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Full NamesCon schedule released, GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani to keynote

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Bhutani to speak at “Domain Economic Forum”.

Headshot photo of Aman Bhutani, CEO of GoDaddy

GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani will keynote NamesCon Global 2020.

NamesCon has published the full schedule for its event taking place in Austin January 29-February 1.

Aman Bhutani, who became the CEO of GoDaddy last year, will be the main keynote speaker. Bhutani will speak on January 30 at 1 pm.

On Friday at 11 am, I will moderate a panel “Threats and Opportunities: New TLDs 5 Years In.” I will be joined by Christa Taylor, CMO of MMX, Christina Beavis, COO of Vox Populi Registry, and Matt Overman, SVP of sales at Donuts.

While the main hotel for NamesCon is sold out, NamesCon is offering discounted rates at three nearby hotels.

Discounted show tickets are still available using the code DNW30.

NamesCon Austin hotel sold out, new blocks announced

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Conference organizers strike deals with nearby hotels.

Image that says 'sold out'

Both of NamesCon’s hotel blocks at the Omni Hotel for January’s conference in Austin have sold out. In fact, the entire hotel is now sold out for the conference.

NamesCon announced today that it has arranged for discounted rates at nearby hotels. Here are the three hotels offering discounts through NamesCon:

Driskill Hotel – This is a historic hotel visited by many presidents over the years. It’s on the corner of 6th Street and highly recommended. NamesCon rates start at $279.

Aloft – Aloft is Starwood’s (now Marriott’s) more affordable version of the W Hotel. Rooms are available for $239.

Proper Hotel – This is a brand new hotel. Regular rates for the conference dates are $400+, and it appears they haven’t programmed in Namescon’s discount code ‘namescon’ yet. If you want to stay here, I recommend calling the hotel.

GoDaddy to host NamesCon auction with ROTD, submissions now open

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Submissions open for January’s domain name auction, which will take place on GoDaddy’s auction platform.

Hands holding bid cards in auction

The annual live domain name auction at January’s NamesCon will be hosted on GoDaddy’s platform rather than NameJet. Right of the Dot (ROTD) is organizing the auction as in past years.

This year’s auction will include names such as laptop.com, arcades.com, offices.com, lasers.com, and calories.com.

Anyone can submit domain names for inclusion in the auction through ROTD’s website.

There will be about 120 names in a live auction that takes place on January 30, 2020 in Austin. A further 500 names will be included in an online auction that ends February 14.

As usual, there will be pre-bidding. Potential buyers can start placing bids on December 1.

What to expect at NamesCon 2020 – DNW Podcast #261

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Soeren von Varchmin talks about the domain investing community’s big conference in January.

dnw-podcast I spent last week in Montreal at the ICANN meeting. While there, I sat down with NamesCon CEO Soeren von Varchmin to talk about January’s conference. After many years in Las Vegas, NamesCon is moving to Austin. Soeren explains why it’s moving and why you should attend. He also explains how running a conference for the domain business is different than for the hosting business.

Also: Tucows sells its domain portfolio, ICANN’s expected decision, True Detective, Sixth Street, Jimmy Wales, MarkMonitor and more.

See also: How to go to NamesCon for cheap

Sponsor: Name.market

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How to go to NamesCon for cheap

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Here are ways to save money on your trip to Austin.

Landscape of Austin, Texas with NamesCon logo over it

NamesCon is not an expensive conference to attend. However, two things give people pause before booking their travel.

First, NamesCon set the bar so low on prices in the past by going to The Tropicana that people are having sticker shock at traveling to Austin. The Trop is a crappy hotel with a commensurate price; it was about $120 or so a night with the “resort fee” before taxes. The Omni is a good hotel that costs about $100 more per night.

Second, as NamesCon CEO Soeren von Varchmin points out on the DNW Podcast airing Monday, many people who go to NamesCon go on their own dime. A company isn’t paying for them to attend, so they need to carefully consider the cost of going and what they get out of it.

Here are some ways you can save money on your accommodations.

As far as event tickets are concerned, there are lots of 30% off coupons out there. The ticket price will be much less than the hotel cost.

So if you’re looking to save money, here are five options for cheaper accommodations.

1. Share a room. That cuts your bill in half. You can even share a two-bedroom apartment.

2. Try The Guild. This Austin, Texas-based company rents apartments by the night. Not only can you “live like a local,” but there are lots of rooms available during the conference for less than $200.

3. Go to another downtown Austin hotel. The savings won’t be significant, but The Wyndham and Hamilton Inn & Suites are less than $200. (The Hamilton is nicer than expected for the brand.)

4. Stay further away from the venue. I don’t love this idea, but if the price is a deciding factor, there are options within a 20-minute drive that cost about $100. Also, take a look at the Extended Stay America just south of Lady Bird Lake. It’s very cheap and walkable to the hotel, although a bit on the far side.

5. Airbnb/HomeAway. You’ll find many options just to the east and south of downtown at low prices.