Expo Preview with Patrick Carleton — 2008 GeoDomain
Q&A with Patrick Carleton, Executive Director of Associated Cities.
The 2008 GeoDomain Expo hits Chicago July 10-12. Advanced ticket sales are hot, and Associated Cities’ Patrick Carleton expects attendance to be double last year. I recently caught up with Carleton to get a preview of this year’s conference. Afterward, Carleton did a lengthy interview that was published on the Associated Cities’ web site. You can read it here.
Reglike: In the past, your conferences and organization have attracted owners of premium city .com domain names. Will the conference be beneficial to people with other types of geo domains, such as LosAngelesSiding.com?
Carleton: Yes, all Geodomains have a distinct branding and marketing advantage. Category Geodomains like DallasLawyers.com or OklahomaRealEstate.com are actually excellent Geo-specific search engine phrases doubling as a domain name. In other words, they will receive intuitive Geo-centric traffic. And in the advertising business, that’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Reglike: I understand it’s a big deal that you’ve teamed up with The Kelsey Group for this conference. What is Kelsey Group, and why is this notable?
Carleton:The Kelsey Group is the world’s leading provider of strategic research and analysis, data and competitive metrics for Local Search, Yellow Pages, electronic directories, SMB advertising and Local Media. In other words, when these people speak mainstream media listens. They understand the future of Geodomains and their co-production of the 2008 Geodomain Expo is the first time they’ve done this in their 70+ conferences. Speaks volumes for our industry.
Reglike: Will the conference be more regarding networking or education?
Carleton: Both. Geodomain pioneers like the Castello Brothers, Dan Pulcrano, Josh Metnick and Skip Hoagland didn’t get to where they are by accident. All of them have previous media experience and recognized the incredible potential behind Geodomains early on. They’ll also be the first to tell you that they’ve only begun to scratch the surface and are representative of most Geodomainers in that they are generous with discussing their best practices and they love to network.
Reglike: The geo domain industry is a hot topic in domain circles lately. Where do you think it will be in 5 years?
Carleton: Huge. Mainstream media is just starting to take notice and collaborations are being formed as we speak. Look at it this way, how many people know the name of the city newspaper for Palm Springs a hundred miles out? (The Desert Sun) Now ask yourself how many know the name of the city? In a nutshell, that was the branding and marketing advantage a Geodomain like PalmSprings.com started with. Add lots of local advertisers into the mix and you have what Gordon Borrell called in his landmark 2005 review of Geodomains, “A beachhead that will only grow larger…”
[If you are interested in attending the GeoDomain Expo, registration is $695 up until the day of the show. On site registration is $795.]
