Oylinki

I think that the aeroplane hadn’t moved about 10 feet from the Las Vegas terminal before I was sound asleep. In fact, I can’t even remember the plane taking off or landing in Los Angeles. The same could be said for the long haul flight from LAX to Melbourne.

So why was I so exhausted after TRAFFIC? I could blame it on a few notable people who participated in the last night’s poker game (you know who you are) but they really aren’t to blame. I was tired because of the volume of business and the deals being conducted.

I could truthfully say that the next three months (ie. until the next TRAFFIC) are completely loaded up with business deals to be completed. TRAFFIC is a conference where deals can get done because all the people that you need to meet are in the one place at the same time.

How do I measure the return on investment of TRAFFIC? It’s pretty simple really. We view the cost of attending not as an expense but as an investment. Like any activity you need to invest before you can reap a reward. It’s been very common for me to not get an immediate return from each new relationship but 3 TRAFFIC’s later I end up doing a deal with that person.

For those of you who didn’t manage to get into a deal stream. Don’t despair. There are lots of deals to be done and I wouldn’t be surprised if you secure a few at the next conference as people see your face once again.

So what else happened at TRAFFIC? From my perspective it was great seeing transparency and standards get an enormous push forward. Over the next few weeks I’ll see if I can break out some of the slides from the presentations that I made.

I got the surprise of my life when my name was called out and I ended up winning the Australian Acubra hat from Fabulous. As if an Australian needed it! In the end a number of prominent domainers signed the hat and it was auctioned off with all proceeds going to the Internet Commerce Association. Page Howe ended up being the winning bidder for $5,000. It’s great to see big hearts like those that bid for the hat supporting the ICA. I know that this meant a lot of Michael Collins (CEO of the ICA).

There were a surprisingly large number of new domainers and I really enjoyed meeting them. Some of them were new to the industry but quite a number have been domaining for years and TRAFFIC was their first conference.

As well as new domainers there were many regular attendees that I have the privilege of calling great friends. These are people that I’ve spent a lot of time with at conferences over the years and it’s always great to catch up with them again. There is no greater pleasure then conducting business with friends or making new friends while putting together a deal.

Some of the great people that I have had the privilege of calling a friend include:

Dan Kimball – please do me the courtesy of looking at your cards before taking my money. LOL!
Sean Stafford – I look forward to the next book.
Page Howe – fellow domainer with a big heart and a propensity for calling “side pots”
Dan Warner – from Fabulous, suckered me into going “all in” in poker. I suppose I deserved it though!
Michael Collins – keep that ICA flag flying, we’re all behind you!
Richard Moore – CEO of Fabulous, my turn for dinner!
Michael Costello – one day I’ll be able to shuffle cards as fast as you!
Paul Keating – we probably should never have had that bottle of Pinot before the cocktail party.
Steve Hisey – Domain Sponsor, my turn for the next steak dinner.
Sahar Sarid – thanks for all of the quality blogging, great conversations and an outstanding Bido party.
Russ Goodwin – I learn something new each time we talk.
Rick Schwartz – your enthusiasm never seems to die.
Barbara Neu – I love being welcomed to each TRAFFIC by that great big smile of yours!
Freddy Schwick – you seem to be able to see opportunities all around you. Never lose that insight.
Darren Cleveland – smarts combined with a great sense of humour.
Ron Jackson – keep the high quality prose flowing and recording all of the domaining history.

When I consider the value of all of the above relationships and stack them up against the cost of attending TRAFFIC I see that there is no comparison. As well as being great people each of them are also incredible teachers from whom I’ve learnt an enormous amount. So next time you consider attending TRAFFIC think of it in investment terms rather than as an expense.

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing each of you plus all of the others that I haven’t added the list above at the next conference.

Source: Posted by Michael Gilmour — Original post on on Whizzbangsblog — February 24, 2008