Day Two at NamesCon: Domaining to the Future.

Day One of NamesCon is done and in the books. And I’m back with the Day Two NamesCon 2018 Recap with not a minute to spare, or a session or workshop to miss.

My day started off with checking the NamesCon app to discover this lovely view:

Not only is the view lovely, but the weather has been great!

I wouldn’t know much about Vegas weather due to bouncing around like a pinball from session to session, and from one conversation to the next. 😊

Nevertheless, picking up from where Day One left off, Day Two kicked off quite expeditiously.

Attendees are literally and figuratively “Domaining to the Future” with the Exhibition Hall opening and unveiling the “Domaining of the Future” DeLorean replica (more on that in a minute).

A well attended Day Two Keynote, Building a Band Brand Using Social Media, had Andrew Allemann (DomainNameWire.com) interviewing a very energetic and insightful Dave Ellefson, signature bassist and ember of American thrash metal band Megadeth.

Andrew and Dave covered a number of topics from the music industry, strategic use of social media to manage and grow a brand to how Megadeth has evolved and reinvented itself throughout their journey.

One of Dave’s key points resonating with me was his following statement in regards to domains and trademarks: “…If you can dream it, then secure it!”

It was a great session that left attendees wanting to know more, yet also not wanting to miss other content-packed breakout sessions and workshops.

As attendees exited to proceed with self-planned agenda of workshops and breakout sessions, all were created with a well exhibited Exhibition Hall consisting of a number of domain industry exhibitors touting services, products and MAJOR swag!

Many attendees took interest in visiting with exhibitors.  Quite a few attendees also dashed off to a number of concurrent breakout sessions, panels, workshops and fireside chats.

Sessions

• Using Survival Psychology to Build a Resilient Brand – Jonathan David Lewis
• Ice Cream, Roller Skates, and Gen Z – Liza Box
• Payment Automation in a Rapidly Evolving Marketplace – Jackson Elsegood

Panels

• Domain Security 101 – Sherry Hildebrand, Brian Cute, and Ryan White
• nTLD Case Studies: Rising Above the Noise – Karn Jajoo, Jennifer Molina, Trevor Bowden, Christa Taylor, and Toby Hall
• Easily Putting Your Domain to Work Using Domain Connect – Ben Bowen, Del Putnam, Florentin Stafie, and James Magnarelli
• Navigating the World of geoTLDS – Dirk Krischenowski, Alfredo Pinochet, Stuart Fuller, Rick Silver, and Solomon Amoako

Workshops

• Data Mining for Revenue with Registries and Registrars – Michael Gilmour
• Building Brand Loyalty In the Age Of A Promiscuous Customer – Chris Snook
• How to Crowdsource Your Next Domain Name – Darpan Munjal
• How Do You Move From Domain to Cryptopunk? – Chris Jensen and John Lyotier

Fireside Chat

• DNS, Digital Identity, Blockchain and Smart GeoFences – Tim Favia, Justin Newton, and Sean Eilers

I dipped in and out of a few concurrent sessions because I couldn’t be in two places at once. 😉

One of those moments was the panel on Domain Security 101, which convened right before lunch. This panel throughly discussed and shared concrete steps for how best domain owners can better secure domains and websites, reducing the opportunity for security threats.

And although I missed the VIP Executive Q&A and Lunch with Jonathan David Lewis (moderated by Braden Pollock), I briefly met and spoke with a number of attendee newcomers (see quick lunch image below with Justin Brown).

Kicking off the afternoon, I was torn between attending the panel to learn about Domain Connect’s protocol and use cases, or attending the workshop about effectively leveraging crowdsourcing to develop a great name for a brand or business.

Because I often engage with business owners, and their companies and brands, I chose to attend the crowdsource workshop: How to Crowdsource Your Next Domain Name.

One of the entertaining moments of this workshop was Darpan Munjal sharing the stories of how the now infamous names “Boaty McBoatface” and “Dia Beetus” came to be. 😱

Most importantly, Darpan shared not only the common pitfalls in crowdsourcing names, but shared practical guidelines to apply to lower, if not eliminate, the risk of crowdsourcing names.

The topic of the day (my favorite!) that was deep, yet exponentially educational was How Do You Move From Domainer to Cryptopunk with Chris Jensen and John Lyotier.

Both gents shared their exciting journey from the world of domaining to the worlds of blockchain and crypto, which dates back to circa 2009q.

The presentation was not superfluous or common knowledge, yet a detailed revealing of their misses and failures moving from domainers to cryptopunks.

If NamesCon offers this slide deck or a recording of the workshop, do your best to gain access to either.

We closed out the day with the keynote, Keynote What the Blockchain? by Haseeb Rabbani from Blockgeeks, about demystifying what blockchain is and how decentralization benefits everyone long term.

Easing into after hours, Startup Alley (think open-bar happy hour) was held in Exhibition Hall for attendees to connect and network with startups and small businesses exhibiting at NamesCon.

And although my first attending NamesCon, I come to treasure the expressed importance for why NamesCon and everything in association started and exists this day and for days to come: WaterNight Charity Gala and Dinner.

Not having attended previous WaterNight events, this year’s format was quite different in being a more formal, red carpet evening of fine dining, auctions, prizes, music, and the mind-blowing celebrity magician Justin Willman.

Willman held the audience captive with a number of mind-blowing illusions, including an impromptu inclusion of WaterNight’s founder and previous founder of NamesCon, Richard Lau.

Finally, Richard surprised WaterNight attendees with a dollar-for-dollar matching for all willing to give and support continuing the WaterNight tradition to bringing water hygiene and sanitation to rural Uganda.

Day Two Reflection and Thoughts

As Day Two of NamesCon comes to an end, I’m pleased thus far with my experience as a first-time attendee. Why?

I can’t tell you how many side conversations (and sessions missed unfortunately) I’ve had to open proverbial doors for people or to have doors freely open for me personally by simply having the courage to greet someone and listen to their journey of what brought them to NamesCon.

Sure, there are industry professionals to greet and consider, but there are folks of all walks and facets of life attending NamesCon.

I believe a person is only one conversation or greeting away from a deal happening on the spot today and future deals tomorrow.

Simply put, many of the most meaningful conversations and deals are happening with new and budding relationships here at NamesCon (“YES, deals are happening quiet as kept).

That said, I’m grateful for the new and existing relationships NamesCon has allowed me to nurture.

That’s all for now! See you back here tomorrow for an exciting Day Three recap.