You’ve probably heard about New TLDs (top-level domains) – the single biggest expansion of the domain name system ever. With New TLDs, anyone will be able to apply for their own top-level domain extension – the part after the dot. It’s expected that the Internet namespace will grow from just 21 gTLDs (plus 250 or so ccTLDs) to hundreds or even thousands of TLDs in the next few years.

That change provides immense potential. The possibilities are nearly endless, from .africa to .zulu and everything in between. The introduction these new domain extensions will obviously have a big impact on the Internet, and on resellers like you.

.nxt conference

To help make sense of it all, the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Internet Society (SF-Bay ISOC) is hosting the .nxt Conference in San Francisco, CA on February 9-10, 2011.

The conference will feature domain industry experts from around the world with a focus on understanding the potential impacts of the upcoming expansion of the domain name space.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed .nxt Conference General Manager Kieren McCarthy for their radio show “Spark” this month and he did a fabulous job explaining it all. You can listen to the full audio interview at the CBC’s Spark website.

OpenSRS is a silver sponsor of .nxt Conference and we’ll be there to make sure that resellers like you have a voice in what’s happening and also to help you identify and understand what impact New TLDs will have on your business. It’s clear that the introduction of New TLDs presents some great opportunities as well. For that reason, it’s critical for anyone in the Internet space to follow what’s happening with New TLDs.

On the Agenda

The conference itself will feature discussions on Internet policy, implementation, business models and marketing as it pertains to NewgTLDs.

  • Rod Beckstrom, ICANN CEO and President will deliver the keynote to kick off the event on Wednesday, February 9, 2011.
  • Elliot Noss, Tucows President and CEO, will participate in a panel discussion on Thursday, February 10, 2011. Adam Eisner, OpenSRS’ Director of Domain Services, will be on stage on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 9, 2011, to talk about how applicants for New TLDs can work with Registrars like OpenSRS/Tucows to get up and running.

The full agenda can be found here.

Registration is open to all interested people and the conference fee of $495 is quite a bargain when you consider the opportunities and take a look at the list of speakers and panelists already confirmed.

There’s much more information about the conference at the .nxt conference website.