NamesCon 2018 has ended, attendees are on their way home and the exhibit hall is now all packed up. So was the conference really worth it? Did it deliver for me what I was hoping it would? Most importantly will I fork out my hard-earned cash to journey across the Pacific to attend next year?

NamesCon 2018 would have to have been the best conference I have attended in……well…..since NamesCon 2017. The attendance was about the same as 2017 but appeared a little lighter due to the number of meetings being held in suites. This brings up a really important point.

I judge conferences on not the number of attendees but whether the right people are in attendance. In this case, NamesCon really delivered as I found myself surrounded by people that I was wanting to catch-up with…..in fact, I ran out of time so my apologies to all those people that I didn’t manage to say "hi" to.

To give you an idea of my schedule, I had an average of 16+ scheduled meetings per day. This didn’t include the impromptu meetings you have at any of the parties, walking down the long hallway or just bumping into someone in the exhibit hall. The right people attended NamesCon and this meant a huge, and I really mean HUGE amount of business was getting done.

At any one time about half the attendees or more were huddled in meetings as they bought or sold domains, did other deals or developed closer relationships that can only be made face to face. The other half were in some excellent sessions as they gained a greater appreciation of just how flexible domains could be or how cryptocurrency and the blockchain will impact their businesses.

This past week has seen a dramatic turn-around right across the board in the crypto-currency space. Literally billions of dollars have been slashed off the market value of many of the currencies and the once darlings of the media have quickly become pariahs.

I watched a financial commentator on the local news speaking almost with glee on the dramatic fall from grace of Bitcoin and how cryptocurrencies were completely crazy. He then flashed up a few charts that reinforced his point that cryptocurrency investors were obviously bonkers.

I was chatting with my brother the other day and like the news commentator he also missed the single defining point about cryptocurrencies…..and that is, not all of them are created equal. Unlike fiat money which is essentially the same no matter whether its dollars, pounds, euros or whatever, cryptocurrencies can often have a business model that is attempting to solve a real-world problem.

It’s not long until NamesCon and it looks like it’s shaping up to be bigger and better than ever! As well as all of the excellent sessions there are a host of networking events that will ensure that attendees will get the most out of the conference.

As well as being asked to be a moderator on the Sunday I also have the privilege of sharing in a session title, “Data Mining for Revenue with Registries and Registrars” on Monday at 11am in the .ASIA room. I must admit that I’ve pulled some great data together for this session and if you’re a registrar/hosting company or a registry then I hope that it will show you how you can tap into some significant opportunities in your business.

What really makes NamesCon a “not to be missed” conference is the quality of the attendees. Nine times out of ten, after speaking with a person you’ll find there is a large potential opportunity for you both just waiting to be unlocked. The challenge at the end of the conference is to work out which ones you will pursue first.

I was looking out my study window this morning and enjoying watching a family of birds as mum responded to the constant chirping of a youngster with a tasty morsel. All at once two slightly larger birds from a different variety swept in and began attacking the youngster.

The parents defended their child and a few friends flew in to help drive the bullies off. It wasn’t very pleasant viewing, but it reminded me of a number of things about the behaviour of some humans.

Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, but their ultimate goal is to control those around them. When they act alone they pick on the perceived weak or a person that is in no position to fight back. When they act as a group they will inevitably demonstrate their power and influence publicly, so they can intimidate others into submission.

Last year, some of you may remember that I set myself the challenge of launching a new business. Although it was a significant challenge I managed to attract enough customers to make it worthwhile and it’s continued to expand with a whole flock of repeat clients.

For the past week or so I’ve been working diligently on opening a new market vertical. Attracting new clients from a different market vertical is taking a much bigger investment than I thought but I’m determined to reach them.

If you remember from previous blog articles, the first incarnation of the business involved positioning a bird bath in the garden outside my study window. It took quite some doing but after moving it around and laying out some bread crumbs I’ve managed to attract a number of bird families as my first clientele.

The photos below can testify to the success of my existing venture….but I wanted the business of me enjoying watching the birds from my study window to expand.