This is Elton Ghee’s
coverage of the 2008 GeoDomain Expo that took place in Chicago from the 10th
through the 12th of July.
Elton known to his friends as “G.” has been involved in the online
world since the 80s, gotten his first domain in 93, and became a Domainer in
2006. He attended the Expo as President
of his firm NexMillenia LLC and provided this exclusive report for
DomainNews.com.
This is the “G. Man’s”
coverage and enjoy!
I hadn’t planned on attending this Expo, but after seeing online or reading somewhere that this would be the first GeoDomain Expo opened to all GeoDomainers I decided to go. The GeoDomain Expo had been in the past for purely City dot com domains only. This was a great recognition to me by the players in the sector that there were other viable possibilities in the market place and they needed to be included also.
I called my buddy Dennis Crombs out of Iowa, whom I had met at Traffic Orlando, and stated I was going to attend the Expo. I contacted Roland Buck of DomainNews.com and did the same. He asked me to cover the event and I stated I would. I made my arrangements for the event and was surprised to see direct flights from Roanoke Virginia to Chicago. I use to travel often and realize that traveling through the Midwest during the summer can be rough.
I was really excited and looking forward to my trip. This type of business trip for me is all about meeting the right people, making new relationships, forging partnerships, getting new ideas, and making sure that people know you. If you can do those things and have fun, that is a perfect business trip to me. I arrived at the airport on time, saw my plane, and then the flight was delayed three hours due to weather. My plans for the first night of the Expo where ruined, but I had anticipated this. I wanted to be there in time for the Expo Welcome Cocktail Party from 6 to 8:30pm central time. That would be a great time to see old friends and meet new ones, but it just didn’t happen. I arrived in Chicago around 11pm and got to the hotel around midnight. I called my buddy Dennis to see if he had made it in and to let me know what I had missed, but before I continue with that. Let me tell you about the “W.”
I’ve stayed at many top tier hotels, but prefer resorts or suites nowadays. The “W” Hotel was clearly different and exciting. I hadn’t ever stayed in such a swank, funky, & chic hotel. Just walking in was an experience. The carpets and seats had lights in them like a very classy and expensive disco club back in the 80s and with the low lighting it was a very classy entrance for sure. I would later talk to a member of the staff, Andrea Oltjen, her job title was being a "W insider." I noticed every day that she wore something that match the hotel's colors and designs. She explained to me that the hotel chain comes in two different verisions per location, so you may want to verify which type of "W" hotel you are staying at, but I was impressed for sure.
They had two bars that were still jumping as I arrived. I could only assume how the Cocktail Party here was like earlier without me. I quickly looked around. Tried to see anyone that I knew or locate Dennis, but no success. I checked in and thought I would try him by phone. He stated he was still up, so I asked him to join me in the lobby after I had settled into my swank hotel room. We met in the lobby and settled into one of the bars. Discussed our travels so far and what I had missed earlier. I went to the bathroom and on my return, as my luck would have it, bumped into the Mr. & Mrs. Ron Jackson of the DN Journal, Dan Pulcrano of Boulevards, and some other folks. I greeted them all and shared with Mr. & Mrs. Ron Jackson that I was happy to see that her knee surgery had gone well. I introduced myself to Dan Pulcrano of Boulevards, but I’m sure at that time of night he was probably wondering who I was, since I knew Ron and his wife so well. Later on we would discover that are rooms would be side by side in the “W.”
Dennis and I decided to call it a night and get ready for the Expo morning. I wanted to get up early and not miss anything. I woke up early and lost some sleep due to the time difference.
I went down to the registration desk and the lady there said since you are the first for the morning I will go ahead and register you. I thanked her and was proceeding to leave. When it hit me I hadn’t given her my business card. She gave me hers and I placed it into my pocket. Later on that would be a blessing also. Dennis arrived shortly and we sat down to have breakfast with everyone. We introduced ourselves to everyone at the table and started talking. Then we noticed a young lady moving about greeting everyone. She came to our table and we all introduced ourselves. She was Jessica Bookstaff of Durango.com & PigeonForge.com fame. She wanted to welcome everyone to the conference and meet everyone. I spoke with her and told her I knew of her fame. I also stated to her that I would be covering the event for DomainNews.com, needed a business card, and maybe to talk to her privately later. She agreed and I was looking forward to it.
We began to review the vendors after breakfast. We walked to the main room for the Expo. To my surprise Jessica & Dan provided the welcome for the expo. Dan introduced the Keynote speaker, Mr. John Kelsey of The Kelsey Group. I remembered that business card the lady at registration gave me. Turns out she was Mrs. Kelsey. Glad I met her for sure. Her husband gave a great presentation and provided a lot of market analysis of the bright future we all have in the domain space. I would really like to get a copy of his presentation. I took notes, but his presentation was outstanding.
Next, we where off to lunch to hear about GeoDomainers & the Industry from Ron Jackson of the DN Journal. Ron’s presentation was informative as always. He definitely has the distinctive voice for radio or tv. I met Ron and his family at Traffic Orlando. My heart always goes out to Ron. I was in a similar position back in the early 90s as the Spokesperson for a national organization called “BPON.” BPON stood for the Black Pioneers of the Internet and was about getting minorities involved in technology and specially the Internet. It garnered media coverage from Time Magazine, Newsweek, the CBS Evening News, Microsoft, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and many more. So I know the difficulty Ron’s position in the industry puts him in sometimes. It’s a hard role to live up to, but he has what it takes for sure. I highly encourage everyone to meet and listen to Ron. It will always be a blessing for you.
Next was our first panel discussion of the day with the GeoDomain heavyweights. Dan Pulcrano of Boulevards New Media (SanFrancisco.com), the Castello Brothers of Castellow Cities Internet Network (PalmSprings.com), Jessica Bookstaff of Durango.com & PigeonForge.com, Skip Hoagland of GeoDomain New Media (BuenosAires.com & MyrtleBeach.com ) and moderated by Patrick Carelton of Associated Cities. I had heard of Patrick Carelton of Associated Cities before, but this was my first time seeing him. This was a great session of them passing on what had worked for them and what others could do. It was light hearted, enlightening, and very educational. Skip really emphasized partnering with people that could assist you. He had developed some partnering contracts that where working for him and he encouraged everyone to do the same. He announced some new business ventures he was doing to aid other GeoDomainers and in partnering for success. There was a question period after the discussion. An after that was done, I stood to tell a little domain story about the panelists and to Thank them all.
The story goes that being a computer professional I believed that in 1993 that dot net would be the premium domain in the future. I started buying city names with dot net in 93, but saw that dot com was going to be it. Went back to get them in the dot com version and they were being bought by Dan, the Castello Brothers, and others. I tried to contact these guys and got nowhere. The only one I reached was Skip Hoagland. Who gladly accepted my positive comment of him. It was a funny moment. Then I proceeded to thank them all for inviting the rest of the GeoDomain World to this Expo. Skip & I met, afterwards, and he was still appreactive of my kind words, but it was the truth.
The next session was on International Geo’s. I must admit this was an area I had never considered and the panel was outstanding. They brought up their challenges and what their strategy was. It was really like another world out there that I knew I was hearing about for the first time. Glad to have heard and learned so much for sure. The panel consisted of Ramon Lujan from Acapulco.com, Rob Sequin from Havana.biz, Tommy Butler from Glasgow, and was moderated by David Castello of the Castello Cities Internet Network. What was also obvious from the panel was they had benefitted from partnering also. Partnering had assisted their success and they were all grateful.
I stayed for the opening moments of the next session, which was about “Pushing the Envelope – The Future of Technology & GeoDomains. Got a chance to see what Sean Miller had to say about this in regards to NewYorkCity.com, but I was running low on energy due to lack of sleep. Thought this would be a great time to get a power nap for the evening, so I departed for my room.
I was looking for Dennis as I departed to let him know what I was up too. I didn’t see him in the room, so perused the lobby just in case he was there before I headed up stairs to my room. This again would be another lucky moment. I bumped into Jessica again and Elliot Silver of EllotsBlog.com fame. They where resting, taking a break, and having a drink. I joined them and started doing the same. I also noticed that Jessica had changed outfits again and asked for her business card again. She stated she would go through several outfits at an event like this. She still didn't have a business card for me, but continued to promised that I would get one. I could only imagine what the airlines charged for all of her baggage. LOL. Next thing we knew folks where joining us such as Mr. & Mrs. Mike Ward of Atlanta.com fame, Joseph Benza of www.YourCity.Md & his girlfriend, Mr. & Mrs. Steve Root of Pensacola.com, whom I had met earlier. This provided another opportunity for us all to discuss our businesses and see how we could be of benefit to each other. Then we started to talk about the evenings plans of the Expo. We encouraged Mrs. Root & Mrs. Ward to join us for the evening. The Wards had brought their kids along for the trip, but was going to see what they could do. It was really nice meeting everyone. Everyone was so nice and you really got the feeling that GeoDomainers seriously help each other. I departed to get my power nap and return for the Expo’s evening affairs.
Elton Ghee