2020 has certainly been a year of digital transformation and digital empowerment. In fact, the global economy has realized four years of growth in 10 months since COVID forever changed how we live and do business.

COVID is a lingering health nightmare that we all wish would end. Yet, COVID has forced brands of all types and sizes, including consumers, suppliers/vendors, etc., to embrace a progressively digital global economy.

“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 words, if not something similar, before 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 regarding 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 the new and virtual territory by debuting the first-ever digital investors’ online conference sponsored by Dan.com: TheDomainShow.com.

Its 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 the team, industry professionals eagerly awaited and anticipated the shift 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…

Attempting to locate an owner of a domain name you desire to purchase or connect with for whatever reason can be as challenging as finding a need in a haystack — to say the least.

Gone are the days you could easily use Whois to enter desired domain names and be shown registrant contact information such as phone, email, and address.

Having landed here on this website, this page specifically, you’re likely about to pull your hair out as to why you’re unable to export or share a 1080p or 4K file, right?

When a person or business brand ceases to exist, whatever the case may be, one of the most overlooked items is the very domain name in which the brand developed its digital presence.

Investing in domain names for over a decade now, other domain investors and I often find one person’s or business’ domain trash quite the domain treasure. Why?

A few years ago, I was inundated by customer calls, emails, and web inquiries on a daily basis. Most inquiries centered around solving a number of technical challenges and dreams pertaining to WordPress.

From dynamic sidebars to popups and modals to integrating with MailChimp and many more, I often found myself in search of sent emails and previous digital notes I shared with customers containing solutions or possible avenues of functionality to consider.

This approach works well when you’re a one-man shop with a handful of inquiries in a given week.  Not so much when you go with 2 or more employees and a growing customer base. This type of hunt-and-find-an-answer approach simply doesn’t scale.

Operating multiple WordPress sites for a variety of different businesses and disciplines, I finally hit my limit and was forced to address the inefficiency of fielding a snowballing number of inquiries.