Per release statements from Apple and Windows, more than 70 new emoji are soon to hit devices worldwide in their latest software updates starting October 2018, spanning the next month or so.

As most of you all know, I attended and participated in the 2nd Annual MERGE! Conference in Orlando, Florida this year.

Having attended its inaugural debut last year, I was honored to Moderate two sessions this year:

• Secrets of Domain Leasing
• Domain Name Solutions for Blockchain Challenges

Both sessions were attended, received and engaged quite well by attendees and industry professionals.

In addition, one of the most anticipated and talked about segments of MERGE! was Appraisals, Comps, & Aftermarket — How do we know that our domains are worth?

While there are only a few new top-level domain extensions that have captured my attention and a few investment dollars, there aren’t many likely to stand the test of time.

While there are thousands of new top-level domain extensions to choose from, there are only a handful of industry professionals I’d be willing to put my money on being and building a profitable success.

It’s been one week since I boarded a plane from Orlando heading back to good ole’ Austin, Texas.

I thought I’d take a moment to share a few thoughts and interactions from my MERGE! 2018 experience.

As the 2nd Annual MERGE! comes to a conclusion in it’s final day, there were many sessions, keynotes and connections to be had and made from Day One, Day Two and Day Three.

Conferences like MERGE! tend to move at a lightening speed in person while it can be perceived as a long time when seeing the outlay of time on paper.

Nevertheless, the final day of MERGE! kicked off with a pasties breakfast bar and keynote from Stefan Pretty, CEO Subbly.co, entitled “Bootstrappers do it better”.

Although many points were about about bootstrapping, one of the key takeaways from Stefan’s presentation was how bootstrappers should constantly ask the following 4 questions at every twist and turn in their journey:

While many domain industry professionals make their way back from MERGE! 2018, things are likely to heat up in the final hours of Sedo’s Crypto Domain Auction.

Scheduled to end at 12 PM EST September 20th, there are over 225 domain names in auction across various extensions — .com, .club, .exchange, .io, .icu, .nl, .de, etc. — with reserves ranging anywhere from 1 to 500K in USD or EUR.

At the time of publication, the following domains in Sedo’s Crypto Auction have met reserve:

With Day One and Day Two of MERGE! long gone, I had the pleasure of kicking off Day Three moderating the Domain Name Solutions for Blockchain Challenges panel which consisted of Jothan Frakes, Jebidiah Burnett, Toby Hall, Dave Evanson, and Jodee Rich.