This is an interesting title and one that I can only answer by saying, “that depends”. It depends on what the return on the investment is and this is really the bottom line.
Recently, my business partners and I sat down and discussed whether one or two of us would fly from Australia to TRAFFIC in Vegas and we decided it would be well worth it if we both went. My partner will have a list of domains that we plan on selling (some really good ones) that each has tremendous branding potential . Forgetting all of the other benefits of being at TRAFFIC and establishing relationships etc. it meant that he needed to complete one small transaction for the conference to pay for itself. Decision, it’s worth the risk.
That’s the great thing about TRAFFIC. It’s the place where you can really do business deals with other business people. This is the main reason why I attend the conferences every time they are on.
I’ve heard many people complain about the price but my view is that the price is small compared to the returns on the investment. This means that I’ll continue to attend TRAFFIC until the return on the investment no longer justifies the expense of money and my time. This is a decision process that I would recommend that each potential attendee make. Whatever you do, don’t justify TRAFFIC on the social life and parties. You’ll end up a lot poorer for it, although you’ll still have a great time!
I know that we’ve all heard form Rick and Howard before that that “this is going to be the best conference so far”. For the first time in a while I actually believe them. This is not because I’m taking a couple of sessions either!
The theme of “Standards and Transparency” will make the whole atmosphere at the conference electric. I also think that it will serve as a real benchmark for the industry while this issue is publicly addressed head-on. Some of the session topics include:
1. Transparency in the industry 2. Gaining the trust of the advertiser 3. Transparency in Legal Proceedings 4. Potency of traffic
5. Are PPC companies earning too much for the service they provide or are they entitled to a bigger cut of the pie?
I keep on saying it. The fastest way for me to increase the value of my domain portfolio is to get more money flowing into the industry. The fastest way to get more money flowing is to ensure that there are standards that the financial community can understand and justify to investors. It’s the numbers and what they mean which will provide confidence to Wall Street to legitimize the domain asset class for investment purposes.
What I hope happens out of this conference is the parking companies get a sense of the importance of introducing standards to a very fragmented industry. As I said to one parking company, this does not mean that they need to release their “secret sauce” on how they block fraudulent traffic or for that matter any other intellectual property. It does mean that a view, click, pop-under and all the other metrics that we’ve come to love in this industry are the same across the board.
So, is TRAFFIC going to be worthwhile to attend? It really depends upon your return on investment and whether you can justify the cost to be the first to take advantage of information that is often freely provided. It also depends on whether you can execute any deals. It depends on whether you see the value in “standards and transparency”. What it doesn’t depend upon is personalities, meals and parties. So from my perspective, I hope to see you and let’s see if we can provide us both with a return!
Wiki: TRAFFIC
Source: Posted by Michael Gilmour — Original post on on Whizzbangsblog — February 7, 2008
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