DOMAINfest Asia

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:	Macau
Businesses:	Domain Conference
Website:	www.domainfest.asia
Twitter:	@DOMAINfestAsia
Key People
Richard Lau, Jothan Frakes

DOMAINFest Asia is an event focused on the domain name industry. It is part of Domainfest, a brand owned by NamesCon. DomainFest Asia is the first Domainfest event ever hosted in Asia. Asia domain name market is rapidly growing. Domainfest Asia aims to “bridge the east and west”.

Hosts

Jothan Frakes, producer and co-founder of DOMAINfest / NamesCon, Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia Organisation, Simon Cousins, CEO of Allegravita and Leona Chen-Birkner, Vice President of Registrar Relations of DotAsia Organisation.

Background

Launched in 2004 as a series of gatherings globally, DOMAINfestbegan as an official conference series in Barcelona, Spain in 2006. In the past decade, DOMAINfest events have been held in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Prague, Santa Monica, Seattle, Sydney, Vancouver, and Wellington. Past DOMAINfest events have been host to keynote speakers such as Steve Wozniak, Kim Kardashian, Biz Stone, Gary Vaynercek, Frank Schilling, and 100s of business leaders, as well as being host to amazing entertainment like the Stone Temple Pilots.

Venue

DOMAINfest Asia is to be hosted at Grand Hyatt Macau – part of the City of Dreams urban resort – in Cotai, Macau on September 4-7, 2015.

Auction

Right of the Dot auction for DOMAINfest, powered by 4.CN, will be running September 2-10, 2015 - before and after the DOMAINfest. The premium domain auction dates are September 2 - 10th.

Bidding timeline

August 25, 2015: Pre-bidding Starts September 2, 2015: All Auctions Start September 10, 2015: All Auctions End September 4-7, 2015: DOMAINfest Asia Conference, Macau

Speakers and Keynotes

One of the highlights of DOMAINfest will be its featured speakers and keynotes.

Edmon Chung

Edmon Chung is serving as the CEO for DotAsia Organisation and heads the secretariat for the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APRIGF). Edmon currently Co-Chairs the ICANN Joint ccNSO/GNSO IDN Working Group (JIG) and participates extensively on Internet governance issues.

Jothan Frakes

Co-Founder of NamesCon Domain Industry Conference, DOMAINfest, DotNXT, and The Domain Roundtable. Jothan is a ccTLD, Registry, Registrar, Aftermarket, Advertising, Mobile, Social, Branding, Start-up, Development, Operations and General Security Guy.

Simon Cousins

Simon Cousins is a co-founder and CEO at Allegravita, a boutique PR and strategic communications agency in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York City. In addition to his group leadership duties, he serves as creative director. Specialties: PR & strategic communications (China expert), branding & identity (China expert), crisis management (China expert), China business development & policy impact, digital marketing & information architectures, leadership development, mentorship, coaching & training.

Dr. Gregg McNair

Dr. Gregg McNair is Igloo’s Chairman and Co-Founder. Gregg (fondly known as “Triple G” among friends) has become well known in the domain industry as a forthright, insightful and successful businessman, always available to assist others and to share his broad entrepreneurial and commercial experience.

Jeff Sass

Jeff, CMO of .CLUB Domains LLC., has 30 years of experience in the technology and entertainment industries and has co-founded several start-ups including mobile commerce pioneer BarPoint.com in 1999.

Monte Cahn

Monte Cahn is Co-Founder and President of Right of the Dot, LLC, a licensed business & domain auction company, Internet consulting and advisement firm specializing in new and existing TLD strategy, Contention Resolution Services, board advisement, premium domain and market positioning, sales and services. Specialties: Merger and Acquisitions in the Internet Industry, Domain name Registrations, Domain name sales and Auctions, appraisals, and escrow of sales, Domain name acquisitions, Corporate domain name management, Online branding, identity services and web presence.

James Grace

Jim Grace has been the Director of Business Development for ParkingCrew and DNTX.com, both Team Internet AG companies, for a year and a half. In this position, he promotes and helps grow the ParkingCrew and DNTX brands and identifies new opportunities for campaigns, products and monetization channels.

Tessa Holcomb

Tessa Holcomb is Co-Founder and CEO of Igloo.com, a leading brokerage firm specializing in selling and acquiring premium domain names and websites for a select group of clients.

Brian Michitti

In 2011, Brian joined Sedo, the global leader in domain trading, as a Senior Domain Broker. Brian has more than eight years of experience in high value sales, and specializes in high-value brokerage and negotiations.

Michael Gilmour

Michael has been a domain investor for over 14 years and together with his business partner, David Gibbs, founded ParkLogic which both maximizes domain revenue and manages domain portfolios for clients the world over.

Qian Kun

Ms. Kun Qian was appointed as Country Manager of Afilias Beijing Office in 2011. In her role, she is responsible for China’s channel management, business development, strategic planning, sales and marketing liaison, government & operator relations, among other duties.

Angie Graves

Angie Graves designs computer networks, and writes about the evolution of technology and the Internet. She participates in Internet governance and policy issues as a member of ICANN’s Commercial and Business Users’ Constituency, and is the founder and principal at WEB Group, advising businesses operating on the Internet.

Raymond Li

Raymond Li is CTO and China Practice Manager of Allegravita. Raymond has been working with Allegravita since 2005 helping foreign companies extend their business into China. Raymond specializes in the domain name industry and is a well-known and respected expert, helping to bring many western domain registries, TLDs and premium domain businesses into China.

Crystal Peterson

As Head of Global Sales and Channel Marketing, Registry Services, Crystal Peterson is a key player in the growth of Neustar’s .CO, .biz, .nyc and .US domain name products.