The only TRAFFIC of the year is upon us.
This year TRAFFIC will host just one conference, which kicks off Sunday in Fort Lauderdale.
Last year there was a TRAFFIC conference just about every other month. Combined with other domain conferences it was simply too much. Having just one TRAFFIC this year means a greater concentration of domainers and a bigger focus on business.
Here are five questions to be answered next week in Fort Lauderdale.
1. How will the auction perform? This auction will be different from most other recent live domain auctions for a couple reasons. First, there will be no online bidding. This should make the technical aspects of the auction go much smoother. Seriously, when’s the last time that a live auction with online bidding went smoothly? Second, domain owners could pay to get their domains in the auction.
The auction list keeps getting bigger — 120 domains at last count. This is a little long for my tastes, but a well run auction will go quickly. I think the numbers will be bolstered by a handful of registry owned .xxx domains.
2. Will the venue top last year’s? The Ritz Carleton will surely be nice, but I also liked last year’s hotel in South Beach. It appears the Ritz is actually across the street from the beach rather than right on it like last year’s (although there’s a bridge to the beach). Still, Rick and Howard have signed up to host TRAFFIC at the Ritz again next year, so it must be a sweet venue.
3. Will the event have class? Last year’s TRAFFIC in Florida had some moments we’d all soon like to forget, such as one of the show promoters yelling at a representative of one of the domain industry’s biggest revenue sources at a party. Hopefully we won’t see that this year. Also, let’s remember that the domain industry isn’t the adult industry. .xxx is the big sponsor. That makes sense. But I hope the entire conference takes into consideration that this industry has both men and woman, and not all like the adult entertainment industry.
4. Any big news? I’m hearing whispers of some fairly big company and product announcements in conjunction with next year’s show. We’ll see.
5. What will attendance be?Since this is the only TRAFFIC this year I’m guessing the total number comes in around 250-300.
> “Still, Rick and Howard have signed up to host TRAFFIC at the Ritz again next year, so it must be a sweet venue.”
Perhaps the Ritz gave them a better price, and an even better price if they committed to two years?
> “Since this is the only TRAFFIC this year I’m guessing the total number comes in around 250-300.”
325, according to Rick. I suspect that’s all in, including sponsors, partners, etc.
@ Tony Bellows – I’m sure they got a discount for two years. But they also wouldn’t have committed had they had doubts.
325 is possible…always some no shows.
What big news and product announcement are you refering to?
Do we finally have a real domain monetization cum development platform that does not suck?
🙂
“Do we finally have a real domain monetization cum development platform that does not suck?”
Yeah, it’s called hard work
🙂
Question 6 and just kidding around here (sorta).
What brand of coffee does Rick use.. More importanted where can we get this coffee ?
I dunno what kinda coffee Rick uses but it is something i wanna drink also in the mornings.
Think whatever you want about this old geezer seems he has a sniper aim for domains.
Sure may take a few years …But the ROI is killer.. enuff said .
The death of Conventional parking ushered in a loud chorus of “Develop, Develop, Develop”.
It may be logical and sound advise.
BUT, not all Domainers want to become Developers.
For those who feel that way, it means hold what you can afford of your best domain investments.
In the beginning, there was Domaining.
Parking came along, because there was a need.
There is still a need. So, you can bet there are some intelligent minds working on ways to fill that need.
Good Domains are valuable, even it they do nothing but sit on the self for years.
And as usually a lot of nice domain names are going to be there for sale and for meeting there will be many successful entrepreneurs…
I hope everyone has a great time and gets everything they hope from the event.