One of the things I always find to be true about Vegas is that arriving and departing are equally exciting. Even after coming to Vegas for years I still love the feeling of arriving in the city, checking-into a big classic Vegas hotel, and hitting the town. By the end of the trip, there’s really nothing like the feeling of leaving Vegas and coming back home. Today we are hanging-out on the patio (photo above) listening to some music, reading, and probably heading out for a walk on the beach soon.
We had a fantastic time at TRAFFIC Vegas, and as usual lots to catch-up on after a week away. Our week was absolutely packed and I think I had more meetings than I’ve ever had a a domain conference before. From fellow Domainers to awesome people from other companies to people completely new to our industry it was an action-packed week and for those on Friday who met with me could tell from the big bags under my eyes, I didn’t sleep much 🙂
Rick, Howard, Barbara, Alina, Ray and Kim do an incredible job and work very hard to make TRAFFIC what it is today. These two families work together like one big family, and when you’re there, they make you feel like you’re part of the family.
Networking is a central theme and any conference and I think TRAFFIC hit a homerun holding the show at the Bellagio this year. Staying at the hotel meant I could be in a meeting, hop up to my room for a phone call and get back down for my next meeting easily. Unlike most Vegas hotels the Bellagio has a great setup for conferences with the Spa Tower being directly connected to the conference center. I would typically leave my room five minutes before a meeting and get there two minutes early.
I met people this year at TRAFFIC that I had never met before and did some deals that I didn’t even plan on doing. While I networked with plenty of fellow Domainers I also had a chance to spend some quality time with some incredible SEO gurus, affiliate marketers, and people who were doing amazing things I didn’t even know were possible.
This is the real value of these conferences, it’s the random conversation you have or the meeting that you add to your schedule that wasn’t part of the plan that can create long-lasting and very profitable relationships. That happened in a major way for me and many of the people I spoke with.
Last but not least, Paul Goldstone, a good friend and frequent TRAFFIC attendee won the suite upgrade contest that Rick and Howard offered which also means he won my Demetria wine giveaway. I’ll leave you with this photo of me giving Paul his prize.
Okay, so this was supposed to be a short post, but as usual I’ve gotten a bit carried away. I’ll leave it at that, time to hit the beach, have a great weekend everyone!
