I received a press release (below) today announcing that Oversee.net and Domain Sponsor will hold two localized one-day networking events in Ft. Lauderdale and New York City later this year. The respective events will be held at local hotels in May and August. Although an agenda outline wasn’t announced, it seems like the events are geared to be casual gatherings followed by live auctions.
Personally, I don’t think I will be in attendance for the NYC event. Although $175 is cheap by conference standards, I don’t think I will spend the money to network with people I frequently see at (free/cash bar) domain networking events that have been held in NYC every few months. I know they need to pay a hotel to have the event (since there is an auction), but the cost seems pretty high for what it is billed as.
I’d rather spend my $175 on a great meal with drinks in a more intimate setting with friends and colleagues from the area. I know that means I will miss out on seeing friends from Oversee, but they are more than welcome to attend the local events for free 🙂
BTW, you can check out local domain events on SocialDomainers.com, which is running an iPad giveaway contest right now.
——- Press Release ——–
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – DomainSponsor ®, the domain monetization business unit of Oversee.net ® and organizer of the DOMAINfest ® series of conferences, said today that it will further expand the highly regarded franchise with one-day events in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and New York City.
Both events will precede DOMAINfest Europe to be held in Prague, October 6-7, 2010.
Event Information
The one-day events will be held on May 13, 2010 at the W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale and on August 18, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt in midtown Manhattan, immediately following the Affiliate Summit East conference.
Each meeting will continue DOMAINfest’s tradition of providing a rich setting for discussions around how to increase the value of Internet real estate with subject-matter experts invited to facilitate free-flowing power networking sessions that will kick off each event from 1:30 pm to 3:30pm EDT. Moniker will conduct a live auction of premium names from 4:00 to 7:00 PM EDT, followed by a private dinner party hosted by DomainSponsor.
Registration for both Power Networking events will be available online at www.domainfest.com on Monday, April 12, 2010. Â The registration fee will be $175 per event.
Moniker ® Auctions
Each one-day DOMAINfest event will feature a Moniker live premium domain name auction followed by a weeklong Extended Online Auction.  The live auctions are slated to start at 4:00 PM EDT and run through 7:00 PM.  The SnapNames Liveâ„¢ technology used to run these live auctions offers real-time online viewing and bidding from anywhere in the world via a free software download.  Details on how to submit domains and bid either in-person or remotely in any Moniker live auction can be found at http://domainauctions.moniker.com
“The DOMAINfest franchise provides an excellent opportunity for publishers, online marketers and internet professionals to exchange ideas and solidify relationships,” said Peter Celeste, Senior Vice President of Oversee.net and General Manger, Monetization Services. “These one-day power networking events are specifically designed to encourage more participation from local and regional professionals who may not be able to afford the time and expense to travel to a distant city for a two- or three-day event. Â As with all DOMAINfest events, registration rates are inexpensive to encourage broad participation.”
In January, 2010, DomainSponsor hosted a highly successful DOMAINfest Global ® conference in Santa Monica, California that attracted more than 600 professionals from 26 countries representing a variety of internet-related industries.
Chef Patrick of