My Votes for TRAFFIC South Beach 2010

Since it’s now after 8:00 pm Eastern on the closing day of voting for the TRAFFIC South Beach awards, I can disclose who I voted for – and most importantly, why.

The domain industry seems to perpetually rotate itself around the same axis; thankfully, in recent years fresh additions to the field have brought fresh ideas and a brand new perspective on things.

For example, worthwhile achievements such as ZFBot seem to get buried due to the domain industry lacking an understanding of its own needs.

Without further ado, here are my votes:

Sponsor of the year
.CO – for giving a new meaning to the term “domain registry” and for creating a dynamic marketing campaign that excelled in every way.

Domainer of the year
Morgan Linton – for introducing a series of refreshing, independent multimedia productions related to domains and for covering most events through video blogging.

Best Overall Domain Solution
Sedo – for keeping up with the times and playing a game of fair numbers, all while extending and expanding the b2b relationships.

Best New Monetizing Solution
WhyPark – for offering a meaningful and versatile alternative to “old school” parking, without bullsh*t and without fanfare. It simply works well.

Developer of the year
Tia Wood – for being the only true independent developer on the list; for being effective and yet keeping a low profile; because hours of PHP coding and MySQL structuring are matched by quality work and good support.

The “We Get It” Award
Bodog and Slots.com – these guys got it and invested – without gambling their future; can’t go wrong with generics.

Best domain news blog
Elliot Silver – for being a quality source of hands-on, experience-based content; for explaining what he tried, how he did it and admitting failure if that occurs. Elliot provides a balanced source of daily information on domains.

Domain Hall of Fame
Michael Mann – for being himself, unlike most others in the industry.
Rick Latona – for trying to be the best even under the most challenging circumstances.