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DOMAINfest attendance was down, but still strong

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:38:39 +0000

Fewer people turn out to this year’s event but it remains the industry’s biggest conference.

About 600 people attended last week’s DOMAINfest conference in Santa Monica. While down from previous years’ 700 attendees, it still makes it the largest conference in the domain name industry.

Here’s why I think attendance was down by about a hundred…

1. Still sick from last year.

Hey, the memories of last year’s sickness that afflicted 100+ people is still strong. Even though it could have happened at any event, I’m sure it left a sour taste in some people’s mouths.

Attendance effect: -20

2. Wait…no Playboy party?

Some people just can’t get enough of the Playboy Mansion. Although this year’s conference still had Playmates, it may not have been enough to make up for not getting to puke into a portable toilet at Hugh’s house.

Attendance effect: -25

3. Where’s Monte?

OK, I’ll bring it up because other people have. And because it certainly had some effect.

Attendance effect: -15

4. Domain parking still falling (despite some new faces here)

There are some new faces at the conference. In fact, a lot of them. But falling revenues certainly takes out a chunk of would-be attendees.

Attendance effect: -39

5. Some blogger from New York thought it would be OK to leave his 8-month-pregnant wife to go to DOMAINfest in California. He was mistaken.

Attendance affect: -1

OK, in all seriousness, the one observation I heard over and over at the conference was: man, there are a lot of new faces here. One person told me “while I usually don’t know about a third of the people at a domain conference, this year I don’t know 70% of them”.

This is a good thing. More people are being brought into the fold.

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6 questions about DOMAINfest answered

Andrew Allemann — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:11:07 +0000

A look back at last week’s DOMAINfest conference.

Before heading to DOMAINfest I posed six questions that would be answered by the end of the week. Here are the answers.

1. How will Oversee.net’s new leadership present itself?

Just before the conference began, Oversee.net announced that co-presidents Debra Domeyer and Scott Morrow had been promoted to co-CEOs.

I haven’t seen many “co-CEO” type situations end favorably, but they seem to be handling it well so far.

Most people I talked to at the conference were positive about the new leadership. Domeyer will be more visible to domainers since she handles the domain monetization side of the business. Morrow covers the vertical markets properties.

The new leadership gives Oversee a “fresh start” after a rough few years.

2. Will Oversee.net address Moniker?

Yep. KeyDrive, which owns NameDrive and Key-Systems, announced that it acquired both Moniker and SnapNames. That leaves a lot of of questions up in the air, but I think this is a good thing. Oversee had been trying to get rid of these properties for at least a year. It’s good to have them in the hands of a company that wants to invest in them. More on that in a future article.

3. Will the new parties make up for the (lack of) Playboy Mansion?

I think both parties were good. But I’ll let others chime in here.

4. How many people will be there?

About 600 people were expected to attend. More on that in a future article.

5. Can DOMAINfest successfully include topics outside the typical domainer realm?

Confession time – I didn’t really go to any of the sessions. But they were well attended, with 200-400 people in many of the sessions. I’d say it was another step toward bridging the domainer and internet marketing communities. These are two communities that historically haven’t understood much about each other.

6. What big company announcements will be made?

Sedo announced a big deal with GoDaddy, but KeyDrive probably grabbed the most attention with its acquisition.

…

Now, a bigger question: where do Oversee.net and DOMAINfest go from here? They have emerged a smaller, leaner company after the sale of Moniker and SnapNames. Now they have a vertical markets division and DomainSponsor. They’re a smaller part of the domainer lifecycle and have only about 100 employees, down from 200 just a few years ago.

Is DomainSponsor alone enough to justify holding a large conference each year? Will it team up with KeyDrive for future domain auctions at its conferences?

Will the conference eventually morph to a point where it no longer makes sense to put “domain” in the title?

Coming soon: Domain/Affiliate/LeadGen/SEOfest, presented by Oversee.net.

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6 questions to be answered at DOMAINFest this week

Andrew Allemann — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:58:20 +0000

A preview of the week ahead in Santa Monica.

The largest domain name conference, DOMAINfest, takes place in Santa Monica this week. There’s a lot to look for in the 2012 edition. Here are six questions that will be answered before the end of the week.

1. How will Oversee.net’s new leadership present itself?

Oversee.net branded itself largely with former CEO Jeff Kupietzky. Now Oversee.net has new leadership with co-presidents Debra Domeyer and Scott Morrow. Domeyer attended TRAFFIC last Fall, but for most people this conference will be the first introduction to the pair.

2. Will Oversee.net address Moniker?

It’s one of the industry’s worst kept secrets that Oversee.net has been shopping around Moniker. Also this month we saw the departure of some of Moniker’s longtime account managers. As a Moniker customer, I received no notice of the account manager changes.

Will Oversee continue to be silent about Moniker? Or will it address the changes head on to instill confidence. Confidence, after all, is one of the most important things people consider when selecting a registrar.

3. Will the new parties make up for the (lack of) Playboy Mansion?

There’s no trip to the Playboy Mansion this year. After over 100 people got sick last year I think that’s probably OK with most people.

But there will still be a Playboy element. .Co is sponsoring a party at Petersen Automotive Museum that will include some playmates as well as the star of the GoDaddy .co Super Bowl commercial Natalia Velez.

The final night party will be at House of Blue and includes “edgy, sexy and interactive entertainment”. It will be interesting.

4. How many people will be there?

DOMAINfest has attracted 700 people in recent years. That’s about the peak I could imagine if it’s mostly domainers. But the show is shifting — just like the company — and is attracting more from the lead gen, affiliate, and SEO spaces.

5. Can DOMAINfest successfully include topics outside the typical domainer realm?

This year you’ll hear a lot more about lead gen, SEO, and affiliate marketing at the show. It will be interesting to see how this shift is managed.

6. What big company announcements will be made?

Domain companies tend to make big announcements during domain conferences. Already this morning Sedo announced a deal with GoDaddy. What big deals and announcements will we hear this week?

There you have it. Six big questions that we’ll know the answer to by the end of the week.

See you in Santa Monica.

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DOMAINfest “Dine with an expert” slots filling up quickly

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:42:24 +0000

Opportunity to dine with DOMAINfest speakers quickly disappearing.

Want some quality time with Brook Schaaf, John Morris, Lisa Box, Jay Weintraub, or Paul Nicks during DOMAINfest next week?

Your easiest opportunity is no longer available.

These are among the people who already have full tables for their “Dine with an Expert” session during the conference.

Although I’m sure there will be other opportunities to chat with these experts, there are still a number of good options available under the program. Both Debra Domeyer and Scott Morrow, co-presidents of Oversee.net, still have space available at their tables.

The dining options take place primarily during lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, although there are also some available breakfast slots.

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GoDaddy .Co Super Bowl commercial model Natalia Velez to attend DOMAINfest

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:36:08 +0000

Colombian model to attend dinner party on February 1.

DOMAINfest organizers have just announced that Columbian model Natalia Velez, who stars along with Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels in a GoDaddy Super Bowl commercial this year, will attend the conference taking place in Santa Monica next week.

Velez will be in person at the Petersen Automotive Museum for the conference’s SuperCars dinner party sponsored by .Co on February 1.

Velez was recently unveiled as the star of one of GoDaddy’s commercials that highlights the .co domain name. The commercial has already been released and will be aired during the SuperCars party.

And for those that are bummed about the conference not returning to the Playboy Mansion this year, take note: there will be Playboy Playmates at the SuperCars event.

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UK-based Transpact offers domain escrow services

Andrew Allemann — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:14:32 +0000

Another option for domain name escrow services.

There are lots of options for domain name escrow services. One I just became aware of is Transpact.com based in the UK.

Two things make Transpact interesting: its location and low fees.

The company (Transpact is actually the trading name for Anpa Forward Ltd) is based in the UK and specializes in pound and euro transactions.

It’s fees are also low and not based on a percentage of the transaction.

The company charges £2.99 per party for (GB) Pound transactions or €3.49 each for Euro transactions, and $24.99 per party for US dollar transactions. That’s for transactions up to £10,000 / €15,000.

I always recommend doing your due diligence before selecting an escrow company. Transpact works with some large web companies such as AutoTrader UK and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom. Still, I don’t have first hand experience.

Any readers have experiences with Transpact?

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New domain search to find available domains…fast

Andrew Allemann — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:04:10 +0000

Lean Domain Search finds available domain names that include your search term.

A couple years ago I wrote about domain finding tool Domain Pigeon.

Creator Matt Mazur is back with a new tool to identify available domain names that include a specific keyword.

Just type in a keyword and Lean Domain Search matches it with 1,000 words commonly used in domains. It then tells you which ones are available.

I tried out multiple searches on the site and was impressed with the results. This tool is very fast, returning results in just a few seconds. More importantly, it returned domain suggestions that are actually worth registering.

When I reviewed Domain Pigeon I complained that many of the names it returned violated all sorts of naming conventions. It appears this new tool takes that into account. In fact, on the FAQ page it says that domains with numbers and hyphens are excluded because they don’t pass the “radio test”.

There is no charge to use the service. The site makes money as an affiliate to several domain registrars.

Lean Domain Search is simple and by no means exhaustive. But it’s definitely worth adding to your domain tool chest.

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