GeoDomain Expo Take Aways

I had the opportunity to take part in the GeoDomain Expo in San Diego late last week and continuing into the weekend.  Sponsored by an organization called Associated Cities, the event was a gathering of geo domainers, domain industry media, industry providers, ICANN representatives, and new people to the industry like me.

The first day of the event on Thursday was closed to only Associated Cities’ members; however, the blending of both members and industry players began at a luau function held that evening and continued through Friday and Saturday at an array of relevant seminars with expert panels and VIP keynote speakers.

As the event was very intimate with perhaps 200+ attendees, this gave me the opportunity to learn much about the geo domaining industry as well as meet personally with various of the panelists.

Here is a run down of my personal favorites:

Dailies: They’re gone, now what?

      Now with the disappearance of daily newspapers, who will rule the local space? Will it be geo domainers? The Panel included Ron Donoho of SanDiego.com, Ron Jackson of DNJournal, Kerry Murakami of the Seattle Post-Globe with moderator Dan Pulcrano of Boulevards New Media. The consensus was that with many talented journalists and photographers being laid off, why not take this opportunity to scoop them up to beef up your content?

      Future of GeoDomains and New TLDs

As a controversial topic for this .com centric organization, the future of GeoDomains and New TLDs was one of the best attended seminars with the Castello Brothers, David and Michael Castello of Cities Internet Network, Jothan Frakes of Minds + Machines, Phil Corwin of the Internet Commerce Association, and moderator, Tim Cole the Chief Registrar Liaison at ICANN. The continued topic heard throughout the event of “.com is king” or ".com is the golden standard" was prevalent with strong commentary from the Castello brothers as well as feedback from the audience.  Jothan Frakes and others from the audience, including .travel, were supportive of the controlled expansion of the Internet into category specific TLDs.

      News Makers and Buzz Generators

The attendees of the GeoDomain Expo had the opportunity to hear the latest updates from the blogosphere and domaining industry press with Elliot Silver of Elliot’s Blog, Sean Stafford of Modern Domainer Magazine, Andrew Alleman of Domain Name Wire with moderator Ron Jackson.  Many agreed that one's choice of headlines does affect a blogger’s success. Additionally, each blogger does have a voice, but writing something that an individual can understand without being a part of the domaining industry is crucial.

      As the highlight of most domaining events, the GeoDomain auction too had a premium name auction.  Aftermarket.com and DomainConsultant.com orchestrated the auction.  This was my first ever, outside auction, which showcased a well-rounded list of destination, keyword rich domain names across various extensions such as .biz, .info, .org, .com, .us, and .travel.  Although many were priced well below their value the auction, the opportunity slipped by many of the online and house bidders. Twenty-nine of the names sold for over a $101K total with the highest bid at $15K for SierraMadre.com.  However, all the names are still available until May 5th, but at more aggressive pricing.

In seems to be the season of domain auctions. I look forward to giving you an update on this extended auction as well as Rick Latona’s and Moniker’s later this week.

Eye-opener as Auctions Include Many Alternative Domains, Including 6 Premium .travel Domain Names

This week's announcements of the next auctions have been an eye-opener. For both the GeoDomain Expo and T.R.A.F.F.I.C., the auction listings are still dominated by generic .com names. However, there is one thing for sure. Never before have we seen more alternative domains. In particular, I would like to bring attention to .travel, a rather unknown, hidden jewel in the domaining world.

Only once before have .travel domain names been auctioned. Now in the next two weeks, the domain industry will see a total of 6 premium names auctioned at the GeoDomain Expo and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Silicon Valley.

Included at the GeoDomain Expo on April 25th will be a list of geo-centric domain names hand chosen by DomainConsultant. On this list will be pics.travel starting at $1,500 and money.travel at no reserve.

The complete list of names offered at the GeoDomain Expo includes a variety of .info, .biz, .org, .us, .com, net, and .travel domain names. Click here for the full list.

The following week at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Silicon valley four additional .travel domain names will be auctioned. Three of which will be included on April 28th in Rick Latona's auction:

jet.travel with a reserve of $1,000

jets.travel with a reserve of $1,000

(a very valuable duo, both are short, sweet, and to the point)

spa.travel with a reserve of $1,000

Additionally, in Moniker's Premium Live Auction on April 29th you will see, bargain.travel with a reserve of $1,000-$5,000.

For the full catalogs of both T.R.A.F.F.I.C. auctions click, Rick Latona's Auction and Moniker's Premium Live Auction.

As the buzz of new TLDs increases along with the continued saturation of the ".com is king" Internet, I foresee keyword specific domain names that perform well in search and that are clear to the end user will gain even more momentum.

I look forward to seeing the results of all of the up and coming auctions. I wonder who will be some of the pioneers in this next phase of domain name investments? Remember those that get in early typically reap the rewards.