Having been involved in the domain, Internet, and technology scene for little over a year, I have been following other blogs, publications, and attending meetings all over the world. Although still a novice, it is now my turn to post.
I would have to give DOMAINfest two thumbs up. Hosted in Hollywood, California, DOMAINfest brought together over 600 domain and technology industry professionals for a perfect combination of educational seminars and once in a lifetime social functions to Universal Studios and the Playboy Mansion. Oversee.net, Moniker, and Snapnames did a great job of bringing “the stars” of our world together. Many thanks to all that made it possible!
To be honest, the week was a list of firsts for me starting with my first DOMAINfest and followed by my first glimpse of a domain auction on Tuesday night. Within moments of observation of the auction, I began to travel back to my past in the Midwest and remembered various State Fairs from my childhood. Believe it or not, the art of auctioning whether cattle or domain names is ironically similar. The technique, speed, paddles, and lingo are all the same, it just smelled much better in the elegant ballroom with all the amenities at DOMAINfest.
On a more serious note, I think the lower level auction on Tuesday night proved to be very successful. In speaking with various event leaders, roughly 60% of the domain names sold. It was a sign that perhaps the economic times were not going to stifle the investors at DOMAINfest Global 2009. Or would they?
On Wednesday, the official event was kicked off by the President of Oversee.net, Jeff Kupietzky. He mentioned the economic downturn and the need to collaborate for the next phase of our business, Domaining 2.0. Equally, he shared the opportunities that the attendees had this year in the live and extended auctions, including premium domain names from .me and for the first time ever .travel domain names.
Jeff’s speech was followed by a “must attend” fire-side chat with Steve Wozniak, “the Woz.” Explaining the beginning of Apple with their numerous pioneering obstacles, the talk was inspirational for the audience of many self-made entrepreneurs...all believing in .com when it was new and now with portfolios of hundreds to thousands of valuable domain names (Internet real estate).
For Thursday, the final day of the event, all eyes were on their watches for the start of the live auction. At 1:30PM, all attendees either entered the ballroom or retired to their laptops to bid by the pool or in their rooms for bidding away from the competition. With the list of domain names peppered with many foreclosure, rental, and economic related domain names, there was also a portfolio of 2nd tier .me names available as well as five premium .travel names: europe.travel, free.travel, fly.travel, information.travel, and city.travel.
The verdict was that the showroom floor was slow. It was quieter than the previous low-level auction on Tuesday; thus, demonstrating that times are tough. At the end of the day, the live auction sold about $600,000 which is dramatically less than previous years of over $1-2 million.
In analysis, I think this year’s live auction and extended auction presented and continue to present real opportunities for investment. However, with domainers so focused on the traditional portfolios of .com, it is NOW time to enter into an investment opportunity with other alternative domain names such as the great 2nd tier .me names, various .mobi, and premium .travel names. Many of us not in the .com world at the beginning wish we could have our gotten our dream domains ten years ago, but now like then it is the time to start in areas of investment where you get in early and take advantage of great names.
In the extended auction, I believe that we will see higher dollar figures and more aggressive bidding on some of the alternative domains. It is time to expand your portfolio and not put all of your eggs in the .com basket. Get in early with alternative domains and reap the benefits!
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