The Internet Commerce Association has revealed the nominees for the Lonnie Borck Memorial Award and the inaugural Trailblazer Award. Both of these awards will be given during the ICA annual meeting in Las Vegas in January. ICA members are now able to vote for the award winners using a rank choice voting system.
The nominees, who were each nominated by members of the domain investing community at large, include the following people and industry companies:
The ICA is seeking nominations for two domain industry awards, and the nomination deadline has been extended to this coming Sunday (11/3). All members of the domain name community are invited to submit a nomination. ICA members will vote on the award winner from the list of nominees.
The two awards are the Lonnie Borck Memorial Award and a new one for 2025 – The Trailblazer Award. Both awards will be bestowed upon the winners at the annual ICA member meeting in January.
Here’s a description of each award:
The UDRP is a mechanism that allows trademark and brand owners to secure infringing domain names more rapidly than through traditional litigation. Third party providers like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) administer and oversee UDRP filings and decisions.
This morning, WIPO published a news release announcing that it will conduct a collaborative review of the UDRP in coordination with the Internet Commerce Association (ICA). The ICA is an advocacy group working on behalf of domain name registrants and domain industry service providers. I am a member of the ICA, as are many domain investors. Participating in the review project are numerous intellectual property attorneys who are familiar with the business of domain investing.
I booked my flight and hotel for the 2025 ICA Meeting in Las Vegas. The event held earlier this year was excellent, and I am looking forward to attending the member meeting again next year.
Last week, the ICA announced tickets for the event went on sale at an early bird price of $399 for ICA members. Tickets are on sale via the Zeffy platform, which I had not used before buying my ticket. According to the email, the early bird rate ends on July 31. I don’t know what the non-discounted purchase price will be once the deadline passes, but I bought mine while booking my trip to Las Vegas.
This event is exclusively for ICA members (current and those who join before the meeting), so you’ll need to become a member before buying a ticket and attending.
The ICA member meeting in January was the first domain industry event I attended in several years. I was happy to fly to Las Vegas for the first time in quite a while, and it was an event that was well-worth attending.
The ICA just announced the dates for its 2025 annual Member Meeting, and I plan to be there. This 4th annual event will be held January 26th – 28th, 2025, at Resorts World in Las Vegas, Nevada. The meeting is open to all ICA members and anyone who joins the ICA before the meeting date. You can see membership levels and fees on the ICA website.
In the email sent by the ICA, here are some of the expected highlights for this upcoming event:
One of the criticisms of companies catering to domain investors is the lack of innovation in the space. Those people aren’t wrong. There are a handful of companies intent on making innovative changes to domain investor services, but the needle doesn’t seem move much. I am hopeful that is going to change.
I was in Las Vegas for the ICA meeting last week and had the chance to connect with domain investor colleagues. One thing I heard from several people is that they / their companies are building new products and services that are tailored to domain investor needs.
