Spent few days in LA at Oversee.net/DomainSponsor’s Domainfest, had a good time, built further relations, did a lot of business, and have some thoughts to share with you.
First, to all my friends at Oversee and other organizations I may criticize here, consider the following as a constructive criticism. Now for the details:
Hotel: The hotel was good (rooms), logistics - not so great. Didn’t like the fact we had to go out again and again to get to the show. Weather was cold (especially for us Floridians), rain, and I got lost too many times (others as well).
Sessions: I only attended Frank Schilling’s “Town Hall” session and half of John Battelle’s session. Both were excellent, lots of information, entertaining, and well worth the money and time on their own.
Food: Since I’m a vegetarian my take on food is limited. Overall good but could be better. Last day at breakfast they did not have eggs without meat and the manager said they could not make some. No fun.
Sponsor area/Sponsor value: EXCELLENT. The atmosphere and location/lounge were great. The few sponsors I spoke with were extremely happy. The “Passport” concept worked great.
People: There was a good mix of old timers and many new curious domainers. The vibe I got was great however I felt another group was largely missing, the one which are professionals who have high interest in the space such as SEO folks, web developers, bankers, VC’s, and advertisers.
Party: As always, Oversee knows their stuff, FIVE STARS!
Auction technology: The team at snapnames has done a great job creating a simple to use interface for web bidders. In one word: Kudos!
Auction execution: Again, auctioneer, runners, helpers, and Ron Sheridan all did a great job. A++
Auction Inventory: From 1-10 I would say 6. Could have been so much better and with Monte and Moniker now in the picture, there’s mo doubt things will get so much better.
My take on the auction: The overall view on the auction is it was weak. The question is why? In my opinion, few reasons:
1. Lack of bidders: Many top bidders did not attend/participated for various personal reasons.
2. PPC earnings are down: It is no secret anymore, PPC earnings are down across the board and buyers have less funds available, and for the moment, less trust in domains.
3. Potential buyers may wait: Potential buyers may wait to negotiate better deals after auction in cases where no one else was bidding.
4. ROI: It is hard to justify purchases for some of the prices domains listed. Since many of the domains are not PPC (earners) domains the two other options for returns are either sales or development. Many buyers are not sellers and even more do not develop. If earnings isn’t part of the equation I believe less potential buyers bid.
5. Weak economy: Related to point 2, there’s no doubt in my mind domainers are more conservative with their spending.
Domainers Choice Awards: A great event, execution. Congratulations to all winners(!) and thanks to Donna, Sally, and friends, for putting it together!
During and at the end of the show many said Domainfest has raised the bar. Personally, I tend to agree.
That said, knowing Rick and Howard, expect them to take some notes and improve Targeted Traffic even more.
The bottom line is Domainfest is now a MUST ATTEND show in my book. To Lawrence Ng, Moniker and Snapnames folks, and the Oversee team - CHEERS!
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Well said Sahar, I agree with most of your analysis. Also, the chance of getting rain in Los Angeles, for several days straight is about one in a million. We needed it. I am glad you are back posting on this blog. I visit it every day and it is one of the best in the field. See you in Las Vegas.
Thanks Michael, pleasure catching up again with you, David, and Natalie as well. See you soon!
Sahar
glad you’re blogging again.
was good to see you again, even if for a short time.
see you soon.
—-answer—-
Are you making it to TRAFFIC?
Sahar
yeppers