At approximately 4:05 pm Tuesday afternoon, Hal Yaffe created an impromptu Clubhouse room: LIVE Domain sales action. Let’s make a deal now! 1,200 .coms.

Hal had one goal in sight: to see if anyone would join the room. He sat in this room in complete silence for 5 minutes before anyone joined.

It was wasn’t long before people began trickling into the room to talk domains. As talks progressed amongst clubbers, a few domains were swapped and then sold.

And in the blink of an eye, the room filled with veterans and newcomers stepping up to the stage in hopes of buying and selling .com domains, averaging 80-90 persons in the room and nearly 700 passing through the room over a six hour time period.

“An all virtual conference or event will never work.”

“People meeting online only for a conference is simply a waste of time, and the most outlandish idea I’ve ever heard of or thought about.”

“Why would I ever attend an online-only conference?”

Let’s be real with one another or, at least, ourselves for a moment. How many of us likely thought and said those very words, if not something similar, prior to COVID-19?

Little did I, you, or anyone else realize that NamesCon Global 2020: Economic Domain Forum could likely be the last physical domain investing conference anyone in the industry would attend, and for a long while.

Upping the ante, none of us certainly thought or ever imagined a completely virtual domain conference some eight to nine months later that would forever transform the landscape of the conference experience.

As Harold Arlen penned, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” And so it goes with the industry’s leading domain conference, we’re in uncharted waters in terms of what is next for the conference experience, especially NamesCon.

So many questions to answer as the future fast approaches.  Will the conference experience go back to being in-person only?

The domain industry chartered into new and virtual territory with the debuting of the first ever digital investors online conference sponsored by Dan.com: TheDomainShow.com.

It’s Founder and Executive Producer, Page Howe, is no stranger to the industry, investing in domains for 20+ years, having sold 5,000+ domains (most notably sold Seniors.com for $1.8M), and once known for his domain tip sheets, emoji domain investing, and occasional DomainSherpa appearances through the years.

As all eyes were on Page and team, industry professionals eagerly awaited and anticipated what the shift would be like from a paid in-person to a free virtual conference experience spanning three days, July 23-25.

There were many questions to be answered from the time it was announced in early April:

• What would be the format of the show?
• Who and want would be presented?
• Would sessions be live, pre-recorded, or both?
• How would the show address time zone challenges?
• and many more…

A NamesCon 360° email hit my inbox moments ago, and it appears their first all-digital event will occur online for just $59. If you’re an individual or small business that’s new to the industry, NamesCon is giving away a set number of limited passes.

The conference will run from Sept 9th-11th, and aims to provide great live and on-demand content from investors, industry experts and key industry players from around the globe.

NamesCon Global has concluded, and was considered a success by most everyone attending.

Austin was well received by most attendees. Sessions and events were well attended. It was great having GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani present to inspire and empower everyone for future success.

But now that NamesCon Global is behind us, here are 5 actions to consider executing prior to the next NamesCon Global:

Time flies when you’re having fun, making friends, learning new thoughts, and the list goes on.

It’s hard to believe that NamesCon Global was just kicking off about this time last week.

So many connections made, both new and old. A plethora of content presented across three days — Day one, Day two, and Day three. Too many meetings, dining dates, and parties to capture.

It was only fitting to close out NamesCon Global with a Fun Day at Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden.

Day one of NamesCon was all about settling into the conference and venue layout, meeting new people, and finding your lane of expertise and interest amongst the many information-packed sessions.

With Day one jitters behind us, Day two of NamesCon was about going deeper in old and newly found relationships, empowering everyone to do what it is they do well as presentd by Aman Bhutani — CEO of GoDaddy, and of course, awards and the much anticipated live domain auction.

As for Day three of NamesCon, it too would move the bar of excellence higher, especially pertaining to generational domain investing and prudent estate planning for domain portfolios.

But more on that in a moment.

First things first, Day three of NamesCon kicked off with a packed Keynote Hall eagerly waiting to hear from James Booth about his winding domain investing journey as a domain broker — “Phenomenal Keynote: Fireside Discussion with James Booth of Phenom.com”.