Rick Latona

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Hong Kong cancelled – Some thoughts about shows

I’ve made the painful decision to cancel the Hong Kong T.R.A.F.F.I.C. show. Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu support me in the decision and I’m thankful to them for all they’ve done. This doesn’t effect Miami in any way. I’m not part of that show and Miami is on track to be a great success.

It was a little more than a year ago when we decided to do five shows in 2010 in addition to the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami show run by Rick and Howard. At the time, the theory was that in order to do the big live auctions we needed to have a show to do them at. It was a way to secure the contract and have an auction on the books every couple of months.

Then a series of unfortunate events began to take place. Many were my own fault, some were not. I’m happy to take the blame for all of it though because I know where the buck stops.

I certainly never expected DomainFest and Sedo to come out with their own six show schedules. That completely took me by surprise and in one swoop tripled the amount of events on the calendar. Had I known they were going to do that I never would have gone down this path.

Shortly after, Chef Patrick announces his cruise and then even Rob Monster got into the game with his domain developer’s show. Sure both of these have a different spin to them but let’s face it, they are two more shows on the domainer circuit.

Europe now has as many domainer events as the States. There are countless events that target Europe as a whole and each country seams to have it’s own mini-circuit within.

The simple fact of the matter is that we are in a cottage industry. The domain world is small and it can’t sustain so many companies fighting over attendees. So, I’ll bow out.

Then there’s the issue of the auctions. Running the shows themselves and the auctions at the same time was a mistake. You can’t do both right so both suffered. I need to go back to the basics and focus on what counts which is selling the names. I realize now that it’s better to do only two large auctions a year and put the full weight of my company behind them. There’s a reason why show promoters outsource the auctions and auction companies outsource the shows. I was just too thick-headed to realize it until now.

As much as I’d like to do the show in Hong Kong still, let’s face facts. It won’t be a big crowd. The auction won’t do well because of the time difference. It just simply wouldn’t work. There’s no use being in denial about it.

Gregg McNair and PPX wanted me to let you know they will still be having a small gathering there. They have an office in Hong Kong and wanted everyone to know that if they still wanted to come out there for an informal, no meetings event that they will host. Reach out to Tessa Holcomb (tessa@ppx.com) if you are interested.

I want to give a special thanks to those that supported me during this endevour.

Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu – Where do I begin? We’ve had some up times and some down times and some stressful conversations but through it all you’ve been understanding and supportive. Thanks for believing in me. I really wish it had worked out better and somehow I’ll make it up to you in time.

Ray Neu – Ray you’ve always been a team player and you were the first to show up in your monkey suit every morning ready to get to work. You did great and I have nothing but good things to say about you.

Rick Silver – Rick you were a fantastic moderator. Everyone liked you and you engaged the crowd. I just wish I could have gotten more people to see you shine.

Gregg McNair and all the crew at PPX - You guys came to all of the shows, threw parties and entertained the crowds and always had a great attitude about it all. Thank you.

.CO - You guys have nothing but green pasture and blue skis ahead of you. This is one well run organization. A special thanks to Lori-Anne who’s the hardest working woman in domains. Hat’s off.

Skenzo – There’s no wonder why Divyank is as successful as he is. I had the opportunity to get to know him a little over the past year and he’s one smart cookie. Thanks for all of your advice Div.

Lastly I’d like to give a shoutout to the other sponsors who supported me at each of the events. Parked.com, InternetX, Thought Convergence, EuroDNS, Domain Invest and Domain Invest (yes they are two different companies).

Tags: Domains