You a little less than 7 hours of the time of this post to register for next year’s Webfest Global in Santa Monica (formerly known as DOMAINfest Global) for $1,095. The rate will increase by $200 as of tomorrow. Webfest Global will be organized by Oversee.net’s DomainSponsor and will be held atFebruary 5-7, 2013 at the Fairmont Santa Monica.

The even features a party at Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Pavilion on February 6^th. Webfest Global conference attendees will enjoy the rare opportunity of having dinner and cocktails directly under this amazing vehicle.  Former NASA Astronaut Garrett Reisman will make a special appearance to share stories, answer questions and show souvenirs from past missions.

Another great night is planned at The Magic Castle where DomainSponsor has reserved the entire nightclub for its farewell dinner party.  Built in 1908, the Magic Castle is an historic Victorian manor that was a showplace for some of the world’s greatest magicians.  Since the Magic Castle is a private club, this is a rare chance to gain entrance and witness magical performances up close and personal.

Webfest Global 2013 Conference to Be Held February 5-7, 2013 in Santa Monica, California

LOS ANGELES, California (October 18, 2012) — DomainSponsor®, the online direct navigation traffic monetization unit of Oversee.net® and organizer of the critically acclaimed DOMAINfest® series of domestic and international conferences, announced today that online registration is now open for its Webfest Global^TM conference to be held February 5-7, 2013 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

The agenda at the three-day Webfest Global 2013 conference will cover a variety of topics related to domain name investing, acquiring and converting online customers, and mobile monetization.  Agenda highlights are available on the event website.

“This marks our seventh annual global conference,” said Oversee.net CEO Debra Domeyer.  “Over the last few years, we have received very positive feedback from attendees about how our DOMAINfest agenda has evolved.  So we’re very excited about continuing our tradition of providing content and speakers that align with the ever-broadening interests of our conference audience.  Of course, we’re also excited to be providing an atmosphere and experience that facilitates networking and deal-making.”

Online Registration Now Open

The early bird discounted registration rate of $1,095 includes full conference admission on February 5-7, 2013 to all sessions, exhibit hall, daily breakfasts, daily lunches and all official dinner networking parties. It also includes a farewell breakfast on February 8^th.  To register, visit http://webfestglobal.com/register.

Moniker|SnapNames Live Domain Name Auction

Moniker|SnapNames will be hosting a live, premium domain name auction at Webfest Global 2013 on Wednesday, February 6th from 4:00 – 5:30pm PST. An extended online domain auction will start on Tuesday, February 5^th and end at 3:15pm EST on Thursday, March 8^th.   For details on how to submit domains for possible inclusion in these auctions, visit http://webfestglobal.com/auctions. The submission deadline is December 14, 2012.

Conference Hotel

The entire Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica has been reserved exclusively for the conference in order to provide attendees with an intimate, distraction-free environment that maximizes networking opportunities.  Discounted hotel room rates are available via a special online reservation portal.  For details, please visithttp://webfestglobal.com/hotel.

Sponsorship Opportunities

A wide range of sponsor and exhibitor options and prices are available for companies interested in promoting their services to the domain investors, publishers and online marketing executives attending Webfest Global 2013.  For details, visit http://webfestglobal.com/sponsor-options.

About Webfest Global^TM

Founded in 2006 by DomainSponsor®, the direct navigation traffic monetization division of Oversee.net, Webfest Global (formerly DOMAINfest®) is a conference series that brings domain industry and online marketing professionals together to learn, network and do business.  Content and speakers offer insights, tips and the latest best practices in areas such as web and mobile user acquisition, conversion and monetization, plus updates on how regulatory and ICANN policies impact domain name owners and brand marketers worldwide.  Attendees include domain publishers, internet entrepreneurs and wide range of online marketing executives and service providers. For more information, please visit http://webfestglobal.com.  

About Oversee.net                                                                                                          

Oversee.net® is a leader in online performance marketing. Using proprietary technology, it helps advertisers acquire valuable, pre-qualified leads. Its DomainSponsor® business unit pioneered the monetization of direct navigation traffic in 2002 and now operates one of the largest PPC and CPV traffic networks in the world with over 250 million unique visitors per month. Oversee’s owned and operated lead generation websites in the travel, retail and consumer finance verticals produce over 14 million high-converting leads per month for advertisers by providing users with the information they need to make smart purchase decisions. Oversee also owns Webfest Global^TM, a conference series for domain investors and online marketing professionals. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Oversee has offices in New York City and Frankfurt, Germany.

And here are the winners of the 2012 Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards as they were announced at a Brunch during the Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show this morning:

Best new monetizing Solution

• DomainPower.com

Best overall Domain Solution

• Sedo.com

Best Domain Blog

• DomainSherpa.com (Cyger)

The “we get it” award

• SalesForce.com

Developer of the year award

• Alan Dunn (DomainHoldings)

Broker of the year

• Dave Evanson (Sedo.com)

Sponsor of the year

• Escrow.com

Domainer of the year

• Frank Schilling

Domain Hall of Fame

• Chad Folkenning
• Michael ‘Mike’ Mann

Plus the Bandit Berkens “Goodwill Ambassador Award”, which went to Judi and Michael Berkens.

See the videos of parts of the awards ceremony over at DomainGang’s Youtube channel and see the original nominees here.

With the TRAFFIC conference right around the corner, many domainers may be wondering if DomainFest is still going to occur.  Andrew at DNW heard from Oversee that the show was still going on and Moniker is already taking auction submission, but it sure would be nice to make travel arrangements soon.  Well here you go, DNN just received word tonight from and Oversee employee that the show dates are now confirmed as February 5-8, 2013

The event will be returning to the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica and as in past years the entire Fairmont Miramar has been reserved for conference attendees.

We were told that Oversee will be announcing  the “specifics on the conference agenda, online registration and discounted hotel room rates” in early October.

Voting for the Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Industry awards is only open today. Vote for your choices and send them to trafficawards@earthlink.net by 9PM EDT today. As per a prior announcement you must be a list subscriber to vote.

BEST NEW MONETIZING SOLUTIONS

(Vote for one)

__BankAds.com

__DomainNameSales.com

__DomainPower.com

__InternetTraffic.com

__JuiceCow.com

__ParkLogic.com

__Protrada.com

__Rook Media

__The Parking Place

__Voodoo.com

BEST OVERALL DOMAIN SOLUTION

(vote for one)

__Aftermarket

__Afternic

__Domain Holdings

__DomainNameSales.com

__InternetTraffic.com

__JuiceCow.com

__ParkLogic.com

__Protrada.com

__Sedo.com

BEST DOMAIN BLOG

(vote for one)

__DNJournal.com (Jackson)

__Domaingang.com (Acro)

__DomainIncite.com (Murphy)

__DomainNameWire.com (Alleman)

__DomainShane.com (Cultra)

__DomainSherpa.com (Cyger)

__ElliotsBlog.com (Silver)

__HybridDomainer.com (Hackney)

__MorganLinton.com (Linton)

__TheDomains.com (Berkens)

__TNTNames.com (Eccles)

__WhizBangsBlog.com (Gilmour)

THE “WE GET IT” AWARD

(vote for one)

__Afternic.com

__Amazon.com

__Brown Shoe Co. (Shoes.com)

__Cat5 Commerce

__Donuts.co

__Facebook.com

__London Olympics

__L’Oreal

__ParkingCrew.com

__Peter Niederman

__Quidsi (Soap.com, Diapers.com an Amazon Company)

__Quinstreet.com

__SalesForce.com

__TABcom (formerly Pets United, LLC)

DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR

(vote for one)

__Lance Block (Swells LLC)

__Michael Cyger

__Alan Dunn

__Mathias Hennig (Sedo)

__Roy Hooper

__Bill Karamouzis

__Morgan Linton

__Fred Mercaldo (Geoplatforms)

__MediaGuys.com

__Braden Pollock

__Protrada

__Danny Pryor

__Dan Warner

__Tia Wood

BROKER OF THE YEAR

(vote for one)

__Toby Clements

__DomainAdvisors

__Dave Evanson (Sedo.com)

__Kevin Faler

__Alan Hack

__Evan Horowitz (Hunting Moon)

__Vern Jurovich

__Brian Kleiner (NameMedia.com)

__Mike Mann

__Bob Olea

__Mike Robertson (DomainGuardians.com)

__Andrew Rosener (Media Options)

__Joe Uddeme (Domain Holdings)

SPONSOR OF THE YEAR

(vote for one)

__Afternic.com

__Domain Holdings

__Dot CO

__Escrow.com

__Fabulous.com

__GoDaddy

__InternetTraffic.com

__InterNet X

__NameCheap

__ParkLogic

__Protrada

__Sedo

__Thought Convergence

__Voodoo.com

DOMAINER OF THE YEAR

(vote for one)

__Roy Barrett

__Steve Cheatham

__Michael Cyger

__Larry Fischer

__Michael Gilmour

__Rob Grant

__Ron Jackson

__Corey Lamay

__Donna Mahoney

__Mike Mann

__Braden Pollock

__Frank Schilling

__Elliot Silver

__Paul Stahura

__Adam Strong

__David Wieland

DOMAIN HALL OF FAME

(vote for TWO)

__Gary Chernoff

__Nat Cohen

__Phil Corwin

__Paul Cotton

__Larry Fischer

__Chad Folkenning

__Michael Gilmour

__Rob Grant

__Kevin Ham

__Steve Jobs (dec’d)

__Vern Juravich [sic]

__Igal Lichtman

__Morgan Linton

__Mike Mann

__Gregg McNair

__Brian Null

__Braden Pollock

__Tim Schumacher

__Elliot Silver

__Adam Strong

As per an email from Rick “DomainKing” Schwartz, the following are the Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. nominees for the 9th annual domain industry awards. Voting will open later this month.

Best new monetizing Solution

• BanksAds.com
• DomainNameSales.com
• DomainPower.com
• InternetTraffic.com
• JuiceCow.com
• Protrada.com
• ParkLogic.com
• Rook Media
• The Parking Place
• Voodoo.com

Best overall Domain Solution

• Aftermarket
• Afternic
• Domain Holdings
• DomainNameSales.com
• InternetTraffic.com
• JuiceCow.com
• ParkLogic.com
• Protrada.com
• Sedo.com

Best Domain Blog

• TheDomains.com (Berkens)
• DNJournal.com (Jackson)
• ElliotsBlog.com (Silver)
• DomainNameWire.com (Alleman)
• DomainShane.com (Cultura)
• DomainGang.com (Acro)
• DomainSherpa.com (Cyger)
• MorganLinton.com (Linton)
• HybridDomainer.com (Hackney)
• WhizBangsBlog.com (Gilmour)
• TNTNames.com (Eccles)

The “we get it” award

• Quidsi (Soap.com, Diapers.com and Amazon Company)
• Amazon.com
• ParkingCrew.com
• Quinstreet.com
• SalesForce.com
• L’Oreal
• Peter Niederman
• Cat5 Commerce
• Facebook.com
• TABcom (formerly Pets United, LLC)
• Brown Shoe Co. (Shoes.com)
• London Olympics
• Donuts.co
• Afternic.com

Developer of the year award

• Lance Block (Swells LLC)
• Michael Cyger
• Alan Dunn
• Mathias Hennig (Sedo)
• Roy Hooper
• Bill Karamouzis
• Morgan Linton
• Fred Mercaldo (Geoplatforms)
• MediaGuys.com
• Braden Pollock
• Protrada
• Danny Pryor
• Dan Warner
• Tia Wood

Broker of the year

• Toby Clements
• DomainAdvisors
• Dave Evanson (Sedo.com)
• Kevin Faler
• Jeffrey Gabriel
• Alan Hack
• Evan Horowitz (Hunting Moon)
• Vern Juravich [sic, Jurovich]
• Brian Kleiner (NameMedia.com)
• Mike Mann
• Bob Olea
• Mike Robertson (DomainGuardians.com)
• Andrew Rosener (Media Options)
• Joe Uddeme (Domain Holdings)

Sponsor of the year

• Domain Holdings
• Escrow.com
• NameCheap
• GoDaddy
• Thought Convergence
• InternetTraffic.com
• Sedo
• Protrada
• Dot CO
• Fabulous.com
• Internet X
• Voodoo.com
• ParkLogic
• Afternic

Domainer of the year

• Roy Barrett
• Steve Cheatham
• Michael Cyger
• Larry Fischer
• Michael Gilmour
• Rob Grant
• Ron Jackson
• Corey Lamay
• Mike Mann
• Donna Mahoney
• Braden Pollock
• Frank Schilling
• Elliot Silver
• Adam Strong
• Paul Stahura
• David Wieland

Domain Hall of Fame

• Gary Chernoff
• Nat Cohen
• Phil Corwin
• Paul Cotton
• Larry Fischer
• Chad Folkenning
• Michael Gilmour
• Rob Grant
• Kevin Ham
• Steve Jobs
• Vern Juravich [sic, Jurovich]
• Igal Lichtman
• Morgan Linton
• Mike Mann
• Gregg McNair
• Brian Null
• Braden Pollock
• Tim Schumacher
• Elliot Silver
• Adam Strong

Plus the Bandit Berkens “Goodwill Ambassador Award”

As posted yesterday via email and on Rick’s Blog, the Targeted T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012 Awards nominations are open until COB today. You can send the nominations via email to trafficawards (at)  earthlink.net.

OFFICIAL BALLOT 2012 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. AWARDS have become the oldest, most sought-after and prestigious Domain Industry awards because winners are selected by your peers and presented annually each Fall since 2004. This year marks the 9th Annual Awards with the Ceremonies scheduled to take place at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. 2012, at the Ft. Lauderdale Beach Ritz-Carlton Resort on Tuesday, October 9, 2012.

This year we have added DOMAIN BROKER OF THE YEAR as a new category. You may nominate one person in each category by filling in your preferences below and sending back this email to trafficawards at earthlink.net before 6PM EDT Wednesday July 25th.

The AWARDS are:

BEST NEW MONETIZING SOLUTION (the NEW company with best monetizing results)

I nominate:

 

BEST OVERALL DOMAIN SOLUTION (this includes Revenues, Sales, Development, etc.)

I nominate:

 

THE “WE GET IT” AWARD ( this goes to the brick and mortar company that understands the value of a good domain)

I nominate:

 

DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR (self-explanatory)

I nominate:

 

DOMAIN BROKER OF THE YEAR (the person or company that is the most successful in brokering the sale of domains)

I nominate:

 

BEST DOMAIN BLOG (the one that you can’t miss)

I nominate:

 

SPONSOR OF THE YEAR (the company that really gives the best customer service)

I nominate:

 

DOMAINER OF THE YEAR ( the person who stands above the rest in the domaining industry) Past Winners Include: Richard Lau, Rick Schwartz, Frank Schilling (2005 & 2011), Kevin Ham, Rick Latona, Mike Berkens, Gregg McNair.

I nominate:

 

DOMAIN HALL OF FAME (two people are inducted each year, but only nominate one)

The following have already been inducted to the DOMAIN HALL OF FAME:
SCOTT DAY, MONTE CAHN, RON JACKSON, MIKE BERKENS, RICK LATONA, RICK SCHWARTZ, DAVID CASTILLO [sic], MICHAEL CASTILLO [sic], FRANK SCHILLING, YUN YE, CHRISTOPER HARTNETT, SAHAR SARID, HOWARD NEU, ADAM DICKER

I nominate:

Thanks for Participating!
Rick Schwartz
Howard Neu
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

Just as the 44th ICANN meeting in Prague ended yesterday, ICANN has opened  registration for the 45th ICANN meeting in Toronto, to be held Oct 14-19th 2012. Even though the site says “Prague is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world“, I’m pretty sure it’s still in Toronto with CIRA, the .CA registry being the host.

[Hat tip to Frank Lemire for noticing the copied text on the site.]

Over the years Oversee.net’s DOMAINfest in LA has consistently expanded beyond domaining and has become an inclusive event for anyone who relies on domains – domainers, registries, registrars, resellers, hosting company etc. This year I even spotted Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.

For the 2012 conference the crew behind the event is introducing a new contest – the Fantasy Domaining Contest. The winner will receive a trip to DFG 2012 that includes a travel stipend of $1,000, four nights at the hotel plus free admission to DFG. The winner will also receive a “Fantasy Domaining Champion” trophy on stage at DOMAINfest Global 2012 and all bragging rights that go with it. Second place receives a free DFG 2012 conference ticket and third place receives 50% off a DOMAINfest Global 2012 ticket

The contest roughly resembles Fantasy Football in terms of its format and rules.  Contestants “draft” their initial roster from a master list of 1,000 domains, put some in-play, substitute domains in-play, and trade domains with other contestants.  The contest is fun and provides a way for beginners and experts alike to test their skills and intuition in projecting the PPC revenue of domain names.

Each contestant will draft/select a portfolio of 35 domains from a master list of 1000 owned by Oversee.net. The master list can be downloaded if you prefer to take some time to analyze the domains, or simply use their online search filters to find domains with desired keywords or categories. Choose domains that you think produced the most PPC revenue last year between Dec 1, 2010 and January 16, 2011. Select 25 of your 35 domains to put on your In-Play game roster. This roster’s cumulative 12/1/10 to current-date-last-year PPC revenue determines your overall ranking.

For details and a full explanation of how to play, including Official Contest Rules, and to sign-up, visit http://www.domainfest.com/fantasy. Unfortunately the contest is open only to residents of the United States.

The contest begins began on December 1, 2011 and ends January 16, 2012. The first, second and third place winners will be notified on January 18, 2012. Signing up for the contest is free. Only one entry per person is allowed.

PITCHfest Contest

The third annual PITCHfest Contest which aims to showcase new online business, service and technology ideas to the internet entrepreneurs and domain investors at the conference will take place again in 2012. This year, each finalist will be given no more than 3 minutes on stage in a rapid fire session to present their innovative idea. Presentations will take place during the PITCHfest session on Wednesday, February 1st at 4:00pm.

The winner will be the finalist who received the highest combined score from the following judges:

• John Morris, Chairman Emeritus of Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel organization in the country;
• Jeff Cohn, entrepreneur/VC involved in SoCal investment opportunities and CEO of two nationally recognized crowd-sourcing location based mapping services;
• Scott Jarus, Oversee.net Director and Chairman and CEO, Ironclad Performance Wear
• Ben Kuo, founder of SOCALTECH LLC, and the publisher of socalTECH.com, has been active in supporting Southern California’s high tech industry.

Again, the audience will have an opportunity to vote and select their favorite product/service using a real-time text message voting system. It’s always fun to see whether the audience selects the same winner as the judges. The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2012. For more information, http://www.domainfest.com/DOMAINfestGlobal2012/pitchfest

DomainSponsor, the domain name monetization unit of Oversee.net and organizer of the DOMAINfest series of conferences, has announced it will return to the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica for their annual DOMAINfest Global event from January 31 to February 2, 2012.

As in past years, the entire Fairmont Miramar Hotel has been reserved exclusively for DOMAINfest Global in order to provide attendees with an intimate, distraction-free environment that maximizes networking opportunities.

Highlights from the February 2011 conference included a standing-room-only keynote address from legendary Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons, plus an entertaining fireside chat with Ben Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook. More than 700 domain name investors, online marketing professionals, and service providers from 30 countries attended the conference. A party at they event also made it into the main stream media through a mysterious illness that about 1/4 of the attendees.

Registration for the event will opens September 1st with an early bird registration fee of $995, which includes all sessions, meals and official evening parties, will apply from September 1 through September 30.  From October 1 through December 31 the standard discounted rate will be $1,195 per attendee.  Beginning on January 1, the regular pre-conference rate of $1,295 will apply. Discounted hotel room rates at the Fairmont Miramar hotel are available.

The company is also holding a New York Meet-Up event on August 23 from 7:00-10:00 p.m.  at the Mad46 Rooftop Lounge, on the 19th floor of the Roosevelt Hotel at Madison Avenue and 46th Street. Attendees will enjoy speed networking, dinner and cocktails. Registration is $150 and is available online. Last year the NYC meeting was a “power networking day”, but for this year it has been transformed into an evening meeting, the price was lowered by $25.