Notes from Domain Convergence 2009 in Toronto

Long gone are the days when domain investors simply bought and sold domain names. Serious domainers today develop domain portfolios, then build online properties around generic brands and monetize on the traffic and advertising they create. Last week I attended the Domain Convergence conference in Toronto. The conference brought together domain name owners, investors, entrepreneurs and developers throughout Canada to share ideas and experiences. It was well attended and showed how the industry is maturing.

Brothers Michael and David Castello –  CEO and COO of the Castello Cities Internet Network – gave a compelling keynote about brand development in domaining, arguing that your portal or website should not be dependant on search engines for traffic. They demonstrated how some of their domain properties, eg. Kennel.com, Nashville.com and PalmSprings.com, have achieved results under their portal development strategy. 

Rick Silver also gave a great talk about his member-based review site N49.ca and how it uses generic .CA domain names to drive traffic. Through his directory platform names such as kitchens.ca are driving over half a million unique visits a month.

There was also considerable discussion about the responsibility domainers and the domaining industry has in improving search and how owning a large domain portfolio comes with a responsibility to the brand (especially in regards to.ca).  I can’t imagine having had this type of conversation a couple of years ago.  There was also a lively discussion about the optics and implications of liberalizing the Canadian Presence Requirements for .CA and my good friend Justin Hayward gave a great talk about .TEL and how it is now supporting advertising.  

I was unfortunately not able to stay for the TelCamp conference on Saturday but I was able to have some time with Scott Smith who was one of the moving forces behind the conference.  TelCamp follows a similar format to BarCamp, which is an open, participatory workshop-like event, whose content is provided by the participants themselves. TelCamps are focused on discussing ways of promoting and developing Tel related technologies.  As a follow .TEL evangelist, it was great to connect with Scott and to see how the .TELcommunity continues to grow.  A summary of the day long event can be read on the TelCamp wiki.