How did your votes for the TRAFFIC Awards rank up?

A little over a month ago, once the voting round closed for the TRAFFIC South Beach Awards, I made sure I announced my votes.

I did this for a couple of reasons: first, to keep track of who I voted for and also to be able to return to the votes after the results came in.

Secondly, I wanted to justify my votes instead of simply voting; this way I’d explain the reasoning behind my choices.

According to Domain News Wire, the winners were announced earlier today, so now it’s time to debate the results and compare them to my votes.

Sponsor of the year
Check – Voted for .CO which also won the award. The .CO registry had one of the best campaigns around, and not just for the domain industry. Well-deserved!

Domainer of the year
Gregg McNair – I voted for Morgan Linton. I thought that they’d give the “kid” a chance because he’s not part of the “hard core” circle of domainers and he introduced a lot of potential to the domain industry. Sadly, the veteran beat the rookie in this one.

Best Overall Domain Solution
Check – Voted for Sedo which won the award without as much as breaking a sweat.

Best New Monetizing Solution
Check – Voted for WhyPark which won the award because they are indeed the best new monetizing solution.

Developer of the year
Rob Monster / Epik won it. Seriously, people need to check the definition of “developer” in the dictionary. If you need to know my thoughts on this one, here’s a lengthy post that you should be reading. My vote was for established domain developer, Tia Wood.

The “We Get It” Award
National A-1 won it – My vote for Bodog and Slots.com was of equal importance, in my opinion.

Best domain news blog
Check – Voted for Elliot Silver who won the award, due to his relentless and crafty methodology of delivering daily news related to the industry and presenting several different perspectives in the process.

Domain Hall of Fame
One half of a check mark – Monte Cahn and Rick Latona won it – My votes were for Mike Mann and Rick Latona. I believe Rick Latona deserved it and since Monte is the auction money-maker he deserved it also. I’d still want to see Mike Mann win a special award; after all he is a controversial figure but in a good way.

Regardless of votes and opinions, congratulations to all winners at TRAFFIC.