T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Hong Kong cancelled - Some thoughts about shows
POSTED BY Rick Latona IN Web Sites

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).

  • http://acro.net Acro

    Rick, thanks for a great show at TRAFFIC Las Vegas and for trying to be the best under the most challenging circumstances.

    One hundred years ago, Theodore Roosevelt said:

    "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

  • http://www.ozdomainer.com Ed Keay-Smith

    Hey Rick,

    Thanks for taking on the risk of running the Traffic shows regardless of the outcome.

    I am sure your re-grouping and re-focus will bring you even greater success in the future.

    Keep up the great work mate, you are a champion of this industry!

    Regards

    Ed Keay-Smith
    OzDomainer.com

  • http://Investingfunds.com howard Neu

    Rick and I appreciate everything that you have done to bring the concept of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. to the rest of the world. You have great foresight and are willing to take risks, which few others would be willing to do. I am certain that it was because you took the bull by the horns to schedule multiple shows around the world that resulted in Sedo and DomainSponsor copying your formula. You had no way of knowing that those companies that had something to sell, were going to try to steal your thunder and your audience.

    Congratulations on always being first class in each of the shows that you put on.

  • Andy Booth

    That's a shame Rick. I never got to come to one of your organized events but I heard great things about them. Like you said though, back to basics, and selling domains is something you'll never have a problem doing. I wish you all the best.

  • ggg

    Hey Rick,

    I don't have the eloquence of Acro or Roosevelt but I sure admire the way you persevered when things were more than difficult.

    You may have considered only the negatives associated with the shows but for me and PPX all your shows were valuable and resulted in significant business....and others have made similar comments to me.

    We just want to embrace the silent participants and thank you for daring to succeed and calling it when it was not to be. Also for your generous support of The Water School at every show ... the kids in Africa are most grateful!

    PPX planned some of networking social events for Hong Kong in support of the proposed TRAFFIC show, as you are aware, and we are prepared to go ahead if only a few people still want to come and discover the mystery and magic of Hong Kong and China.(Anyone interested should contact Tessa Holcomb tessa@ppx.com)

    Rick, as a serial entrepreneur, I am sure that you will move on and strike oil before too long!

    ggg

  • http://www.BigTicketDomains.com Kevin

    Rick, you're one of the most respected and successful entrepreneurs in the business. Domaining has become a very competitive industry where new ideas and innovations are quickly copied by others. So it's challenging to say the least to have an exclusive arena of opportunity for an extended period of time.

    There are way too many shows and live auctions happening and as a result the quality of inventory is difficult to maintain and then without a sufficient number of deep pocket buyers in attentendance it's becoming harder and harder to have a successful auction.

    I also think having traditional loud blubbering style auctioneers yelping doesn't work for domains. It's time to have a more refined process for that like they do at Christies and Sotheby's for fine art auctions. Google either on YouTube and you'll see how much better their auctioneers sound.

    More than anything though, having auctions with high quality domains and mega million reserves is pointless. Sure every now and then we see a single million plus sale at auction that saves the day for the entire auction, but the vast majority of million dollar domains don't sell. And then you see the same million dollar domains that didn't sell in one auction in another. So that needs to be rethought and reworked into something more viable. End users aren't showing up, despite years of promotion and publicity and probably never will and having a couple hundred domainers in house isn't enough 7 fig buying power.

    I was surprised when you took on the TRAFFIC challenge. I thought to myself he's definitely got kahoonas to grab that wild bull by the horns.

    If there is one thing we all should do more of in this industry going forward is to FOCUS. It's great to be a jack of all trades, and I'm one of those too, but the more focused we are the less chance of becoming overwhelmed by too many tasks to get done each day.

  • http://24hourrental.com Kevin Davis

    Kudos to you Rick.This is only the beginning.Keep kickin ass and taking names.You da man,Have a great weekend.K

  • http://www.3DKing.me 3DKing

    The cheese has moved,... again.

  • http://www.david-carter.com/wp David Carter

    Rick, well done on making a hard decision and not trying to gloss over the facts. Core business must come first, it's something we all struggle with as domainers. Good luck.

  • http://digibroker.com Bruce Tedeschi

    Never met you but you did good work... Promoting a 25-year old industry is not easy. Think where Henry ford was 25-years after he launched hi auto company. Because you were successful, you will always have someone who want some of what you are cooking.

    I hope you take feedback in a positive sense, some of the name pricing was not in alignment with the economy. Personally, I liked you daily newsletter. I was sad to see you discontinue it.

    Lastly, a large amount of domainers have full-time gigs and can't travel for days to attend domain conferences. I always wondered why you did not have live Internet auctions only...

    Best of luck to you in any new ventures.

  • Max

    I was actually going to go to HongKong .. as were other people i know of .. this is a very disappointing turn of events ..

  • Ken Hansen

    Rick

    I am personally very thankful for what you've done and who you are. Looking forward to your future insights, endeavors and continued success. See you in Miami!

    Best
    Ken

  • http://www.IndustrialWholesale.com Michael Curtis

    Well clearly Rick Latona is a pioneer in this field. I think domaining is still in its infancy and there is plenty of room to grow. To that end, there are plenty of sold domains with Ricks name on them and his firm seems like a pretty good avenue to sell a domain. Hope he keeps it up.

  • GM

    I was also planning to go to Hong Kong with my business partner. We were waiting for a confirmation to buy the flight tickets.

    I contacted them (through the contact form) several times, and considering the responses I knew there was something strange going on.

    But canceling this at the end of September when the conference is supposed to take place on November 15 and 16...

    That's very disappointing to say the least.

  • http://dnURLs.com Kevin M.

    Rick, I've never met you personally, but through your domaining workings, I've always felt you were/are a stand-up 'A-List' domainer, and this post confirms it moreso. Look forward to your next domaining endeaver. GL.

  • John Marks

    This is what the world need.
    Domain show every day in every city.
    These shows are a waste of time. What else can you learn about domains, parking and selling them ????

  • http://davidgreen.com/ David

    That is an excellent point Kevin which I have not seen discussed before. I always thought the far too fast paced, shouting, blubbering and tough to understand style of the old auctioneers was real unprofessional for a professional event and certainly would turn-off end users and some domainers too.

    An example of how bad that format can end up being was the Traffic auction for cowboys.com a few years ago where the Dallas Cowboys bidder was confused and thought the price was low xxx instead of 275k and later retracted his bid when he learned it was not $275.

    Re: "I also think having traditional loud blubbering style auctioneers yelping doesn’t work for domains. It’s time to have a more refined process for that like they do at Christies and Sotheby’s for fine art auctions. Google either on YouTube and you’ll see how much better their auctioneers sound"

  • John Epp

    Rick you are a very successful business man and I wouldn’t look at this as a failure on your part .Some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business people in this country’s history have made miscalculations in Business. Through that process they have used it as a learning experience to enhance their future success.

    In this case the issue isn’t the amount of domain conferences that are available to Domineers the real issue is the limited audience.

    To many in the internet world, the SEO community, the internet advertising community and many other parts of the industry the Domain community is viewed as a closed industry. The understanding of the value of domains in terms of value and ROI to that community and business in general is misunderstood or not even realized.

    There needs to be active and aggressive outreach by leaders in the domain industry to change that understanding to grow participation and audience share….turning the industry from essentially a commodities market into a more retail oriented market.

    When that happens the industry will grow, change and bring in competition that will blow the doors off of current profits. The founders of the industry will always be recognized and honored for their contributions but like all industries in their infancy and this one still is, change and growth comes in phases and this industry is no different.

  • http://www.ricklatona.com/2010/09/19/latonas-weekly-auction-ending-wednesday-the-22nd-with-ncd-com-tuscon-co-artblogs-com-drugsmuggling-com-and-more/ Rick Latona » Latona’s weekly auction ending Wednesday the 22nd with NCD.com, Tuscon.co, ArtBlogs.com, DrugSmuggling.com and more

    [...] of you that don't check Domaining.com daily, you might have missed a few announcements. Besides us canceling our Hong Kong show for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. we've moved our Latona's online auctions to weekly events with one closing every [...]

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