Good content sessions planned for January domain conferences.
I rarely go to sessions and panels at trade shows. I prefer to spend my time networking. That’s especially true at domain name shows, because I usually find the programming banal. But that may change this month. The agendas for both T.R.A.F.F.I.C. and DOMAINfest have some interesting — if not exciting — sessions.
TRAFFIC
Friday, January 22nd 1:45-3:00 – WIPO Reviews. Some of my favorite sessions in the past have been on legal topics. But TRAFFIC’s legal panel this month will be especially interesting because it will keep the panelists on topic, discussing only recent UDRP decisions.
Saturday, January 23rd 1:30PM – 02:45PM – Playing the Drop Market. It’s a great topic that is often left off the agenda. Perhaps it’s because people don’t want to share their secrets. If TRAFFIC is able to bring in some of the bigger players and get them to give good tips, this could be a great session.
Saturday, January 23rd 3:00PM-6:00PM – Test Track. Test Track debuted at TRAFFIC NYC last fall. TRAFFIC’s organizers are doubling down for the second go-around, with the hopes of a deal consummating on stage.
DOMAINfest
Tuesday, January 26 11:00AM-12:15PM – PITCHfest. A competition where contestants get to pitch their products for increasing web traffic and monetizing traffic. I like the idea of PITCHfest. On Thursday, DOMAINfest will host LAUNCHfest, where contestants compete for the best plan to launch a web site on one of show host Oversee.net’s domain names. I still don’t understand the incentive for people to participate in LAUNCHfest, so it will be interesting to see how it comes to fruition.
Wednesday, January 27 11:00AM-12:15PM – Keynote. Zappos.com founder Tony Hsieh chats about his successful business ventures and domain names.
Wednesday, January 27 3:30-4:45 – How Prime Internet Real Estate Builds SEO and SEM Success. For some reason, the domain industry seems to be out of tune with the rest of the internet marketing world, including SEO. If this were just another search engine panel, I’d say blah. But DOMAINfest has lined up some of the most respected players in the field, including Danny Sullivan and Bruce Clay.
Domain Investor says
In 2010, ” same ol’, same ol’ ” is not going to work for DomainFest and Traffic.
Therefore, if the 2 domain meetings plan to be around in 2011, they need to deliver viable substance and business solutions for domainers besides networking.
It will be interesting to see how many of the “regular” and new domainers attend the 2 domain meetings.
I wonder if the attendence will be up or down compared to 2008/2009?
Will domainers switch from domain meetings to SEO and affiliate conferences?
Kevin Ohashi says
Are they bringing in real investors to either? Honestly, I’d like to see some seed funds, angels and VCs there with serious experience. If you want a Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank you need the experts, also they really should come from a background broader than just domainers.
Mike Law says
What’s the golden domainer saying going to be then ….
‘Com is king’ or ‘Content is king’
??
Steve M says
The answer, Mike, is neither … and both:
“Content on .com is king.” 😉
Louise says
Hi Andrew, Say, “hi” if you feel like after Test Track . . . I was invited and I’m working on travel arrangements, so I hope to get to meet you! Also I applied for PitchFest, but don’t know if accepted for that.
Did you see the domains for LaunchFest? They’re for lease at a reduced price . . . I, too, wonder who the takers will be . . .
LS Morgan says
“Content on .com is king.”
On a daily basis, I’m reminded how untrue this statement is, simply because we regularly crush keyword spaces where the preeminent .com properties are rotting on PPC. For search engines that are gTLD neutral, content REALLY IS the undisputed king. Parkers- who are letting their .com names fester and rot on PPC- are forsaking something that so many “domainers” of today are blissfully unaware of, but in the future, will look back on these days and do a facepalm.jpg.
“Time” plays an enormous role in search-engine trust, the designation of authority and eventually, rank. Letting great names rot undeveloped may very well be disadvantaging those names in search engines forever, particularly in spaces that are highly competitive and see a ton of content development. We may see a day when a great domain that has spent the better part of a decade undeveloped has too much search engine baggage to be worth much to anyone, save for those who are willing to bet on it’s keyword gravity and hammer millions in offline marketing on it’s behalf.
.com is king for offline marketing and brands because of the mindshare it has with the consumer, but it’s riding in steerage with all other TLD’s as far as search engines are concerned and as search engines become more and more relevant, that’s all that really matters.
Some of the old ‘domainer’ mentalities that have been flogged since the late 90’s are getting turned upside down as we speak. Consider this one of them.
Steve M says
LS: My statement included “content” ; so your point/s concerning great domains relying on PPC merely serves to support my contention that (great, fresh) content on a .com is the best way to go.
Thank you.
ps And “.com is king for offline marketing and brands because of the mindshare it has with the consumer” is at least half the battle to obtaining site/company success.