Domain Summit Update on Summit

[Helmuts]

After having conversations with various domain investors (can mention @Sam and @Ryan Ewen), some possible sponsors/exhibitors and couple b2b event specialists. I have made a decision to stay in the Admiral Suite (the same place where we had the Summit this year).

There was a choice to let in 1000-1500 free attendees (quantity) or to go for the quality, and we are going for the quality attendees.

Dates: August 20-21, 2024
Location: London Hilton Metropole / Admiral Suite

Tickets: Early bird: £300
Full Pass: £450

More information is at https://www.summit.london/web/event?eventid=2138615980 and this is the best place to follow the updates.. and our socials, of course.

The breakdown of the room will be different: more space for exhibitors and networking

Speaking opportunities are available.

.. more details to follow.

 

[super-whois]

I have made a decision to stay in the Admiral Suite (the same place where we had the Summit this year).

Wise choice, there was ample space this year for more attendees.

Dates: August 20-21, 2024
Location: London Hilton Metropole / Admiral Suite

I agree with others, August isn't the right time for this. Even NamesCon moved from August 2022 to June this year (and next year). Those with children will want to use the opportunity to go on holiday with them, whereas if it were in say September they'd have the flexibility to work around childcare responsibilities.

Tickets: Early bird: £300
Full Pass: £450

Having attended last year and paid for "Business" this year, I'm afraid I will have to decline next year. I think this price point is unreasonable when it's in School holidays. Accommodation is significantly cheaper outside August.

 

[Helmuts]

Wise choice, there was ample space this year for more attendees.

I agree with others, August isn't the right time for this. Even NamesCon moved from August 2022 to June this year (and next year). Those with children will want to use the opportunity to go on holiday with them, whereas if it were in say September they'd have the flexibility to work around childcare responsibilities.

Having attended last year and paid for "Business" this year, I'm afraid I will have to decline next year. I think this price point is unreasonable when it's in School holidays. Accommodation is significantly cheaper outside August.

Being a dad myself and having organized more than 30 b2b events, I've noticed that the main reason parents are late to or miss these events (usually start arriving at 1 PM, despite an early start of an event) is because of their kids' school schedules.

The Summit is a b2b convention for the domain industry in the UK, and is unique – it's the only one of its kind. It offers two days of excellent networking opportunities, including free food, and costs less than staying two nights at the Hilton.

Let me give you an example of why investing in meeting people in person matters for us: Today, @Ryan Ewen is in New York City for in-person networking; I, along with some others from the UK, will be flying to Domain Days Dubai this November; and then to ICA member's meetup in Vegas in January (also paid a $1,000 joining fee) just to build face-to-face relationships with American ICA members. This will help us show them that the London Domain Summit offers many valuable opportunities.

Also, I can't afford to run this event like I used to, with either losses or small profits that doesn't even cover the rent. We all like to be financially rewarded for good work, don't we?

The good news is, the people who attend next year will be serious about doing business.

Please don't say 'no' this early. Can I suggest you waiting for the list of attendees, speakers and exhibitors? All I'm asking: please make a decision that is good for you when you have more information on the next year's Summit.

Helmuts

p.s. .. talking, what is expensive: this year Hilton's production team (contractors) tried to charge me 20k just for lights, mics, 2 side screens and setting up the stage. .. just the stage .. this is what is called expensive

 

[Helmuts]

@super-whois I'm curious (and not looking for arguments) > is there a company from our industry you are dying to meet in person (for the business needs) that would justify the cost?

 

[Systreg]

p.s. .. talking, what is expensive: this year Hilton's production team (contractors) tried to charge me 20k just for lights, mics, 2 side screens and setting up the stage. .. just the stage .. this is what is called expensive

That's crazy money , why the fascination with the Hilton where everything will be super expensive?

I don't know what this place charges for exhibitions/conferences, but it looks like a very good venue, might be worth you contacting with your requirements and see what the price is:

https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/venue-hire/conferences-exhibitions/

 

[super-whois]

I've noticed that the main reason parents are late to or miss these events (usually start arriving at 1 PM, despite an early start of an event) is because of their kids' school schedules.

Without any myself, I cannot directly comment; but from previous experience colleagues and industry peers have been able to rely on partners and family to enable attendance at industry events.

The Summit is a b2b convention for the domain industry in the UK, and is unique

I thought it was in Europe, rather than just the UK? If I'm honest, with sufficient notice, I'd be happy to consider a trip to another European country.

It offers two days of excellent networking opportunities, including free food, and costs less than staying two nights at the Hilton.

I don't think the nightly cost of a Hilton should be the benchmark for cost though. I won't object to it being more than this year's "Business" ticket, but it needs to be proportional.

Although food was provided, sessions ran far to late, without much opportunity to grab dinner before the evening event. Sessions also ran late this year, which caused some confusion, I would suggest that the last talk of the day should finish before 5pm, providing some networking and socialising (and an escape for dinner) before any evening activities.

Also, I can't afford to run this event like I used to, with either losses or small profits that doesn't even cover the rent. We all like to be financially rewarded for good work, don't we?

I don't dispute that, but one needs to be realistic with costs too. The "Business" pass was justifiable this year, but next year you are asking for a significant increase on that?

Please don't say 'no' this early. Can I suggest you waiting for the list of attendees, speakers and exhibitors? All I'm asking: please make a decision that is good for you when you have more information on the next year's Summit.

I haven't ruled it out, I've just stated my current position. But based on this year, I don't think I can justify a 5 fold increase on the fee for attending.

p.s. .. talking, what is expensive: this year Hilton's production team (contractors) tried to charge me 20k just for lights, mics, 2 side screens and setting up the stage. .. just the stage .. this is what is called expensive

It is the Hilton though, but at least you weren't tied to what they suggested.

I'm curious (and not looking for arguments) > is there a company from our industry you are dying to meet in person (for the business needs) that would justify the cost?

This is a hard question, I think there are a few, but I don't think there is a sufficient market in the UK alone, which reminds me there used to be a NamesCon Europe, maybe your Summit would be better off filling that gap?

 

[Helmuts]

I thought it was in Europe, rather than just the UK? If I'm honest, with sufficient notice, I'd be happy to consider a trip to another European country.

yes, the Summit is for Europe. What I mean > it is the one as such in the UK .. attending local events are always cheaper than going abroad

 

[Helmuts]

Out of interest, what happened to the videos of this years summit? Am I right that just the NED debate was released, plans to release anymore?

All 20 videos are live on YouTube. Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmUJqsTUtw2kdFRinj4CsaAcFIbjrCKE1

Does this help?

.. I was planning to livestream all the sessions, and failed preparing the technical side from my side, my apologies >>> there will be liestreams next year!

btw, there is a sponsorship available for next year's videos > you can have your company logo on every session video.

 

[Whois-Search]

Every ICANN meeting they release:

ICANN by Numbers Report

Number of in-person attendees:

ICANN 77 - Washington DC - 1137
ICANN 76 - Cancun - 1204
ICANN 75 - Kuala Lumpur - 1165
ICANN 74 - The Hague - 917

Not even ICANN with its global reach and unlimited resources (paying constituency travel expenses and fellowships) can get 1500 people to attend their free events in the domain industry?

Then consider how much ICANN charge for sponsorship.

ICANN 78 - Hague - sponsorship:

Platinum $55,000 USD
Gold $35,000 USD
Silver $15,000 USD
Bronze $7500 USD

Expected number if attendees: 1800

Compare that to what you are charging:

Diamond Sponsors - £50,000
Platinum Sponsors - £25,000
Gold Sponsors - £12,000
Closing Party - £30,000

Yet this year you had 235 people????

Ask yourself Helmuts:

• How many of those were sponsors?
• How many of those paid £50 ?
• How many were let in free ?

So what happens to 235 people next year when you try and charge them £300 - £450 to get in?You will only get 50-100 paying it? Then you have to justify to your sponsors why you have less people coming through the door?

I appreciate you have run over 30 conferences and you have your own controversial ideas.

However the domain industry is not your average B2B event at ExCel. This is the .UK domain industry where most people work from their Back 2 Bedrooms (B2B). Even Nominet membership is only £500 and not everyone pays that.

 

[Helmuts]

View attachment 4038

Intrigued by the hidden videos, outtakes or after party???

hmm... interesting .. have double checked > yes, there have to be 17 (not 20) videos.

.. and the channel doesn't have any videos that are private, unlisted, draft or scheduled:

.. I did have technical issues uploading 2 videos - kept throwing out errors.. 24 hours later I did find the reason why YouTube didn't like these and couldn't process them.. probably something related to this.

thank you for an insight

 

[JamesTuplin]

@Helmuts I have never met you, but I feel you need to be more realistic in your pricing. You can become a leading sponsor at Namescon for around 20k and they have packages with booths etc. for around 10k and for as little as a couple of K. Namescon attracts circa 1k attendees and I certainly wouldn't expect to pay more than 1-2k to sponsor a UK show.

I commend you in what you are trying to achieve, but the agenda of past doesn't read at all like a domain conference and has instead focused on the self promotion of companies products and services, with many having little to nothing to do with domaining. This is the reason I and I am sure many others have stayed away despite being asked to attend numerous times.

 

[Helmuts]

Every ICANN meeting they release:

ICANN by Numbers Report

Number of in-person attendees:

ICANN 77 - Washington DC - 1137
ICANN 76 - Cancun - 1204
ICANN 75 - Kuala Lumpur - 1165
ICANN 74 - The Hague - 917

Not even ICANN with its global reach and unlimited resources (paying constituency travel expenses and fellowships) can get 1500 people to attend their free events in the domain industry?

Then consider how much ICANN charge for sponsorship.

ICANN 78 - Hague - sponsorship:

Platinum $55,000 USD
Gold $35,000 USD
Silver $15,000 USD
Bronze $7500 USD

Expected number if attendees: 1800

Compare that to what you are charging:

Diamond Sponsors - £50,000
Platinum Sponsors - £25,000
Gold Sponsors - £12,000
Closing Party - £30,000

Yet this year you had 235 people????

Ask yourself Helmuts:

• How many of those were sponsors?
• How many of those paid £50 ?
• How many were let in free ?

So what happens to 235 people next year when you try and charge them £300 - £450 to get in?You will only get 50-100 paying it? Then you have to justify to your sponsors why you have less people coming through the door?

I appreciate you have run over 30 conferences and you have your own controversial ideas.

However the domain industry is not your average B2B event at ExCel. This is the .UK domain industry where most people work from their Back 2 Bedrooms (B2B). Even Nominet membership is only £500 and not everyone pays that.

Good morning Andrew,

ICANN is not a B2B convention. Let us not mix apples and oranges

Look guys (and ladies). This is a B2B event. For some, £300 may seem steep, but many on the other side are more than willing to invest in this ticket to connect with business partners, clients, and explore sales prospects. The summit is designed for business owners who can comfortably afford it + it clearly says they are able to do business.

Let's move past this point with a smile

--

Now, about the numbers for Summit 2023: We had 372 registrations on the website but a total of 36 paid (£50) tickets. Additionally, we had a mix of free and paid exhibitors.

Andrew, why does the financial aspect concern you? Wasn't the Summit a fantastic experience for you and your business? I find these remarks a bit puzzling and it makes me feel defensive reading them.

The end result of a year's worth of work was a fantastic event! You are all very welcome and please consider attending the Summit next year.

--

Next year's Summit isn't for a person to whom £300 is more valuable than 2 days at the London Domain Summit meeting all the people who attend it.

There are free events, and/or cheaper events. .. and, time by time we have free networking events (though, you will never meet there the caliber of people we had at the Summit). .. well, networking meetups will require some money as well > a round of drinks for 8-10 people can cost a penny, and for this sole reason many don't attend these.

I am choosing the route of higher quality over quantity. Quantity will follow with years.

--

Ok, 235 attendees. Amazing ones! From the UK, Germany, China, Kenya, USA, Canada, Cayman Islands, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Turkey, Uruguay, India, Austria, Dubai, Bahrain and others.

After chatting with many attendees - nobody could manage talking to everybody .. People were amazing, and there was simply not enough time to talk to everybody. And, good business was done at the Summit!

It is easier for me to explain a higher price for the benefits a business receives, than apologize for quality forever (to Team Internet, Verisign, ShortDot, it.com, Sedo, InternetX, Open-Xchange and many quality attendees).

Let's not worry about others' finances and instead enjoy events like these to their fullest! And use these events for your profit and prosperity

Best wishes to all!
Helmuts

p.s. The sponsorship pricing for Summit 2024 was updated yesterday and differs from the previously quoted, outdated information.

 

[Helmuts]

@Helmuts I have never met you, but I feel you need to be more realistic in your pricing. You can become a leading sponsor at Namescon for around 20k and they have packages with booths etc. for around 10k and for as little as a couple of K. Namescon attracts circa 1k attendees and I certainly wouldn't expect to pay more than 1-2k to sponsor a UK show.

I commend you in what you are trying to achieve, but the agenda of past doesn't read at all like a domain conference and has instead focused on the self promotion of companies products and services, with many having little to nothing to do with domaining. This is the reason I and I am sure many others have stayed away despite being asked to attend numerous times.

Good afternoon James,

It is sad that we couldn't meet this year in London. The event was fantactic!! .. yes, it isn't NamesCon

I can see that you are established member, and would love to chat with you in person. Are you coming to any of these (the nearest events I'm attending)?
Baltic Domain Days - Oct 4-5 (.lv zone celebrates 30 years)
ICANN Hamburgh - Oct 21-26
Domain Days Dubai - Nov 1-2
ICA member meetup in Vegas - Jan 18-19

Best wishes!
Helmuts

---

guys, please drop the comments about the price .. it is the VALUE you get at the Summit

 

[JamesTuplin]

Good afternoon James,

It is sad that we couldn't meet this year in London. The event was fantactic!! .. yes, it isn't NamesCon

I can see that you are established member, and would love to chat with you in person. Are you coming to any of these (the nearest events I'm attending)?
Baltic Domain Days - Oct 4-5 (.lv zone celebrates 30 years)
ICANN Hamburgh - Oct 21-26
Domain Days Dubai - Nov 1-2
ICA member meetup in Vegas - Jan 18-19

Best wishes!
Helmuts

---

guys, please drop the comments about the price .. it is the VALUE you get at the Summit

Happy to talk, I'll be at the ICANN event in Hamburg 21st - 24th, also considering the Nominet Xmas get together.

 

[Whois-Search]

ICANN is not a B2B convention. Let us not mix apples and oranges

Who sponsors and attends an ICANN conference? Registries and Registrars? Even the US secondary market and ICA will attend?

Now, about the numbers for Summit 2023: We had 372 registrations on the website but a total of 36 paid (£50) tickets. Additionally, we had a mix of free and paid exhibitors.

So only 10% of registrations paid?
36 x £50 = £1,800 on ticket sales

The rest was paid by sponsors (as you’d expect).

Andrew, why does the financial aspect concern you? Wasn't the Summit a fantastic experience for you and your business? I find these remarks a bit puzzling and it makes me feel defensive reading them.

Your numbers and business plan concern me. You keep complaining about making no money out of the events but don’t listen to advice.

I suspect I’m wasting my time giving you that advice and you’ll have to learn the hard way. At least you can always lower the price towards the end and let people in for free (as long as the venue is paid for that is).

However to answer your question:

(1) UK Domainers have a portfolio of names and have very little else in common. The only “business” to be done is signing up to Sedo or Bodis etc . End users buy domain names and we each have little else we want to buy.

(2) As an ICANN registrar there are some slight advantages in meeting Verisign, Centralnic, Nominet however I’ve already been their customer for over a decade. There is also incredible inertia in getting people to move gTLDs between registrars. It’s better to focus on new businesses that haven’t registered names before.

Therefore I disagree that these events are “business to business” as if I’m attending some kind of business show and looking to offer a service in return for a service. Yes I’m looking to “network” and see old friends but at the end of the day they will either be a supplier / customer / friend already.

 

[Helmuts]

Andrew, what are you trying to suggest, please? .. I am little lost..

 

[Whois-Search]

Andrew, what are you trying to suggest, please? .. I am little lost..

To put it politely and bluntly:

- Be more realistic on your attendance figures and pricing please eg. Last time only 36 people paid £50. You need to encourage sponsors instead by attracting more people for free. It is going to be about 300 people but not many will pay your £300 ticket price.

- Know who your main audience (attendees) is going to be eg. UK domainers who work from home with 100 - 5000 names that they haven’t sold in years. At the same time rich domain registries with a license to print money.

- Listen to feedback when other members here and companies say they don’t like something. In fact I think you need a filter between what you think is right and what other people think. You need to setup an advisory committee for the event and have six people tell you what they all think.

 

[Helmuts]

To put it politely and bluntly:

1. Be more realistic on your attendance figures and pricing please eg. Last time only 36 people paid £50. You need to encourage sponsors instead by attracting more people for free. It is going to be about 300 people but not many will pay your £300 ticket price.

- Know who your main audience (attendees) is going to be eg. UK domainers who work from home with 100 - 5000 names that they haven’t sold in years. At the same time rich domain registries with a license to print money.

- Listen to feedback when other members here and companies say they don’t like something. In fact I think you need a filter between what you think is right and what other people think. You need to setup an advisory committee for the event and have six people tell you what they all think.

Thank you for the advice, I understand you mean only good. I hope to see Netistrar at the next Summit!

All the best! H

 

[Whois-Search]

The food, venue & event put on by IT.com was amazing value even if ticket prices were going to be £300.

What happens when IT.com doesn’t pickup the tab and pay for the venue? You would need to hope 300 people paid £300 = £90,000

Would it not be better to rely on 500 people coming and 10 sponsors to pay for it?

Ultimately i planned before going so that i did business at the event and it worked out really well.

I think we all did including have business cards and pens printed. Never mind the cost of going.

SEDO get it, internetx get it, it.com get it and many other companies who attended and contributed got it. That allowed for many people to turn up for free and experience not only a great event but also a great opportunity to do business and be around other domainers.

Established sponsors with deep pockets often have money to spend in the domain industry.

Sedo, InternetX and even Open Xchange are all owned by the same group United Internet.

United Internet Revenue €5.646 billion.

They have the marketing budgets and dedicated staff to go from show to show. Sedo even used to sponsor our events a decade ago.

As I said there is some money in domain parking etc and they are willing to spend it because people that attend the event have a portfolio of names (there is justification on the spend).

While there were 235 people - these represented a lot of key players - many of which you never get the chance to meet or get advice from.

That is the main reason domainers go to meet other domainers yes. However should that come at a premium price? I can just ring @Sam up.

The uk market is so underpriced that investors are cleaning up - when the tide turns everyone will be at the summit as that will be the place to do business face-to-face in a nice environment, with nice food, nice entertainment and nice people.

Well in my opinion some .uk domainers are getting out the game as there is no growth or slow sales. The same sales a .uk domainer would need to justify a £1000 trip to London.

To get growth Nominet has to start getting the likes of Godaddy, 123-Reg, IONOS to start promoting direct .uk on the front page permanently. Then major businesses need to use it and a marketing campaign needs to happen.

However I’ve just read the Nominet accounts and marketing spend is down 100k and operating costs are up £4 million on page 96. I suspect there is a price rise looming and then people will drop even more names.

 

[Helmuts]

What happens when IT.com doesn’t pickup the tab and pay for the venue?

.. no problem at all: the Summit is great, we have a great network and I love challenges. The Summit is to be! .. It is for people who have sense of mission, desire of growth and hunger for profit.