TRAFFIC / Orlando – The synopsis of a great networking event

When I signed up for TRAFFIC / Orlando, my expectations from attending the conference were cut very dry and specific. I envisioned selling domains at the auction, meeting with other professionals dressed in suits and sharing ideas with the very core people of the domain industry. I’m able to say that I achieved my goals one-hundredfold in a much broader manner which I had not anticipated, because simply being part of the TRAFFIC event is an achievement of its own.

TRAFFIC is not your average type of conference. It’s a gateway to a multitude of opportunities, an entry point, an initiation to what’s behind the conference name and its mythology. The biggest challenge is shedding the attitude of a strict business person while acknowledging the contribution and success of hundreds of other professionals. As an entrepreneur and a person who believes in communication with other individuals, I entered TRAFFIC prepared to not only talk but to also listen carefully to what others had to say. It was an opportunity to sharpen my social skills, display my work, my assets and also repair damage done by my well-known online persona at various forums.

The people attending TRAFFIC are professionals that all maintain their own distinct personality. They are men and women of various ethnic and social backgrounds, races and ages. They are there to not only benefit their business but to also contribute to the very industry that generates their wealth. It’s an approach and attitude that differs from the cut-throat world of broader technology and it’s a method designed to know and appreciate the person behind the business and the brand.

At TRAFFIC, I was able to learn from the speakers and exhibitors about the directions our domain industry is currently heading to. Every single day, I learned from the subjects presented, the questions that were asked and I gained more confidence for myself and my future ventures. TRAFFIC was at times intense, other times fast-paced and at other times relaxed and entertaining.

Walking up to talk to people that I had never met before in my life was surprisingly easy. Some stood out because they are famous; talking to Rick Schwartz while he’s munching on a tasty canapés was definitely a far cry from simply reading his blog. Sharing a table at lunch or dinner with Donny, Mike, Monte and Christian from Parked.com was an opportunity to enjoy food and talk about things in a manner that no number of trouble tickets or emails can take care of. Brainstorming with Matt Bentley and the others from Sedo was easy, all while going back to greet the personnel at the TrafficZ booth and DomainSponsor or Skenzo.

Going around the exhibits when sessions were not active, one would meet people he or she interacted with at a previous time of the event and also meet others, who’d introduce even more to the circle of communication; just like a social chain reaction of ideas. In fact, the four hours I spent after my registration on the first day until the event officially started, were extremely beneficial; a relaxed prelude that built anticipation about the event itself.

The first thing one has to consider is whether they want to be an island, surrounded by waters and isolated from the rest of the world – or a cloud, free-flowing and able to meet other clouds that also roam in search of opportunities to interact. These clouds can sometimes clash with each other, thus producing thunder and lightning; but the resulting rain invigorates the land and feeds the lakes and the oceans, which in turn create more clouds and more free-flowing enterprises are born.

I think that I’d rather be a cloud and at TRAFFIC I discovered just that.