May 24, 2021 - by Staff Writer
GCD Concludes Successful Virtual User Group Meeting
As I write this, I hearken back to January 2020 in Austin, TX when a group of Brandsight clients got together for a roundtable discussion focusing on corporate domain name management. Little did we know that this would be the last time we’d be able to meet face-to-face with clients. Obviously, no one could have predicted what the following months would bring, on a variety of levels. Fast forward to May 2021, and we were once again able to meet with our clients, albeit virtually at our first ever GoDaddy Corporate Domains (GCD) user group meeting.
Much has changed over the last year and a half. In addition to the global pandemic that has had a major impact on us all, Brandsight was acquired and rebranded GoDaddy Corporate Domains, we launched major new functionality, and the ways in which people were working had changed significantly - so there was a lot to catch up on with our clients. We are extremely grateful that so many people took the better part of two days to join us to hear from myriad industry experts about the latest regarding all things domains.
Phil Lodico welcomed the entire group, and Elisa Cooper and I kicked things off with an update on the industry and recent trends we’ve been seeing. We ran through the policy work that’s been taking place at ICANN. We also covered the recent discussions around DNS Abuse and when we might see the next round of gTLD applications begin. We also reviewed some recent analysis of the Global 2000 domain portfolios that provided some interesting perspectives for the attendees.
We were then fortunate to be joined by Crews Gore who discussed how the .FOX registry is operating and he shared with us some of the .FOX domains that are currently being promoted in very public ways. Crews talked through all of the education that’s gone into getting internal Fox employees familiar with the .FOX extension and its availability. He covered the benefits of a .brand and how companies should look at a .Brand TLD as being complimentary to their existing domain name portfolios, as opposed to being a replacement for flagship sites.
After we went through our product priorities for the coming year (wouldn’t you like to know…) and got some great feedback from clients, we went into a panel discussion with three well-known brand owners who shared their experiences managing some of the most high-profile web properties in the world. The conversation was very lively and touched on a variety of topics including where domain management resides within the organization (which was actually different at all three companies represented), how to make registration coverage decisions, the role a Domain Council can play, and a number of other topics.
To kick off the second day of our virtual meeting, we reviewed the GoDaddy VIP (Verified IP) Program which was recently revamped after being in existence for a number of years. The GoDaddy VIP Program is meant to provide a streamlined path for well-known brands to have abuse complaints for names on the GoDaddy network reviewed and responded to by providing a company specific e-mail that allows for improved communication and visibility. We’ve already had a number of GCD clients take advantage of this program and it was great to talk to our clients about the initiative.
Once we wrapped another great client-led session, we were joined by Graeme Bunton, the recently announced inaugural director of the DNS Abuse Institute who provided attendees with an overview of why the Institute was formed, what the goals of the Institute are, and how the Institute hopes to work with the broader Internet community to address DNS Abuse as defined by its charter. I’ve known Graeme for a long time through his work at ICANN, so I’d like to thank him for providing this update to our clients and look forward to working with him on some of these initiatives as they get off the ground.
Wrapping up the two-day event, Tyler Mason, who heads up advisory services for GCD, talked about some tips and tricks for portfolio optimization. We spend a lot of time working with clients on portfolio reviews and providing guidance on registration strategies, so hearing Tyler talk about some of the biggest things to consider when going through those efforts was invaluable.
On behalf of the entire GCD team, I’d like to thank everyone who took time out to participate. Providing these kinds of events for clients is core to what we do and I’d like to think it was time well spent by the participants. While the virtual event was successful, I will readily admit I look forward to seeing people in-person again and look forward to a time when we can get together to talk more about domain management and maybe even enjoy each other’s company outside of a hotel conference room.
The information contained in this blog is provided for general informational purposes about domains. It is not specific advice tailored to your situation and should not be treated as such.
