – maybe there’s a way to combine a number of them in a tour or so if you can work it into your schedule and budget. But when you’re spending more than a full day on the trip in and out, I’d imagine you probably don’t want to go to a one day event.
This year on my list to attend so far:
* DomainFest Global
* ICANN San Francisco (not 100% yet)
* DomainConvergence in Montreal (I’m the chairman there)
I would love to also attend Domain Roundtable, but I cannot fit that in this year. If there’s another DNCruise this year I may consider it as well. TRAFFIC in Florida sounds good too, but is just too far away (time-wise) for now to decide.
Haven’t done any planning for the second half of the year.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:14 am
I was thinking like Frank about a europe conference but is the attending large enough? The most domainers are from north america and for them it is hard to travel just like it is for europeans to go to north america.
January 29th, 2011 at 6:51 am
@everyone: thanks a LOT for the comments and emails guys!
February 6th, 2011 at 3:54 am
Hello just stumbled your site and have been browsing around some of your entries and just wondering why you chose a Microsoft server dont you find it hard to do anything with?
February 7th, 2011 at 3:21 am
I got the two invitations on the same week but different days. From what I read, they are the two exact thing! not exactly alike, but they have the 10-days thing, and hands on activities… and the cost is about the same. But which one should I go if i gather my money? Thanks…
February 9th, 2011 at 3:54 am
I wanted to know how do people buy and sell domain names ?I mean how can you know that this specific name will give you a good price. And how do they sale it off ?
January 5th, 2012 at 2:32 am
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