A look back at Associated Cities’ 2008 show.
Sunday morning I woke up at the W Hotel in Chicago and wandered out to grab breakfast. It was a beautiful morning, about 70 degrees and sunny. As I walked the streets of Chicago it gave me time to reflect on the past couple days at the GeoDomain Conference.
Overall, the show was a huge success. A tip of the hat to Patrick Carleton and Associated Cities for putting together a solid show in a short time frame. It was well attended by a record 200 people and I didn’t hear a single negative comment about the show while I was there. David Castello moderated a number of the panels (when he wasn’t on them himself) and did an outstanding job. TrafficZ threw a great party, although many still felt the effects by the time they left Sunday. David Kesmodel, author of The Domain Game, had a book signing and people bought several copies of the book to send to friends and business associates. And Chicago was the perfect location for a domain name show.
But bigger than the programming was the mood and camaraderie. There were no grudges and no secrets. Egos were checked at the door. Everyone was sharing their experiences and lending a hand. There were “new” faces. There was good conversation in a laid back atmosphere.
After Saturday night’s dinner I sat at a table with a handful of domain owners and we talked about the current state of the market. I hadn’t met many of these people before, or at least had much of a conversation with them. We talked about PPC. We talked about the unwinding of venture backed domain companies. We talked about development. We talked about life. Before I knew it, the hotel staff was closing down the ballroom and it was 11:30.
This is how a domain conference should be.
Scott Roberts says
It was great to meet you in Chicago and talk a bit. As a new face at the show, I have to agree completely about the atmosphere. I thought everyone was approachable, friendly and helpful. It was definitely worth the trip.
Rob Sequin says
Ditto.
People knowledgeable and passionate about domains AND developing.
VERY good for the domain industry as a whole and AC is run by great people.
Elliot Silver says
Great to see you and thanks for the friendly health reminder 🙂 The fact the seasoned professionals are more than happy to lend a hand to others just starting out is fantastic. As a domain investor, I sometimes feel like I am going at it alone. As a Geo Domain investor, I feel like there are people who want to see me succeed, which is a tremendous feeling.
Looking forward to the next show.
Frank says
How related is the domain market with the overall economy? Which online niches do you guys think will do well if and when a recession hits.
Today there were several newspapers that headlined many small banks will be failing. Also my own market research is showing online ad spending is projected to slow down after several years of growth.
maybe .cn or .in domains? .cn has already overtaken .de in popularity. And the .asia is being marketed well. Lately I’ve been doing better with those than the .com/.net arena.
I’d love to hear what others are experiencing and your thoughts.
Andrew says
Frank, it’s not just small banks. IndyMac was the second biggest bank to ever fail in the U.S. (granted, big ones are usually stopped from failing).
As for .cn, the only reason it’s bigger than .de is they’re basically giving them away.
M. Menius says
@Frank – “How related is the domain market with the overall economy?”
The domain market is tied to more than just online ad expenditures. Economic slow down will affect ad buys and consequently some domain revenue streams. However, domains in general are business drivers, not just ad portals. As business drivers, they are unique online brands and very much embedded in the daily opration of the internet. And regardless of general economic gyrations, the internet will continue to flourish in a very big way.
So even in slow down, companies will be positioning themselves to go to “the next level” as the economy unwinds again and moves forward. Unless a completely new system of language replaces what we have (never happen) then quality, descriptive domains will remain valuable.