Talking domains

October 1, 2025

Visit the archive to read past emails and sign up for future ones ahead of the dot com et al book launch.

And now for something completely different...I'll be talking domains and listening to others talk domains in three cities over the next month-ish, and I'd love your feedback and company.

StartupCincy Week

Next week I'm giving a demo and a talk at StartupCincy Week. The first will be part of Best of Demo Night kicking off at 3:15pm on Monday from the Woodward Theater, and the second is scheduled for 1:45pm on Wednesday at the Marketer Collaborative.

This morning I published a blog version of my talk on my personal site. It's a how-to guide for startups on finding the right domain. It is a first draft, and I want your feedback. Tell me what you disagree with, share your domain anecdotes, or offer your knee-jerk two cents.

ICANN84

At the end of the month (Oct 25-30) I'm heading to Dublin, Ireland for ICANN84. I'm excited to attend sessions on Universal Acceptance, DNS, the 2026 gTLD round, and much more. Most of all, though, I'm excited to meet people and get a sense of how the organization that runs domains runs itself. Let me know if you'll be there!

Feel free to send me any ICANN questions or curiosities you'd like me to pursue, or reading resources you recommend to prep for the trip (I've got Milton Mueller's book, Declaring Independence in Cyberspace).

NamesCon

In early November (the 5th and 6th) I'll be in Miami for NamesCon. Come join! Prices go up this Friday, October 3rd. Like ICANN84, I think this will feel like boots-on-the-ground, capital J Journalism. Also like ICANN84, send me questions or curiosities you want me to track down.

The conference has an investing bent, but there'll be attendance from registries, registrars, investors, brokers, startups, lawyers, ISPs, ICANN, and more. There will be a talk from the owners of the first ever domain registered (symbolics.com, 40 years ago in 1985), a live domain auction, and even a server throwing contest (literally throwing them, like shot put or discus).

Next up

If you have any relevant conferences or meetups on your calendar, let me know. The most fun part about writing this book so far, hands down, has been meeting so many people (and chatting with old friends and coworkers), which is saying something, since I love the heads-down reading and writing of it all.