The unfortunate situation with the illness that plagued several dozen domainers that attended Domainfest should not be gone without a few valuable lessons to be learned.
First of all, any conference held in the heart of winter when flu or other transmissible diseases are at their peak should be avoided. The jump from “patient zero” to the rest of the domainers attending the conference can be rather quick.
Exposing the attendants to “special effects” such as sprayed mist or fog is unnecessary and in the case of the Playboy Mansion setting it’s most likely the culprit for spreading the Legionnaires to the mostly male attendants.
It’s almost certain that both Domainfest and TRAFFIC will now adjust their shows to include events and entertainment that would offer less mindless fun and frolic and more substance.
So what is the great domainer opportunity that has been lost?
All the media currently talking about the Playboy Mansion incident make little to no reference to the type of event hosted at Domainfest. There are references to Internet entrepreneurs at the most. No explanation about domain names, nothing about the term “domainer”.
This has been a great opportunity to get rid of the term “cybersquatter” in public, once and for all – so where are the big cheese domainers that’d undertake this role?
Monday will bring an onslaught of morning shows; maybe Oprah will pick up on this – is Frank Schilling going to call in? Will Rick Schwartz seize the opportunity to display his leadership on prime time television? Is Oversee going to offer a press conference that will be televised and re-broadcast that will flatten out all the nasty comments left by outsiders about us domainers?
The TV networks are ready. Domainers are not.
