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2008 DOMAINfest Global Conference Set to Unveil New Twists This Month in Hollywood
By Ron Jackson
The DOMAINfest Global Conference returns to the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, California January 21-23. The phrase "back by popular demand" is often mis-used but that description rings true for this event. Attendees simply loved the debut conference at this location last year. Even so, the conference organizers (Oversee.net) initially planned to taking the show on the road with Las Vegas slated to host round two. That was before they started getting overwhelming feedback from attendees calling for a return to the Renaissance and the entertainment capital of the world - Hollywood. Recognizing that the customer is always right, Oversee relented - though truth be told, they were happy to make that concession as Los Angeles also happens to be their hometown.
Though the site will be the same - the show will not. Oversee wasn't content to stand pat even though their first outing was so warmly received. With the phenomenal growth of the domain industry, competition has also grown in the conference space. With so many options to choose from now, show promoters have to keep coming up with fresh concepts to give attendees a reason to come back to their event.
For starters, DOMAINfest Global will feature two keynote speakers - famed adventurer Peter Hillary, who will talk Monday afternoon (Jan. 21) and best-selling author and Wired Magazine co-founder John Batelle, who will take the podium Wednesday morning (Jan. 23). In still another headline event, wildly successful domain investor Frank Schilling (who was the subject of our Dec. 2007 Cover Story) will host a Domain Town Hall meeting Tuesday morning (Jan. 22).
In another new twist, DOMAINfest Global will enter the live domain auction derby with a pair of three-hour events running Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (Jan. 22-23) from 4-7pm Pacific time each day. That major addition to the show was made possible by Oversee's purchase of pioneering auction house SnapNames.com last year. The conference will mark the debut of SnapNames Live and the auctions will be further enhanced by know-how acquired in another major purchase earlier this month when Oversee added live auction pioneer Moniker.com to their stable of corporate assets.
You can participate in the live auctions even if you are unable to attend the conference. Details on how to register to bid are available here. A few of the gems scheduled to go on the block are romance.com, soapoperas.com, bookmarks.com, dude.com, ar.com and iq.net. You can download the entire preliminary catalog for the live auctions here.
