I guess conferences is too many to consider. Most attendees are domain in business, less end-user. We should have 1-2 in US, 1-2 in UK and 1-2 in ASIA per annual conference. IMHO

We need more marketing approach, look at Godaddy.com they are everywhere in marketing/advertising just to bring up their name. They are not the best registrar but they claim enough % in domain business.

Before commiting yourself to all the hype with regards some shows you have to ask yourself whats in it for me.
Am i going to make money long term or short term from this show or am i just going to spend my money and nothing happens.

First question would ask why would i pay say $2000 to just enter a show and have other companys trying to sell me there parking systems.

They should be paying me $2000 to attend the show and hope i gave them some business. then again maybe this is an american thing you charge people to attend the show and you charge sponcers to also to sell your there goods or services.

People are learning more online these days also also and being more carefull with there money think about it $2000 for show and lets say another $1000 for hotel $1000 for flights and $2000 for spending on nick nacks.total say $6000.

Now could go and buy a nice little name for that or register say 1000 . com names and park them and same me all the time.

also with shows that now more specific to domainers needs people will chose whats best for them and not read all crap that says you must attend this show and that show.

show me people who have attended the shows and have made money from the shows then will make my mind up and dont show me the old pals act.

No disrespect to some people but some people in this industry think domainers are thick and just trying to get you to part with your hard earned cash.

The old saying goes as soon as you get up in the morning someone is trying to find a way of getting your money.

the only shows i go to are ones going to make me money
so associated cities it is for me.

Could not make the show last year as the world travel show was on in london and that show made me money.

If you have names with regards to tourisim go to travel shows and learn if you have car related names go to car shows if you have property names go to property shows you will learn more and do more deals direct cutting out everyone and doing deals yourself is one ways to improve your earning from names

**SMO**

Perhaps, the same domainers who preach the value of great names, want their cake and ice cream too. It is funny to see domainers say reserves were way to high, when they know what the name is really worth and the potential of a great flip with a domain gem.

The bottom line is domainers and investors want to pay peanuts for quality gems, to add value to their portfolio. (unrealistic these days). Too many sellers are now educated and are not going to sell a quality gem for peanuts to get bidding auction on their name. Its human nature to feel good about buying things undervalued. Of course when they do this, they have large ROI when compared to the person who initially sold it.

I believe investors have become spoiled and believe they should not have to pay top dollar for great domains, like the rest of world. (even though they know the value of great names more than anyone else). It is funny to see this, because many end users are saying the same thing when they approach many domainers and their asking prices, much too high.(And they are not educated for the most part on domain power)

Bottomline, great names will demand top dollar, the days of low reserves and undervalued domain gems selling is becoming obsolete. Too many sellers are educated now and have watched the major players take advantage of sellers, only to brag and make a much larger profit by flipping a domain gem.

You would never see a Picasso, Rembrandt, or Angelo painting starting with a low reserve to entice bidding. Quality cost money, after all, this is not the dollar store.

Regarding the auction, I think it was substantial given the number present. Some of the .com names were not particularly good business names. Names with market potential always draw interest. As has become the norm, many better names were relegated to silent auction … actually hampering total sales.

Auction interest could be increased by introducing basic categories, and then within those categories, organizing names by price or search frequency.

***SMO***

M. Menius,

There are a variety of improvements that need to take place in order to make the auction more enticing. Marketing is the biggest problem. These shows take in “Big Money” from attendees, but spend very little on marketing the event and especially the auction.

If things do not improve and marketing efforts do not change, these shows will become obsolete. We have already seen what happened with the Domain Round Table. It lived a short life before being sold. THis should be awake up call to all those who host shows. These shows need to encourage customer comments and suggestions for improvements from customers and potential customers to stay ahead of the game.

After all, the event is not for the show host, but for the people.