After a long flight to Las Vegas, whereupon the pilot took a longer path to our destination, Las Vegas loomed strange drowned in a sea of water. The city that never sleeps is currently witnessing a record rainfall.
The cab driver dropped me off at the Hard Rock cafe. Only, it was the restaurant, not the hotel. I had to walk in the rain, baggage and all. I was more soaked wet than a Sea World dolphin when I entered the reception.
Thankfully, after settling down and having a hot shower, I was able to get dressed and attend the networking session. Several members of the domain industry took the podium, talking about who they are and what they do. I was the last in line and explained what DomainGang is all about. After a couple of minutes I was feeling comfortable and that turned into almost five minutes. Thirty more seconds and I would take over the moderator’s job.
Networking continued with the infamous 60 second “musical chairs”, where a ring of seated domainers rotated across from an opposing ring, trying to make themselves heard over the overall noise. The end result: I ran out of business cards and lost my voice, as did several others.
Some realizations:
Greg Ricks, former owner of DNForum is a very tall dude. He’s also very friendly. By comparison, Chef Patrick is about 5ft tall but has huge tattoos on both arms that make him look like a giant on videos. Sahar’s imminent move to the California bay area didn’t steal his trademark smile. Ron Jackson thanked me for several private offers he received to replace his broken Sony camera. Donny Simonton wants you to know that you’d better haul your ass to Domainer Mardi Gras. Skenzo business cards are made of metal and can rip your wallet. Ted Olson of NameMedia bought dinner and offered to buy my entire domain portfolio (only one of which is true.) Rick Schwartz looked very relaxed having passed the crown of TRAFFIC to Rick Latona.
Everyone loved DomainGang – even those that were once critical of it.
Great day – full, tiring but satisfying. It ended with the cocktail party with David Castello performing on the drums without casting a drop of sweat. Several beers later, we were kicked out of the Wasted Space bar.
But the night in Las Vegas is still young.
Have a great time! Wish I could of made it, but guess domainfest and domainer mardi gras will have to do this year.
It was great meeting you today!! Looking forward to interviewing you tomorrow and hanging-out in Vegas together…hopefully not getting soaked!!
And what pray tell of Nelson Brady, I dont suppose he happened by to give a rousing report on how to bag and tag the money did he?
Maybe even a little tip or two how to live life as a fugitive?
Being Las Vegas and all maybe the gambling commission banned the guy from ever entering a casino at all?
That’s right Bruce – and each domain conference serve its purpose well.
Morgan – likewise, looking forward to the interview. PS Chef Patrick is not really 5ft tall but I hear he wears shoes with padded soles 😀