My thoughts on the prior week’s ICANN meeting in Istanbul
Fresh TLDs, domains in Turkey, cats, and other thoughts.
The prior week, I attended the ICANN Annual General Meeting in Istanbul. Here are some thoughts on the event:
There were a lot of domain investors there, many of whom had just attended Domain Days in Dubai. I heard rave reviews regarding Domain Days and would like to attend in a future year.
The next ICANN meeting will be in Seattle next March. I expect very high attendance, especially with so many domain firms in the city (Identity Digital, GoDaddy, and others). It’s free to attend, and I anticipate many domain investors will be there.
The industry is gearing up for the next round. There were a number of registry service providers (RSP) pitching clients. IT.com is making a play to serve as an RSP, and CIRA and SIDN disclosed a fresh Hello Registry brand. I moderated a session with current fresh TLD operators, asking them regarding their experiences. One question I asked was how many applications they think will be received in the next round. What do you think?
Looking at billboards and other ads around Turkey, I’d say they were split regarding 50/50 between .com and .com.tr domain names. And then there was one random .clinic domain.
Speaking of Turkey, it’s a great place if you love cats. There were even a number of cats roaming around the conference exhibition area. It’s also a great place to get your shoes shined following the shoe shiner “accidentally” drops his brush in front of you.
There was a really good session regarding blockchain and alt-root domain names. Fred Hsu of D3 presented (listen to his recent podcast). I was impressed with ICANN’s Paul Hoffman, who also presented and took a relatively neutral view of these alternatives while explaining where they right now fit in the ecosystem.
Google has given out a fresh domain feed contract, something I don’t think it’s done for a long time. I’ve only heard regarding them taking them away. More on that later.
ICANN runs a tight ship at its events, and I appreciate that. My one complaint regarding the show was a lack of seating in the common areas. It was like playing a game of musical chairs to snag a seat.
