NamesCon 2022- The Domain Event of the Year

How Would You Describe NamesCon to a New Domainer?

NamesCon is considered to be *the* industry event for domain names. It’s an annual event that is hosted in America (except for the last few years due to Covid, when NamesCon was online ). It’s a “coming together” of domain investors, brokers, buyers, related businesses, etc. There are many sessions run by professionals who make their living in domain names and offer advice to newbies and to seasoned domainers alike. It’s also a great way to meet and chat with people you see in the space and grow your network. 

Why Domain Investors Choose NamesCon?

Investors choose to attend NamesCon for 2 reasons: firstly, they are there to grow their personal network and make connections with some of the popular names that operate in the domain name space. Secondly, they want to attend the sessions that are delivered by top tier domainers. The sessions include first-hand advice and anecdotes from people who have made millions of dollars and set up incredibly successful businesses in and around domain name sales and related operations. 

Tell Us About Your Experience at the Conference

I had a great time at NamesCon! It was my first ever time attending the event and so I had a few objectives. I’m lucky enough to have worked with some massive names in domaining during my time as a broker at Uniregistry. Many of my old colleagues have gone on to work with top tier domainers, so the first few days for me were an opportunity to grab (quite a few) meals with my old colleagues and meet their colleagues and friends, too.  

I also wanted to meet some of the people who operate at the top of the domain name industry and let them know who I am and share Domainer.com’s successes! I also loved milling around in the hotel where the event was being held and speaking with LOTS of different people to chat about what they do and share experiences of dealing with buyers / sellers / monetizing names, etc and etc. It was incredibly interesting and enriching for me to spend time surrounded by people who feel the same way I do about the transformative potential that a domain name can have on a business! The  NamesCon agenda was well structured, giving insights and time to connect with people. 

What’s the Most Recent Thing You Learned (Big or Small)?

NamesCon 2022 was full of so many insights, but there is one great piece of advice I heard. After attending Andrew Miller’s session, I was reminded of the importance of finding an ambassador within a buyer’s party when negotiating. He said that every big deal he’s done was a result of finding a person / some people, on the buying side who saw the advantages of owning the name and pushing the benefits to them. He then waits for the ambassador’s push for the transaction from the inside…..this is a great piece of advice for any selling agent! 

What Kinds of Changes Do You Foresee in the Domain Industry Within the Industry in the Next Year? In the Next 2-3 Years?

The two big influences on domain names currently are blockchain names and alternative extensions (TLDs). Blockchain names are widely expected to shift the paradigm of domain names but there is still a lot which is unknown and there hasn’t been a massive uptake in the general domain community, with resale taking place on specialist platforms.  

The last few months have seen a flurry of activity from buyers who want to own as many premium versions of these .eth / .ens domains as possible but as the use case remains largely unknown / fluid, the resale of these names appears to be a little stunted and certainly not a challenge to traditional .com domain sales. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the developments in blockchain domains though because, as is the case with all blockchain endeavours, you never know what’s around the corner! 
 
The alternative TLDs (such as .xyz and .io) have presented a much welcomed alternative to .com for start ups / smaller businesses and there has been a big adoption by some communities for particular extensions. There is still a firmly held belief that “.com is king” and that all roads ultimately lead to .com but the uptake of these alternative extensions has led to some eye watering sales of non .com domains. This is a really exciting sign that .com can expect to see some legitimate challenge from different TLDs in the coming years and I think we can expect to see some creative and innovative usage of smaller, less popular extensions in the future. 

Did you meet with some of the big names in the domain industry?

I was fortunate enough to meet up with some big names. It was great to chat to Frank Schilling (my old boss at Uniregistry) and hear about what he’s been up to since the sale of Uniregistry a few years ago. I also chatted to Chris Zuiker from Media Options about Domainer.com’s recent success helping the buyer of NFTS.com acquire the name. I also spoke with some huge sellers who, despite selling names at Uniregistry, I’d not had the pleasure of meeting in person until the event!  

I did manage to get some face time with a particular domain owner who suggested he would use Domainer.com to help sell a massively premium name, so watch this space! I love NamesCon because of the strategic partnerships you can build there. 

Most of my time was spent chatting to people who operate in spaces which, as a broker, I don’t often get to talk to at any length. It was a really positive experience for me to learn more about all the different, peripheral services that buyers and sellers use along their journey! 

What’s Your Advice for First-Time Domainers and Namescon Attendees?

My advice would be to attend and get stuck in! If it’s your first time, then definitely try and stay at the hotel where the event is taking place as this means you will inevitably get chatting to people who are around at the event before and after the formal sessions.  
 
Don’t be shy and do go and speak to those people that you follow on social media – they are there because they love domains and want to share their experience with you!  
 
I’d also recommend that you peruse the event brochure and identify the sessions and people that interest you the most – plan the event and where you plan to be and when. It’s a busy and frantic event at times and it’s easy to lose track of what’s going on and miss sessions.  
 
I’d also recommend that if there are any knowledge gaps that you have, try to arrange a private meeting with people / businesses that operate in that space. They will be happy to take some time to sit with you and talk you through what they do and how they do it!