NamesCon Europe Charity Auction

Attendees generously donated 21 domain names that were made available for a live auction during NamesCon Europe today, with proceeds going to the Hope Children's Centre charity. We nearly reached the goal of 6500 EUR with a final auction sales tally of 4150 EUR raised. These funds will help to finish building a new secondary school, so that the charity may take in more children from the local area whose parents cannot afford to pay for their education.

Special thanks to Shaun Wilkinson, COO at Nidoma, who organized the charity auction and solicited the domain name donations.

If you wish, you can still make a contribution towards this great cause!

GDD Summitters: Be Our Guest!

View of Science World and False Creek from Stamp's Landing

For those of you heading to beautiful British Columbia next week for the GDD Summit, you may want to carve out some time to experience a few of our favourite things in the city of Vancouver.

Both Tania and I are based in Vancouver and we thought, why not plan a little sightseeing day on Monday and showcase some of the best the city has to offer? Anyone who would like to join us would be most welcome!

Here's a rough schedule for the day - feel free to join at any one of these scheduled stops:

10am: Meet at JJ Bean cafe near English Bay, we will grab a coffee and walk along the seawall to Sunset Beach (10 min walk)

11am: Take the False Creek Ferry from Vancouver Aquatic Centre dock at Sunset Beach to Granville Island (6 min water taxi)

11am-2pm: Explore Granville Island, there are plenty of shops to peruse and places to eat

2pm: Take the Aquabus from Granville Island to Stamp's Landing (13 min water taxi)

2:30pm: Pull up a chair to enjoy the sunshine and a beer on the waterfront patio at Mahony & Sons. The first round is on NamesCon :)

From 4pm onwards, the night is yours! You will have plenty of time to make it back to Richmond for the GDD Cocktail Reception.

For the rest of your stay, Tania and I would be happy to make dinner or drink recommendations, but here's a few suggestions we narrowed down that are within a reasonable distance of Mahony & Sons:

• Farmer's Apprentice
• AnnaLena
• Vij's Rangoli
• Vij's
• Tojo's

Please note that all food, fare, beverage or other associated costs for this outing are your sole responsibility.

Contact us (producers@namescon.com) with any questions, otherwise we look forward to seeing you at JJ Bean on Monday morning!

Update Regarding NamesCon Global Venue

To our valued attendees and sponsors;

After feedback following the 2018 event in which attendees and sponsors expressed a desire for a new venue, the NamesCon team immediately began looking into the viability of an alternate property to host our group. Several things were top of mind as we embarked on this search:

1. Maintaining affordability for both attendees and sponsors
2. Improving the quality of our host hotel on every level including food options, guest room appointments, and other amenities
3. Keeping our show dates of January 27-30, 2019 as scheduled
4. Finding a property with ample conference space, but not so large that our group would become lost and disengaged

We did find a wonderful option that fit many of our needs for 2019, but this venue was 12 miles off the strip. After polling several sponsors and attendees, we learned that the sentiments around such a location change were incredibly mixed and most wanted to stay on or very near to the Las Vegas strip. As a result of this feedback, we made the decision to fulfill our contract obligations with the Tropicana and remain there for 2019.

The upcoming NamesCon Global flagship event will mark 6 years at the Tropicana, and we understand it is time for a change. We hear you and we are now on the search for a new home for 2020 and beyond! Knowing this is our final year at the Trop means we can send ourselves off in style: one last party at the Havana Club with that stunning chandelier; one (or several) last late-night drinks in the lobby bar, where you never know who you'll run into; one short cab ride to everything the bustling Las Vegas strip has to offer.

Aside from the venue change, we are able to address several other points of feedback we received this year. We will be making more detailed announcements in the coming weeks and months, but for now here's a few teasers of what you can look forward to for our last year at the Tropicana:

• Separate Expert and Newcomer session tracks running all day Sunday
• Opening Reception and WaterNight will join forces and take place as a single event at the Havana Club on Sunday evening: expect open bar, food service, live entertainment, and free entry for all attendees
• Monday night will be a "free night" for private company events or group activities - Las Vegas is your oyster, go enjoy it!
• Tuesday early evening we'll be putting a new "spin" on the much-loved Topic Tables
• And later on Tuesday night, we'll be taking our closing party to a brand new venue, something we think will be right up your alley...
• Wednesday will close out with the keynote brunch (and Bloody Mary bar!), which all attendees can enjoy as the exhibit hall will be open just Monday and Tuesday 

We are also considering options for scheduling group activities on Saturday January 26 and/or Wednesday January 30 in the afternoon: think golfing, Hoover Dam tour, hiking, speedway racing. If this would be of interest for you, please get back to us with your activity suggestions and we will investigate group bookings.

As always, we welcome your feedback, and if you have any city/venue suggestions you'd like to throw in the hat for NamesCon Global 2020, send them our way! Here's a hint to steer you in the right direction: we're looking to be leaving Las Vegas, and we'd love to sink our feet into a sandy beach somewhere...

Finally, the NamesCon team would like to thank all of you who have been so honest in sharing your opinions with us over the years. Your feedback continually motivates us to do better, think outside the box, reconsider our strategies, and above all else, work to provide the best experience possible for NamesCon attendees. We couldn't do this without you.

Domaining Europe Becomes NamesCon Europe

It is our pleasure to announce the transition of Domaining Europe into NamesCon Europe! This is an exciting new chapter for the NamesCon brand and we are really excited to expand into the European domaining market.

The agreement between Domaining Europe and NamesCon was confirmed at the beginning of 2018, shortly after our flagship NamesCon Global conference in Las Vegas. The rebranding of Domaining Europe to NamesCon Europe is in effect for the upcoming June 2018 event in Valencia.

Dietmar Stefitz, who founded Domaining Europe in 2008, will directly manage the 2018 event with the assistance of NamesCon producers, and then evolve into a brand ambassador position and continue to advise the NamesCon team to ensure the spirit and theme of the conference remains intact.

“After 10 years of hard work I am thrilled to find a new home for Domaining Europe. NamesCon is the only entity to carry on this conference in the spirit of all involved, be it attendees, sponsors, or speakers. I want to thank all participants of Domaining Europe in the last years and wish the team of NamesCon Europe all the best for the future.”
- Dietmar Stefitz, Domaining Europe

The NamesCon team is contributing top-level speakers and content, global attendee marketing efforts, and expanded sponsor outreach.  We hope you will join us in Valencia this June, where decision makers from the global domain industry will come together to share new ideas.

“We are very excited to contribute to a successful NamesCon Europe 2018 under the direction of founder Dietmar Stefitz. Europe is an important forum for NamesCon, and as we enter into the 10th year of Domaining Europe we look forward to honoring Dietmar’s legacy and bringing even more value to the event for both attendees and partners.”
-Soeren von Varchmin, NamesCon

Register now for an unforgettable conference! Sign up before March 16, 2018 to enjoy 50% off. Remember, your conference pass covers all catering including coffee breaks, lunches, a gala dinner, and a sightseeing tour.