DOMAINfest

Type:	Private
Industry:	Internet
Founded:	2004
Founder(s):	Richard Lau, Jothan Frakes, Donna Mahoney, Ron Sheridan, Phil McKegney, Joe Smith, Adil Shakur, Richard Kirkendall, DomainSponsor
Ownership:	NamesCon
Country:	US,CA,DE,FR,AU,UK
Businesses:	Domain Conference
Website:	www.domainfest.com
Twitter:	[https://twitter.com/domainfest @[1]]
Key People
Richard Lau, Jothan Frakes

Domainfest, a conference brand owned by NamesCon, is an event focused on Domain Names, which can be as large as a multi-day event or as small as a dinner or cocktail gathering. DOMAINfest @____ are events that started with DOMAINfest @NamesCon at the 2015 NamesCon conference and will continue with multiple different locations and meetings that are connected to events and activities that are well complimented by domain name social or content events.

DOMAINfests are a global conference open for individuals or entities in the domain industry. Its primary objective is to provide an avenue for high quality learning and networking for those interested or engaged in domain business. Domainfest conferences are primarily focused on domain industry trends, advertising and marketing strategy, and domain investment opportunities. Domain auctions are also conducted during the conference.

Domainfest was created by Richard Lau, Jothan Frakes and Joe Smith in 2005 as a loosely organized series of daytime events to gather people and companies in the Domain Name industry. In 2006 Ron Sheridan and DomainSponsor hired Jothan Frakes away from NameIntelligence after two successful Domain Roundtable conferences, to start the first DOMAINfest in Barcelona.

From 2006 until 2014, DOMAINfest were operated by Oversee.net and DomainSponsor, with well attended events in Barcelona, Prague, Amsterdam, Paris (DomainerMeeting), New York, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, with larger 'Global' events in Santa Monica and Hollywood California as 'DOMAINfest Global' and 'WebFest Global'.

Speakers

Some of the noteworthy guests who have served as speakers at the DOMAINfest Global conferences include:

• Steve Wozniak, Co-founder Apple
• Kim Kardashian, Social Media
• Peter Hillary, Adventurer and Mount Everest Climber
• Brent Bishop, Adventurer, Climber and Environmentalist
• John Battelle, CEO Federated Media
• Biz Stone, Co-founder Twitter
• Michael Arrington, Founder, TechCrunch
• Tony Hsieh, Founder, Zappos

Past DOMAINfest experts, panelists, moderators, and speakers also include: Aaron Kornblum, Adam Epstein, Adam Rioux, Adam Smadja, Adam Strong, Adam Weiss, Adrian Kinderis, Alan Hack, Alex Gardner, Andrew Miller, Andries de Villiers, Andy Atkins-Krueger, Antony VanCouvering, Aparna Bijlani, Ari Goldberger, Art Shaw, Arthur Lathrop, Bas van den Beld, Bill Sweetman, Bob Mountain, Brent Bishop, Bret Fausett, Brian Benko, Brian Gilbert, Bruce Clay, Bruce Marler, Charles D.A. Ruffolo, Chris Sivertsen, Christian Kerschbaum, Christine Johanson, Christoph Grueneberg, Craig Snyder, Dan Ho, Dan Pulcrano, Dan Schindler, Dan Warner, Daniel Dryzek, Danny Sullivan, David Asplund, David Castello, David Hauser, David Liu, David Mason, David Sams, Don Watters, Dorian Quispe, Douglas McPherson, Edmon Chung, Elliot Silver, Emiliano Pasqualetti, Eric Liaw, Eric Litman, Evan Horowitz, Eytan Elbaz, Florian Stelzner, Frank Langston, Frank Michlick, Frank Schilling, Frederick Schiwek, Gregg McNair, Hennie Groot Lipman, Hiro Hotta, Howard Wyner, Howard Yeh, Hui Tam, Jan Bednar, Jay Berkowitz, Jeff Kupietzky, Jeremy Copp, Jessica Besseling, Joel Magolnick, Joerg Schnermann, John Battelle, John Berryhill, John Carcutt, John Suh, John Tompkins, Jon Nevett, Josh Armstrong, Jothan Frakes, Juan Calle, Kathy Nielson, Ken Hansen, Klemens Pidner, Krista Papac, Kurt Pritz, Larry Fischer, Lawrence Ng, Leona Chen, Liz Williams, Lori Anne Wardi, Lori Harmon, Louis Doctor, Markus Schnermann, Mason Cole, Matej Novak, Matt Bentley, Matt Serlin, Melodie Tao, Michael Arrington, Michael Berkens, Michael Castello, Michael Collins, Michael Gilmour, Michele Jourdan, Michele Neylon, Mike "Zappy" Zapolin, Monte Cahn, Naresh Rekhi, Nick Jordan, Nico Zeifang, Nora Cotter, Pablo Conde, Paul Keating, Paul Sloan, Peter Celeste, Peter Hillary, Phil Corwin, Philip S. Corwin, Pinkard Alan Brand, Pinky Brand, Ralf Hein, Ray Vasquez, Reed Shelly, Richard Jalichandra, Richard Lau, Richard Martin, Richard Morganstern, Richard Wein, Rick Waters, Rita Young, Rob Hall, Roderick Moon, Roger Collins, Roland Chemtob, Ron Jackson, Ron Sheridan, Rory Holland, Russ Goodwin, Ryan Berryman, S. Brian Mukherjee, Samantha Frida, Sandra K. Brooks, Scott Beber, Scott Higgason, Sean Moriarty, Sean Stafford, Selwyn Gerber, Sergey Gorbunov, Sheena Malek, Steve Atlee, Sudhir Bhagwan, Sujan Patel, Susan Kawaguchi, Thomas Bindl, Tim Cole, Tim Schumacher, Tina Dam, Todd Greene, Tom Murphy, Tom Rusling, Tony Hsieh, Victor H. Pitts, W. David Snead, William A. Delgado, Xavier Buck, and Zak Muscovitch.

Domainfest Global 2012

The most recent conference was held at Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, California on January 31 to February 2, 2012. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone was be the keynote speaker. Based on the line-up of speakers, the event will focus on search engine optimization (SEO). You can find the complete list of speakers here. It was noted by Mike Berkens, himself a famous domainer, that DOMAINfest 2012 did not have any actual domainers on its lineup of speakers and experts. The attendance for DOMAINfest 2012 was around 600 people, about 100 less than the year before. It was noted that this seemed to include more newcomers than in years past as well.