A handy guide to choosing a domain conference.

Well, I guess the domain name conference wars are on again. We already knew about two conferences in the first two months of the year — DOMAINfest and Domainer MardiGras. But then, despite having only two conferences in the U.S. this year, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. found it necessary to hold a conference in Las Vegas just before DOMAINfest. And so it begins.

Since most people don’t want to attend every conference, I’ve put together this handy guide to help you choose a conference. There’s not a “best conference” for everyone; it really depends on what you’re looking for. It you don’t care about programming, ignore that rating. If you don’t care about striking deals at the conference, ignore that rating. Just find the conference that is best for what you’re looking for. These are my opinions on each conference, although I cross checked them with a couple other experts in our field to make sure I wasn’t way off on any of them. And of course, if you disagree, feel free to comment.

Explanation of ratings:

Size – based on audience. Takes into consideration most recent conference and historical trends.

Cost – conference pass cost, excluding hotel.

Programming – quality of programming, including diverse speakers, “fresh” topics, programming scheduled well in advance.

Professionalism – sessions start on time, professional/prepared moderators.

Cohesiveness – level of attendee, ability to easily network and find people you’re looking for (adversely affected by size).

Deal Making – level of deal making at conference.

Conference Venue & Food – overall quality of venue and food

Here they are, in alphabetical order.

Domainer Mardi Gras
What’s new in 2010: No longer under Modern Domainer umbrella

Known for: Fun

Size: Small

Cost: Low

Programming: Medium

Professionalism: Medium

Cohesiveness: High

Deal Making: Medium

Venue: Medium

DOMAINfest

What’s new in 2010: moves to the beach, possible second conference in the fall.

Known for: High quality production, huge parties, big crowd. Organized by Oversee.net.

Size: Large

Cost: Moderate

Programming: High

Professionalism: High

Cohesiveness: Medium

Deal Making: High

Venue: High

Domain Roundtable
What’s new in 2010: Nothing announced; annual conference takes place later in year

Known for: Drawing more than just domainers, policy angle

Size: Small

Cost: Moderate

Programming: High

Professionalism: Medium

Cohesiveness: High

Deal Making: High

Venue: High

GeoDomain Expo
What’s new in 2010: Moves to New Orleans, hopefully less internal drama

Known for: Bringing together the “local web” audience and geo domain owners

Size: Small

Cost: Low

Programming: Moderate

Professionalism: High

Cohesiveness: High

Deal Making: Moderate

Venue: Moderate-High

T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
What’s new in 2010: Partnership with Rick Latona, 6 conferences (2 in U.S.)

Known for: First real domain conference, big live domain auctions

Size: Medium

Cost: High

Programming: Low (but improving)

Professionalism: Low

Cohesiveness: High

Deal Making: High

Venue: High

---

© DomainNameWire.com 2009.

Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.

Related posts:

1. Two Unique Domain Conferences on Tap for June