I Came across this article about DomainFest that was published yesterday and it brought back some memories thanks to Frank.  Frank Schilling (Who is the only guy who can gain 150 RSS subscribers to his blog without blogging in the past 30 days :-) )always has a great way of communicating stories and the bottom line upfront.  I so remember the days when everything was secretive.  The only info you would get from anyone about expiring domains was in the Great Domains Chatroom between 6:00 AM and 6:30 AM.  That is when all the chasers would enter the chatroom and share some of the gems acquired during the drop, however even that was very limited.  

What ended the good ole days of “chasing” was the development of drop catching services that registered names to place on auction.  The playing field would never be the same after this.  They simply had the resources to push the small guys aside and made it undisirable to even get up in the early morning and chase.  Chasing gave you an andrenaline rush like no other in the world, all from a computer in your home, in your underwear, with the opportunity to make alot of money with the right catch!

This is when domain empires were built unknowingly in the dark, secretive.  This is when lives where changed forever.  Now everything about the domain industry is available from many sources, in different formats, and different languages.  There is nothing secret anymore.  None of this existed between 1999-2003. 

What makes it so great is that even with so much information available on the industry, people are still becoming successful with domains with no end in sight. Usually, information gets published after all the big dawgs have made all the money in the industry.  I do not believe this will ever happen in the domain industry.  Your mind and commitment are your only limitations in this industry. 

The best part of this transition of the industry (The end of secrets), is the opportunity to actually meet, communicate, and interact with other professionals openly now.  It definitely makes for better conversation.  It is a true pleasure to meet and interact daily with you domainers, visitors and friends thru this blog.  Each of you continue to inspire and motivate me daily; and I thank you for it!  Change has been great!                    

(via iht.com) 

“The industry was very secretive for a long time,” said Frank Schilling, an industry pioneer who hit it big with bare-bones Web destinations like drugproblem.com and diamondweddingrings.com.

“When you make millions at home in your underwear, you are not telling a soul about it,” he said.

But like other veterans, Schilling does not appear to be completely enthused with the industry’s new direction. “These shows let everyone know how good it is and now the sniff is out,” he said. “The wildcatting days are over. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss them.”