.nxt

Type:	Privately held
Industry:	Internet
Founded:	2011
Founder(s):	Kieren McCarthy
Headquarters:	426B Cole St. San Francisco, 94117
Country:	USA
Website:	dot-nxt.com
Facebook:	Dot-Nxt
LinkedIn:	.Nxt
Twitter:	@dotnxtcon
Key People
Kieren McCarthy, CEO & General Manager Amy Zelinsky, Conference Producer Christine Hartman, Conference Specialist

.nxt is a series of conferences addressing Internet policy and governance and new gTLDs, a blog featuring commentary on these issues, and a consultancy that assists companies navigate those same areas. It was established by Kieren McCarthy in 2011 to educate and provide relevant information regarding existing opportunities associated with Internet policy and governance. It also aims to strengthen the multi-stakeholder model of decision making.

The First .nxt Conference

The first .nxt conference was focused on the business of new gTLDs and the future of the Internet. It was held in San Francisco on February 8-10, 2011, with 176 participants.

The topics during the inaugural conference were about integrating with registrars, developing effective and winning marketing strategies, innovative business models, community outreach and the importance of choosing an expert and stable registrar as well well as policy and implementation rules to profit from new gTLDs.

The keynote speakers during the conference were Juan Diego Calle, President of .co, and Kurt Pritz, Senior Vice President of ICANN Stakeholder Relations.

Michael Berkens, CEO of Worldwide Media; John Berryhill, Attorney at John Berryhill LLC; Mason Cole, Vice President of Communications and Industry Relations at Oversee.net; Chris Disspain, CEO of auDA; Jothan Frakes, Owner Jothan.com; Cade Metz, US editor of The Register; Derek Newman, Attorney at law of Newman & Newman; and Kieren McCarthy served as Moderators for the Conference.

A second conference is scheduled for August 24-26, 2011 in San Francisco. Topics will be about the role of governments and ICANN on new gTLDs, issues surrounding brand names, Internationalized Domain Namess (IDNs),security/DNSSEC, Intellectual Property (IP) issues, dispute resolution policies and other important matters regarding registry/registrar operations on new gTLDs.

The Second .nxt Conference

The second .nxt conference was once again held in San Francisco, only 6 months after the first.

Moderators and Panelists include: Adrian Kinderis, CEO of AusRegistry; Alexa Raad, CEO of Architelos; Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines; Avri Doria, Internet Consultant and ICANN Participant; Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic; Chris Disspain, CEO of auDA; Constantine Roussos, CEO of .music; David Ulevitch, CEO of OpenDNS; Derek Newman, Attorney at Newman & Newman; Desiree Miloshevic, Senior Advisor at Afilias; Elliot Noss, CEO of Tucows; Fred Felman, CMO of MarkMonitor; Jean-Christophe Vignes, CEO of OpenRegistry; Jeff Neuman, VP of Law & Policy at Neustar; Joseph Waldron, Verisign; John Berryhill, Attorney; Jose Rasco, STRAAT Investments; Ken Hansen, Senior Director at Neustar; Lori Anne Wardi, Director of .co Internet; Markus Kummer, VP of ISOC; Mason Cole, Oversee.net; Michael Berkens, Right of the Dot; Monte Cahn, Right of the Dot; Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of Minds + Machines; Richard Schreier, CEO of Pool.com; Rob Hall, CEO of Momentous; Roland LaPlante, CMO of Afilias; Sarah Langstone, Verisign; Scott Seitz, CEO of dotGay; Steve DelBianco, Net Choice; Tina Dam, myTLD.com.

Platinum Sponsors of the second conference were Verisign and Afilias. Neustar, OpenRegistry, Pool.com, AusRegistry, Minds + Machines, Key-Systems, and CircleID also sponsored at various levels.

The Third .nxt Conference

The third .nxt conference was originally set to be held from June 20-22 2012 in London, the week before ICANN Prague. The conference was postponed until August 29-31, citing New gTLD Program delays as the reason. The conference was officially cancelled a week before it was set to happen, due to fewer numbers of sponsors and participants than anticipated. A number of the sessions that were planned for the conference are to be held online as an alternative.

Blog

The site's blog is largely run by Founder and CEO, Kieren McCarthy. It quickly became a vocal ICANN commentator, and has been known for breaking stories and critically analyzing ICANN's inner workings. It also comments on other policy groups and Internet governance developments. Important stories include leaking six non-papers from the European Commission in August of 2011 that largely describe the Union's desire to see ICANN submit to government demands, and pressing ICANN to reveal the steps leading up to CEO Rod Beckstrom's resignation. Information regarding the latter is likely sought to validate Mr. McCarthy's hypothesis that Rod Beckstrom was not asked to extend his contract, or effectively fired.