Update on Summit

[Helmuts]

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?

Yes, my tone can offend some.. apologies if it does.

and, thank you, yes, Hilton (after running all the numbers - many venues have tonnes of hidden fees) is one of the most affordable solutions.

--

.. I attend a significant number of networking events (for my business needs) and some of them are held in the cheapest places possible. Let us be honest = Cheap places attract lower-level people and with almost '0' purchase power. And, the contrary, higher-ticket events tend to attract more financially capable people.

Let us get real here. This is a serious business event, not a birthday party, and yes, companies/people here are judged by their purchasing power. Everybody wishes to meet as financially capable people/companies as possible, don't we?

.. let me give an example: Verisign gave me an honest feedback that they did not attend (and did not even consider) the 1st Summit that was held at Yum-Sa, just because it was in a restaurant (no matter how many people it could hold and that it had 2 outside areas). Yum-Sa is among top 10 London's Asian restaurants, and still it is a restaurant - for this sole reason it was not considered by some serious businesses. .. this year we were at Hilton, and they were here.

--

Investment in being an exhibitor is £2750 = gives a business constant exposure to all the attendees + logo on the Summit's website in 'Exhibitor' section + higher possibility to get offered to be a speaker at one of the sessions + two VIP passes to VIP event on 3rd day (£900 each) + 5 Full Passes for team members or business partners + the same as this year, we will do additional promotion to every exhibitor on our socials and here at Acorn and DNForum. Yes, this is not a cheap investment, it is for companies who invest money in more opportunities to do more and even better business.

.. I don't know what to say really, if £300 doesn't seem a good investment for a company in the domain name industry to attend the only B2B event as such in the UK.

The cost of not attending is passing the chance to create business opportunities in many, many more digits.

We are who we are, and are strongly impacted by the quality of our network.

Best wishes all!
Helmuts

 

[RB5]

I attend a significant number of networking events (for my business needs) and some of them are held in the cheapest places possible. Let us be honest = Cheap places attract lower-level people and with almost '0' purchase power. And, the contrary, higher-ticket events tend to attract more financially capable people.

Frankly, that's not true. Some of the best events I've been to have been at smaller venues where there are exhibitors who are keen to work with you. The value is provided by the exhibitors/schedule, not the venue.

I don't know what to say really, if £300 doesn't seem a good investment for a company in the domain name industry to attend the only B2B event as such in the UK.

The problem is not the £300 investment (which in reality is significantly more than £300 because of travel, accommodation, time spent at the conference and other misc expenses). The problem is there is no clear path for a lot of people to provide value.

As an example, as someone with £xx,xxx in sales this year, with a portfolio that is UK focused, there was not enough value for me to invest that time.

From an exhibitor perspective lets look at:

Who of these are going to provide me any additional value?

Sedo - Unless there were event exclusive commission changes being offered, which there certainly wouldn't be for a portfolio of our value.
ae server - No added value - also not what I would class as a world leading brand as they don't even show in top 6 results when I search aeserver.
Acorn - No added value
MEF - No added value
OX - No added value
Fuago - No added value
Netistrar - Possible value
InterNetX - Possible value
DNForum - No added value
Domain Days - No added value
Freename - Possible value
Hostmaria - No added value

As for the speakers, which is another way of possibly adding value - these are available after, which I can watch at my leisure.

Then there's the networking, even looking at Fuago's post on their site https://www.fuago.io/london-domain-summit-2023/ you see this image:

or

How does this inspire me that next year my £300+ investment is going to get me to meet with people who would really grow my business. Being a bit to the point, you had free tickets this year and looking through day 1 photos, this was the busiest I saw the seating area in a 216 seat capacity room.

As a secondary point, you need to be realistic about what you're actually providing. As an example, you're trying to sell video sponsorship seen on (https://www.summit.london/web/event?eventid=2138615980) at £10,000. The current playlist has 1205 views on YouTube. At current views they would've paid £8.29 per single view. At a CPM of £8290 there are many, many significantly better advertising methods for these companies to acquire customers. This was only £1500 this year and you didn't get a sponsor, what justifies the increase?

To round up this post into a few clear questions which may help get clarity:

1. What is going to be different at the 2024 summit that justifies this price tag for both visitors and exhibitors.
2. Who is this event for? Specifically what domain portfolio values and target customer base?
3. What value is being provided to .UK (incl .co.uk) portfolio holders.

 

[Helmuts]

@RB5 please also add 2 screenshots: 1) screenshot of speakers; 2) "Business Attendees" ... the same comments apply to these as well?

Does the value appear now?

 

[Helmuts]

.. which business are you in, please? .. it is so difficult to talk to accounts that can't be associated with real people or businesses..

 

[Helmuts]

ae server - No added value - also not what I would class as a world leading brand as they don't even show in top 6 results when I search aeserver.

AEserver is the 2nd largest .ae domain name Registrar .. and a significant hosting company based in Dubai. Also, the founder Munir is the founder of Domain Days Dubai. One of our industry's most connected individuals in the region .. you could meet him in person if attended the Summit.. and would see much more people than in Fuago's photo

https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/...strength-munir-badr-founder-and-ceo-of/452240
https://www.linkedin.com/in/munir-badr/

sometimes it pays to do research of a person you declare 'no value'

----------

'no value' MEF?? omg... check out their members: https://mobileecosystemforum.com/members/ .. 1 of their members that attended the Summit: CISCO.

.. I will not continue

be well

 

[JMI]

You misunderstood me, its not attendance, pricing or the venue that's all fine it's a great idea and will grow. But what is this summit primarly about: domains! But there are no domains there.

You have sponsorship sure which is related to domains, but no actual domains there.

Again, imagine a coin fair with no coins for sale.

There are two distinct groups that need serving: those that are interested in everything related to domains but not really owning domains, and those that only care about buying and selling domains.

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!!

 

[Helmuts]

You misunderstood me, its not attendance, pricing or the venue that's all fine it's a great idea and will grow. But what is this summit primarly about: domains! But there are no domains there.

You have sponsorship sure which is related to domains, but no actual domains there.

Again, imagine a coin fair with no coins for sale.

There are two distinct groups that need serving: those that are interested in everything related to domains but not really owning domains, and those that only care about buying and selling domains.

ahh..ok, I see.. Thank you for correcting.

What would you suggest for the next year? .. would love to hear the suggestions. An auction? .. or, did you have something else in your mind? .. we have lots of time till the next Summit, and I am considering all the ideas for organizing even better Summit.

.. it seems we had people with amazing dn portfolios, so I assume it is about something else. really, I would love to hear more. tx

 

[aZooZa]

First post in this thread:

There was a choice to let in 1000-1500 free attendees (quantity) or to go for the quality, and we are going for the quality attendees.

These 1,000 - 1,500 free attendees might become your 'quality' attendees in the future.

 

[Helmuts]

First post in this thread:

These 1,000 - 1,500 free attendees might become your 'quality' attendees in the future.

quality starts from the core .. I'm sure you know this .. People who care will follow the quality.

.. now all I care: eliminating last Summit's imperfections (you would always have some) and target excellence.

--

all I'm asking: don't worry about my worries organizing the next Summit (I am on them) > please consider the value of attending the Summit for your business and cash flow

--

Best wishes all!
Helmuts

p.s. I use iphone, macbook pro exactly for the same reason > unbeatable quality.

 

[Whois-Search]

Then there's the networking, even looking at Fuago's post on their site https://www.fuago.io/london-domain-summit-2023/ you see this image:

While I agree on getting value for money next year (which was the point I was trying to make above).

Those photos chosen by Fuago (parent of OX) don’t do the event justice for two reasons:

- It was a two room setup with one room for food/sponsors and one room for talks/stage. When talks were on everyone was encouraged to go and watch the stage while the Hilton staff cleared away the food (leaving it empty). Then the after party was in a different room upstairs.

- The photographer next year needs to be selective in the photos they take and release to sponsors. I managed to take busier photos on my phone by focusing on the people:

 

[RB5]

Just to be completely clear, not knocking the event in the slightest, it takes a lot to run an event, to put yourself out there and to try and grow that audience year on year. I'm just trying to offer my perspective and just highlight areas where I see it's not as strong as it could be.

@RB5 please also add 2 screenshots: 1) screenshot of speakers; 2) "Business Attendees" ... the same comments apply to these as well?

Does the value appear now?

Excluding the ones I mentioned in the exhibitors, the ones that I feel could provide value to me:

Tess Diaz
Jim Davies
Ryan De Corsie Ewen
Mark Ghoriafi
Adam Wagner

However, to reiterate my point, which of these know about the UK market? How do I know where their experiences lie? As someone viewing the summit from the perspective of a UK domain holder.

Domains are inherently complicated, because for each market you have:
Registrars
B2B
B2C

You then also have region and price point.

It is not clear who has experience in what area.

.. which business are you in, please? .. it is so difficult to talk to accounts that can't be associated with real people or businesses..

Combination of:
Online retail
Software services
Digital consulting
Affiliate marketing
Website acquisitions - primarily affiliate/content based
and of course domains

Some of the domains I hold:
charlotte.co.uk/.uk
ean.co.uk/.uk
rebrand.co.uk/.uk
mix.co.uk
livechats.co.uk
presence.co.uk
pricecomparisons.co.uk
hairdyes.co.uk/.uk
paulina.uk

AEserver is the 2nd largest .ae domain name Registrar .. and a significant hosting company based in Dubai. Also, the founder Munir is the founder of Domain Days Dubai. One of our industry's most connected individuals in the region .. you could meet him in person if attended the Summit.. and would see much more people than in Fuago's photo

https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/...strength-munir-badr-founder-and-ceo-of/452240
https://www.linkedin.com/in/munir-badr/

sometimes it pays to do research of a person you declare 'no value'

----------

'no value' MEF?? omg... check out their members: https://mobileecosystemforum.com/members/ .. 1 of their members that attended the Summit: CISCO.

.. I will not continue

be well

I think you misunderstood the element around no value. As a .UK domain holder (which I would guess the majority of people going to a UK based domain summit would be) having a domain name registrar for .ae is not adding any value to my domain portfolio.

AEserver - simply put Google doesn't flag them as a top result.

'no value' MEF?? omg... check out their members: https://mobileecosystemforum.com/members/ .. 1 of their members that attended the Summit: CISCO.

.. I will not continue

be well

What value does MEF have to a .UK holder though? Unless I needed a route to selling a domain to one of their members I can't see the benefit?

While I agree on getting value next year (which was the point I was trying to make above).

Those chosen photos by Fuago (parent of OX) don’t do the event justice for two reasons:

- It was a two room setup with one room for food/sponsors and one room for talks/stage. When talks were on everyone was encouraged to go and watch the stage while the Hilton staff cleared away the food (leaving it empty). Then the after party was in a different room upstairs.

- The photographer next year needs to be selective in the photos they take and release to sponsors. In my opinion managed to take busier-looking photos on my phone:

My point here is about the perception of the event. The official photos + the photos of one of the exhibitors highlighting attendance did not portray the attendance of the event. How is a business owner meant to judge the value of a seemingly sparse room of people?

 

[Whois-Search]

My point here is about the perception of the event. The official photos + the photos of one of the exhibitors highlighting attendance did not portray the attendance of the event. How is a business owner meant to judge the value of a seemingly sparse room of people?

I agree. That’s why I said “The photographer next year needs to be selective in the photos they take and release to sponsors”.

Especially if someone is paying £10,000 to sponsor the photos.

AEserver - simply put Google doesn't flag them as a top result.

AEServer is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) not the UK (not sure if that will effect Google). The chap that owns it is trying to grow his .ae portfolio and is running DomainDays.com in Dubai. As with all these domain conferences there are a few people who will go from show to show and help each other out.

 

[Helmuts]

Just to be completely clear, not knocking the event in the slightest, it takes a lot to run an event, to put yourself out there and to try and grow that audience year on year. I'm just trying to offer my perspective and just highlight areas where I see it's not as strong as it could be.

Excluding the ones I mentioned in the exhibitors, the ones that I feel could provide value to me:

Tess Diaz
Jim Davies
Ryan De Corsie Ewen
Mark Ghoriafi
Adam Wagner

However, to reiterate my point, which of these know about the UK market? How do I know where their experiences lie? As someone viewing the summit from the perspective of a UK domain holder.

Domains are inherently complicated, because for each market you have:
Registrars
B2B
B2C

You then also have region and price point.

It is not clear who has experience in what area.

Combination of:
Online retail
Software services
Digital consulting
Affiliate marketing
Website acquisitions - primarily affiliate/content based
and of course domains

Some of the domains I hold:
charlotte.co.uk/.uk
ean.co.uk/.uk
rebrand.co.uk/.uk
mix.co.uk
livechats.co.uk
presence.co.uk
pricecomparisons.co.uk
hairdyes.co.uk/.uk
paulina.uk

I think you misunderstood the element around no value. As a .UK domain holder (which I would guess the majority of people going to a UK based domain summit would be) having a domain name registrar for .ae is not adding any value to my domain portfolio.

AEserver - simply put Google doesn't flag them as a top result.

What value does MEF have to a .UK holder though? Unless I needed a route to selling a domain to one of their members I can't see the benefit?

My point here is about the perception of the event. The official photos + the photos of one of the exhibitors highlighting attendance did not portray the attendance of the event. How is a business owner meant to judge the value of a seemingly sparse room of people?

.. ahh.. it does seem you could really enjoy this years Summit. Maybe next year! Best wishes, Helmuts

 

[Edwin]

An interesting thread, with a lot of thoughtful replies.

For what it's worth, you are trying to organise a domain conference in one of the markets I'd say cares least about the wider world.

That's not some backhanded slur about insularity, but a reflection of the UK domain space.

People with large/valuable portfolios of .com and other global domain extensions will already have the option of travelling to events in other countries, where they will almost certainly be exposed to a much more diverse audience with whom networking will be more productive.

UK domain investors tend to focus on .co.uk and .uk. Many (most) will be set up as self-managed tags at Nominet, or whatever they're calling the equivalent of self-managed these days. They're therefore not interested in or going to benefit from the presence of domain registrars they will never do any business with, nor specialists in domain extensions they will never buy.

When it comes to the UK namespace in particular, it is quite possible to have superb well-attended free events that form a wealth of connections for the future. Andrew and others have been instrumental in organising many such in the past. They're a lot of work to put on (more than attendees probably ever realise - sorry!) but they used to work and be popular. Now, they weren't multi-day conferences, but if you're exclusively in the UK namespace most of the stuff that goes on at such conferences will be at best interesting-but-irrelevant, and at worst irrelevant.

Bit of background: I haven't been to any for many a year, but in the past I travelled to some of the big European and global domain conferences in Amsterdam, Prague, Australia etc. Met some great people, ate some great food, attended some interesting talks. But the people I met that were most relevant to the UK market were all at the free UK events I talked about further up, held either in restaurants or in hotel dining rooms coopted for the evening.

So while your intentions in putting on the conference seem sincere, you've picked the oddest market in which to try to do so vs the needs of the likely attendees.

(And this isn't about successful vs unsuccess. There will be people with multimillion budgets and fabulous portfolios who literally need nothing any of the listed sponsors have to offer. All they need is Nominet and an internet connection, plus maybe Sedo/Godaddy if they're not organising their own sales inhouse. And none of those personal connections require spending several days in central London to forge.)

 

[Helmuts]

An interesting thread, with a lot of thoughtful replies.

For what it's worth, you are trying to organise a domain conference in one of the markets I'd say cares least about the wider world.

That's not some backhanded slur about insularity, but a reflection of the UK domain space.

People with large/valuable portfolios of .com and other global domain extensions will already have the option of travelling to events in other countries, where they will almost certainly be exposed to a much more diverse audience with whom networking will be more productive.

UK domain investors tend to focus on .co.uk and .uk. Many (most) will be set up as self-managed tags at Nominet, or whatever they're calling the equivalent of self-managed these days. They're therefore not interested in or going to benefit from the presence of domain registrars they will never do any business with, nor specialists in domain extensions they will never buy.

When it comes to the UK namespace in particular, it is quite possible to have superb well-attended free events that form a wealth of connections for the future. Andrew and others have been instrumental in organising many such in the past. They're a lot of work to put on (more than attendees probably ever realise - sorry!) but they used to work and be popular. Now, they weren't multi-day conferences, but if you're exclusively in the UK namespace most of the stuff that goes on at such conferences will be at best interesting-but-irrelevant, and at worst irrelevant.

Bit of background: I haven't been to any for many a year, but in the past I travelled to some of the big European and global domain conferences in Amsterdam, Prague, Australia etc. Met some great people, ate some great food, attended some interesting talks. But the people I met that were most relevant to the UK market were all at the free UK events I talked about further up, held either in restaurants or in hotel dining rooms coopted for the evening.

So while your intentions in putting on the conference seem sincere, you've picked the oddest market in which to try to do so vs the needs of the likely attendees.

(And this isn't about successful vs unsuccess. There will be people with multimillion budgets and fabulous portfolios who literally need nothing any of the listed sponsors have to offer. All they need is Nominet and an internet connection, plus maybe Sedo/Godaddy if they're not organising their own sales inhouse. And none of those personal connections require spending several days in central London to forge.)

Tx Edwin. Quality comment! And, yes, interesting read (also for me - makes me see more opportunities and weaknesses).

The Summit is for the domain name industry businesses. A B2B convention. .. not just a domain name investing .. you could be 1000% correct if it was.

As for meeting serious investors from States, Asia, India and Australia: I doubt they will fly over to attend a local meetup. To get people like Branden and Yue here > the Summit needs to be spectacular.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[Edwin]

The Summit is for the domain name industry businesses. A B2B convention. .. not just a domain name investing .. you could be 1000% correct if it was.

I just don't think the "domain industry business but not domain investor" audience you're talking about is here on Acorn. The other responses in this thread would seem to back that up.

But perhaps you could give a few specific examples of the sorts of companies you had in mind in that category?

 

[Helmuts]

we have almost everybody here, Edwin .. you would be surprised

 

[philiporchard]

And Ed is back! Good to see you Ed... it's been a while!

 

[Edwin]

Thanks, Phil. Ditto. Those parties... good times!

(Full disclosure: Popped in here at random as I was clicking through a stack of old bookmarks. That's how long it's been. And then this thread caught my eye. I don't expect to become a regular again, though.)

 

[Whois-Search]

Thanks @Edwin for chipping in and explaining the situation more eloquently than I ever could (see the number of likes on your post).

Over the 2-3 days in London this year you could actually see the difference between long time .uk domain investor and international .com investors. Or if you like the multi millionaire movers and shakers (Yue Dai or Braden Pollock) which seems to be the perceived definition of success here?

I guess the trick is to try and cater for everyone over the two days:

Day 1 - Have an after party with a free bar in Room 23 where it’s even open to Acorn members that didn’t go to the conference during the day. You could even have a live auction at about 5pm that day to encourage people to turn up.

Day 2 - On the second day you have an exclusive dinner for your top paying sponsors and invited international guests. Have your awards and photos opportunities then.

That way no one is left out and there is something for everyone. Just a thought.