NEW YORK, NY – In another month or so, just after the holidays, domain name professionals, enthusiasts and others in the Internet industry will begin getting ready for another round of the world’s largest domain name conference, NamesCon 2019 in Las Vegas. This year it will again be hosted at the Tropicana Las Vegas, on Las Vegas Boulevard, right where the busy area of the strip begins, but word in and around the Industry is that this will be the final year of the venue being in Las Vegas transcending to what sounds like a warmer climate expected in 2020.
Also worth noting, it appears that NamesCon is in partnership with .Global this year, launching their new 2019 showcase website on a new gTLD at NamesCon.global, indicating straight away that it will be another year filled with even more nGTLD discussion, regardless of what site of the [bit] coin you’re on [Pun intended]; I’m sure there will also be lots of discussion and at least a few speaker panels on the growing interest, especially from the domain industry, on cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Haseeb Rabbani of Blockgeeks demystified what was called ‘one of tech’s hottest trends’ in his keynote last year.
Still confused about #blockchain? Haseeb Rabbani of @Blockgks demystified one of tech’s hottest trends in his keynote at #NamesCon 2018. Learn all about it here: https://t.co/IBqT6r6fo2 pic.twitter.com/QYbHNjgTjE
— NamesCon (@NamesCon) November 7, 2018
It all begins on Saturday, January 26, 2019 with exhibitor tear-down on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, 2019. According to .GLOBAL VP of Marketing Jeanette Soderlund, “NamesCon is one of the best events in the industry. It has a casual yet professional feel that is ideal for networking and encourages new products that move the industry forward”, she said – and that sounds accurate to me.
According to sales site Eventbrite, tickets range from $399 – $1,349. I know there are some discounts out there, one of which is 25% off for members of ICA, and I’m sure there are some other discounts out there if you look around for them, so you might want to start getting your tickets together for this event as it is ‘the’ domain conference you don’t want to miss. Some of the other conferences are also worth visiting, however, it’s generally accepted throughout the industry that NamesCon draws the largest crowd and the most serious players in the industry, and being that it is in Las Vegas – especially for its last year, it’s a good reason to get away for both business networking and pleasure, one last time in Nevada’s Mojave Desert.
The ICA will also hold it’s usually ‘dinner and drinks’ gathering on the second night for both members and nonmembers, at The House of Blues, Mandalay Bay ‘the B Side lounge’ located in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, on January 27, 2019 from 6PM to 9PM. For newcomers to the industry, this is always a great dinner to schmooze around with the people who often make domain name headlines and we all know that DNJournal editor and publisher Ron Jackson will be sneaking around the scene taking photos as he always is. Tickets to the dinner are $100 on Eventbrite, but if you’re a member of ICA, go back and dig-out your recent ICA newsletter email for your 25% discount of this one too.
Coming to @NamesCon? Make sure to come to ICA’s dinner on Monday night. Get your ticket today! https://t.co/IPxxfkDFot
— Internet Commerce (@ICADomains) November 14, 2018
The much anticipated Live Domain Auction will take place on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 4PM. I’ve seen no official word on who’s handling the live and online auction this year but I would not be at all surprised if like last year, it was handled by Monte Cahn from RightofTheDot and Jonathan Tenenbaum of NameJet.
NamesCon is considered the Domain Industries flagship event and was acquired in 2016 by WorldHostingDays, the world’s largest series of events for the hosting and cloud service market, and now domain names.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Searchen Networks Inc. and Internet Advertising Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, authored a ‘how to’ book called ‘‘Mastering Your Website’, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy company Searchen Networks®
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