Update on Summit

[Helmuts]

To put it politely and bluntly:

1. Be more realistic on your attendance figures and pricing please eg. Last time only 36 people paid £50. You need to encourage sponsors instead by attracting more people for free. It is going to be about 300 people but not many will pay your £300 ticket price.

- Know who your main audience (attendees) is going to be eg. UK domainers who work from home with 100 - 5000 names that they haven’t sold in years. At the same time rich domain registries with a license to print money.

- Listen to feedback when other members here and companies say they don’t like something. In fact I think you need a filter between what you think is right and what other people think. You need to setup an advisory committee for the event and have six people tell you what they all think.

Thank you for the advice, I understand you mean only good. I hope to see Netistrar at the next Summit!

All the best! H

 

[Whois-Search]

The food, venue & event put on by IT.com was amazing value even if ticket prices were going to be £300.

What happens when IT.com doesn’t pickup the tab and pay for the venue? You would need to hope 300 people paid £300 = £90,000

Would it not be better to rely on 500 people coming and 10 sponsors to pay for it?

Ultimately i planned before going so that i did business at the event and it worked out really well.

I think we all did including have business cards and pens printed. Never mind the cost of going.

SEDO get it, internetx get it, it.com get it and many other companies who attended and contributed got it. That allowed for many people to turn up for free and experience not only a great event but also a great opportunity to do business and be around other domainers.

Established sponsors with deep pockets often have money to spend in the domain industry.

Sedo, InternetX and even Open Xchange are all owned by the same group United Internet.

United Internet Revenue €5.646 billion.

They have the marketing budgets and dedicated staff to go from show to show. Sedo even used to sponsor our events a decade ago.

As I said there is some money in domain parking etc and they are willing to spend it because people that attend the event have a portfolio of names (there is justification on the spend).

While there were 235 people - these represented a lot of key players - many of which you never get the chance to meet or get advice from.

That is the main reason domainers go to meet other domainers yes. However should that come at a premium price? I can just ring @Sam up.

The uk market is so underpriced that investors are cleaning up - when the tide turns everyone will be at the summit as that will be the place to do business face-to-face in a nice environment, with nice food, nice entertainment and nice people.

Well in my opinion some .uk domainers are getting out the game as there is no growth or slow sales. The same sales a .uk domainer would need to justify a £1000 trip to London.

To get growth Nominet has to start getting the likes of Godaddy, 123-Reg, IONOS to start promoting direct .uk on the front page permanently. Then major businesses need to use it and a marketing campaign needs to happen.

However I’ve just read the Nominet accounts and marketing spend is down 100k and operating costs are up £4 million on page 96. I suspect there is a price rise looming and then people will drop even more names.

 

[Helmuts]

What happens when IT.com doesn’t pickup the tab and pay for the venue?

.. no problem at all: the Summit is great, we have a great network and I love challenges. The Summit is to be! .. It is for people who have sense of mission, desire of growth and hunger for profit.

 

[Ryan Ewen]

What happens when IT.com doesn’t pickup the tab and pay for the venue? You would need to hope 300 people paid £300 = £90,000

Would it not be better to rely on 500 people coming and 10 sponsors to pay for it?



I think we all did including have business cards and pens printed. Never mind the cost of going.



Established sponsors with deep pockets often have money to spend in the domain industry.

Sedo, InternetX and even Open Xchange are all owned by the same group United Internet.

United Internet Revenue €5.646 billion.

They have the marketing budgets and dedicated staff to go from show to show. Sedo even used to sponsor our events a decade ago.

As I said there is some money in domain parking etc and they are willing to spend it because people that attend the event have a portfolio of names (there is justification on the spend).



That is the main reason domainers go to meet other domainers yes. However should that come at a premium price? I can just ring @Sam up.



Well in my opinion some .uk domainers are getting out the game as there is no growth or slow sales. The same sales a .uk domainer would need to justify a £1000 trip to London.

To get growth Nominet has to start getting the likes of Godaddy, 123-Reg, IONOS to start promoting direct .uk on the front page permanently. Then major businesses need to use it and a marketing campaign needs to happen.

However I’ve just read the Nominet accounts and marketing spend is down 100k and operating costs are up £4 million on page 96. I suspect there is a price rise looming and then people will drop even more names.

Everything you say is valid but you have to add some context of people that attended.

Yue Dai - China
Jeff - Canada
Braden - America

This was a great opportunity to showcase UK domains and help international people understand the market. You simply can't phone these people up.

Godaddy and Nominet are not the solution it is down to the community to support podcasts and events to have a united front. Fingers crossed Brandable adds value as no other CCTLD or extension has a its own marketplace.

I've said it before - the uk market is not in great shape - this is where money is made and realised in time. If you are a full time domainer then you should be able to make the event a priority and support the collective community.

If renewals increase then it just means a redistribution of assets to people who can hold them. It is probably a good thing as fresh blood, a new vision and collective thought is what is needed.

There have been golden days in the UK market which will inevitably return so people should have made provisions. When sun shines - make hay - no excuses for not making provisions when it rains.

 

[Sound]

p.s. .. talking, what is expensive: this year Hilton's production team (contractors) tried to charge me 20k just for lights, mics, 2 side screens and setting up the stage. .. just the stage .. this is what is called expensive

Hi Helmuts
I work in the events industry and would be very happy to point you in the direction of companies based in London to supply everything technical for your future events
Simon

 

[Helmuts]

Hi Helmuts
I work in the events industry and would be very happy to point you in the direction of companies based in London to supply everything technical for your future events
Simon

Hi Simon, wow, this is awesome!!!

I am already thinking where to get audio/visual from. Could you book a short Google Meet wih me? https://calendarhero.to/videohostmaria .. or, we could meet somewhere in London for coffee.

.. is it your company?

 

[bluerock]

You simply can't phone these people .

You say this then in the following posts Helmuts arranges a Google meet.
It is possible to build relationships with others in the industry online. Teams and Zoom prove this.

 

[Whois-Search]

This was a great opportunity to showcase UK domains and help international people understand the market. You simply can't phone these people up.

While it was nice to finally meet those three people in person and I appreciate them flying over to London at their own expense … Each country like China, USA, Canada has its own domain market.

For example I have been selling four number .com via www.4.cn for over a decade. Can I get Chinese buyers to buy two number / letter .uk ? Not a chance they want 2-4 character .com only.

That said I did find Yue Dai’s presentation most interesting and a highlight of the conference. Even though we are unlikely to do business.

Godaddy and Nominet are not the solution it is down to the community to support podcasts and events to have a united front. Fingers crossed Brandable adds value as no other CCTLD or extension has a its own marketplace.

Nominet have a co-marketing programme which provides marketing funds for the larger players.

Godaddy now has 50% of all .uk domains (5 million) on its books. They also have their own marketplace and broker service. Not to mention have bought Afternic.com , Dan.com and UniRegistry.com

Going on a podcast or to an event is not going to change their market dominance. They are the marketplace today and even Tucows uses them.

At one point they even bought Namescon and Cloudfest before selling it again in 2021

I've said it before - the uk market is not in great shape - this is where money is made and realised in time.

Sales happen all the time and many go unreported. I sell 2-3 for Giraffe a week without reporting them. Unlike houses there is no Zoopla as there is no ‘land registry’ data. Many have tried to build one but it relies on feeds.

However often a domain name is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it at that moment in time. For that reason your better off with your own landing pages.

Maybe a live auction and promoted sales might help at the conference but again this not dot com and we don’t have Monte Cahn.

It is probably a good thing as fresh blood, a new vision and collective thought is what is needed.

While fresh blood is always welcome I’m not seeing this forum full of 20+ somethings like when we started. Neither do I see new members paying £300 to go to a conference. Perhaps Helmuts though could have a newbie rate like at Namescon?

 

[Helmuts]

.. ok, so we have a couple of people who don't see the value of Summit and in importance of in-person conventions .. that's ok.

Can we move on? Any other thoughts?

 

[Helmuts]

Happy to talk, I'll be at the ICANN event in Hamburg 21st - 24th, also considering the Nominet Xmas get together.

Just created a "Schedule a meeting at ICANN 78": https://calendly.com/icann78/helmuts

Morning coffee on 21st? .. also sent you Linkedin connection request.

 

[Whois-Search]

Can we move on? Any other thoughts?

I just wanted to say that I did enjoy the 2-3 days in London at the conference. I found the sessions informative and the refreshments were appreciated by all those that attended.

The after party was superb (until 1am) and the Union Jack backdrop was impressive. All that does indeed cost money even though it also costs money to attend.

We just disagree on how these events should be funded @Helmuts that is all. I wish you good luck at £300 - £450 per person (including spouses) and hope to be proven wrong. I also hope you continue to find Gold sponsors like the generous Andrey from Intis Telecom.

 

[KarlM]

I hope to attend next year. Hopefully make a trip of it, the wife can go shopping for two days, Will have to do some good business to cover that haha!

 

[Helmuts]

I just wanted to say that I did enjoy the 2-3 days in London at the conference. I found the sessions informative and the refreshments were appreciated by all those that attended.

The after party was superb (until 1am) and the Union Jack backdrop was impressive. All that does indeed cost money even though it also costs money to attend.

We just disagree on how these events should be funded @Helmuts that is all. I wish you good luck at £300 - £450 per person (including spouses) and hope to be proven wrong. I also hope you continue to find Gold sponsors like the generous Andrey from Intis Telecom.

Thank you Andrew. I am happy that you enjoyed it, and many people were happy that you were there Also, your panel was great!

--

Guys, and ladies, everything is fine I am experimenting all the time and learning from winnings and failures. So far we have gained great success! .. touch wood..

.. only now I see that there are many smaller similar events in Europe (strangely hadn't noticed these before), for example, NDD Camp in France, Verisign does great events, InternetX just did a domain summit, Stockholm Domain Days and others. .. B2B Domain Industry Europe seems to be operating as in a history book - defragmented. The great news are: there are company owners, directors and top level managers who are dying to find meetings like these (this helps them to do business in many forms), there are different companies/organisations that support these events, and we are lucky that Europe speaks English > now it is up to me to build all these roads that will lead to London The potential is huge!

Still, please respect that the Summit is not a charity Yes, for some smaller businesses £300 will be a high price - please save up if you wish to have a chance to meet companies we had this year / Link to the Summit 2023: https://www.summit.london/web/event?eventid=2138597763

Established businesses shouldn't have issues with £300. .. if you have - I'm not your issue > you definitely need to save up, meet colleagues who are financially successful, talk to them, ask for advice, follow the advice and find the way to resolve the income stream asap.

After all, UK has the 6th largest economy (GDP) in the world.

There are 200 EarlyBird tickets are available now. The current price is £300. This offer will end on the March 31st or when the last earlybird ticket is taken.
There will be no super-earlybirds .. we are not a discount store.
Earlybird gives you access to Gala/Awards.

Also, the sponsors will have a number of free tickets to their team and business partners. Please follow the sponsor list - I am already working on potential sponsors and exhibitors. // @Ryan Ewen it would be great to see Brandable and the other business (that we can't disclose at the moment) among the top supporters

Let us all be profitable! All the success!! .. the industry has lots of business opportunities!

Helmuts

 

[Helmuts]

I hope to attend next year. Hopefully make a trip of it, the wife can go shopping for two days, Will have to do some good business to cover that haha!

Awesome Karim! It will be nice meeting you. When you register > shoot me a message what companies you wish to meet especially > will try to help you.

Best! Helmuts

 

[JMI]

The problem is it could be the greatest convention in the world but your not showcasing the actual end product to anyone.

Imagine turning up to a coin collector fair that had no coins to view, and the only way you could know what someone had for sale was to ask them.

 

[Helmuts]

The problem is it could be the greatest convention in the world but your not showcasing the actual end product to anyone.

Imagine turning up to a coin collector fair that had no coins to view, and the only way you could know what someone had for sale was to ask them.

what are you talking about? .. did you see the list of attendees?

are you talking about this year's Summit? .. and, were you there? .. apologies, if you were

this year's Summit had fantastic attendees!!

 

[Kaleido]

That's crazy money, why the fascination with the Hilton where everything will be super expensive?

The pathetic perception of prestige.

 

[Helmuts]

The pathetic perception of prestige.

Numbers, numbers and numbers.

There are very, very few hotels in London that are scalable - Hilton London Metropole is one of these. And it is important for an event not to jump around different places every year.

I did compare lots of hotels and venue places, went to lots of meetings, did even consider couple central London colleges (did visit few as well) before choosing the Hilton > Hilton was an absolute winner when all the numbers and features were compared!

I am not happy with a mediocre venue that will attract mediocre/financially incapable guests > aren't we all after the best possible guests and businesses?

--

As for the quality of the place > yes, it is important, especially when we are doing professional event. Hilton is as professional as it gets.

I would ask everybody to see the Summit not as expense. Is it an expense for you? Or, is it an investment in your business?

If an investment in the success of your business > please start getting your earlybird tickets

Have a great day all!

And, very reasonably priced exhibitor places are available, as well. Please DM me or call: 07494142055

Helmuts

 

[Whois-Search]

Established businesses shouldn't have issues with £300. .. if you have - I'm not your issue > you definitely need to save up, meet colleagues who are financially successful, talk to them, ask for advice, follow the advice and find the way to resolve the income stream asap.

Might I suggest you please moderate your own tone @Helmuts if you are expecting people to pay you? Suggesting people are unsuccessful or have to “save up” to pay you is not only rude it is offensive.

Especially when individuals here can afford it, paid more than that to attend this year, but don’t see the value in what they receive in return for £300 each. Or even paying £2750 for a table as a business.

While you are not a “charity” the prices you have picked are your chosen business model. You have the same issue going on with the Official Premium Memberships that you have just announced to us all. Shall we just “save up” 20k for Platinum membership? Or shall we continue to post for free as we have always done? What makes a forum or conference without us?

Many of us are old enough to remember when Dnforum was the only forum. Twenty years ago I setup Dnfaces so people could meet each other. Way before it got sold to Adam Dicker and then this trio who tried to revive it.

I am not happy with a mediocre venue that will attract mediocre/financially incapable guests > aren't we all after the bestpossible guests and businesses?

Again “mediocre/financially incapable guests” is not the way to speak to people. Everyone is different and you need to attract a few hundred people to keep your sponsors happy?

As it happens that Hilton is setup for conferences with the business centre and underground atrium. It has a good space for the after party on floor 23. If overseas guests need to fly in that hotel is ideal. Heathrow Express is that close even the pilots & air hostesses stay there!

Also that particular hotel is probably the cheapest Hilton in London. As it is right out at Paddington. At this time of year it’s less than £200 a night. Compare that to the Hilton on Park Lane which is £500 a night. Again anyone who knows London well knows the score with the Metropole.

 

[Admin]

Might I suggest you please moderate your own tone @Helmuts ...

As I understand it's a response to my warning to Kaleido. I didn't delete his comment, so if you see the value in his comment and you like the depth of his thoughts, you can continue to enjoy it.