Flashback to the First Domain Conference

Again, Elliot’s post inspired me to do my own, to try and recollect about the first domain conference I, or anyone I guess, ever attended - DeanFest. I wrote some notes yesterday about the first TRAFFIC I went to, which was the first TRAFFIC in 2004. Read here

But for those of you who do not know, DeanFest was the very first domain conference, held in Beverly Hills in late 2002.

Here is what I remember from that fateful trip…

- The event was put on by Dark Blue’s Dean Shannon (The General) at the Beverly Hills Hotel and promoted by the King on his board back in the day. Those golden sun-shining days.

- Everyone there had been chatting and working together on Rick’s Board for years before that event. We had just never met or congregated.

- Shannon’s reasoning for bringing us together was to unveil a new site and registrar service, Fabulous.com

- As I recall, there were no more than 20 domainers in attendance and it was held in a small 20×20 room.

- Most of today’s most successful domainers were there.

-  Many were pretty dead broke, I had to sell a very good domain cheap just to be able to afford the trip.

- Not everyone who was there, amazingly, ended up being successful. Yet, most have achieved great success.

- We joke that we are all much better looking now than then (‘cuz we were so broke), thus we were dubbed the ‘Dirty Dozen.’

- I ‘ran’ into Nicole Kidman in a revolving door entering the hotel. She, sadly, was going out.

- I was suffering from migraines at the time, which limited me greatly.

- It was the first industry conference I ever attended where I felt comfortable, like I belonged.

- I have great affection, loyalty and admiration for all I met there. Many of us have gone on to terrifc friendships and business deals.

- I doubt there is any chance we have not all worked together in some capacity. I cannot think of one person there I have not done business with.

- Beverly Hills was the birthplace of modern domaining and domainers. All before it was just sporadic.

- Some who attended got really rich and disappeared.

- My concern, which I voiced, was that I saw a conflict of interest between Fabulous the registrar and Fabulous the registrant/seller.

- Some guys got rich then started buying condos galore…in Florida.

- I had maybe 100 domains back then, all registered at Directnic.

- If you have any photos from that event, please send them to me so I can post in a follow-up piece.

Cheers…

Tags: birth of domaining, dark blue sea, deanfest, fabulous, first domain conference