Free global event features business, branding, and Internet experts focusing on the strategic questions surrounding new TLDs for brands

Afilias Limited, a leading provider of Internet domain name registry and Domain Name System (DNS) services, today announced that it is the Diamond sponsor of a free global webinar entitled, “Who Should Invest in a dot Brand? Evaluating the Business Case for a Top-Level Domain Name.”

The new gTLD webinar, hosted by the Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership, will be held at 10:00 a.m. Eastern / 2 p.m. UTC on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011.

The webinar is designed to help organizations of all types decide whether they should invest in a unique dot Brand domain name rather than continue with a legacy generic name like “.com” for their Web presence. The issue is an urgent one. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will only accept applications for new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) between January 12, 2012, and April 12, 2012. After that, it will likely be several years before a company can apply for a new dot Brand TLD.

“Having helped launch more new gTLDs than any other provider, Afilias is excited to support the Columbia Business School in expanding the dialogue about the ICANN new gTLD program. Many businesses are struggling to make an informed, objective decision as to the strategic wisdom of applying, and Columbia’s Center on Global Brand Leadership is uniquely qualified to bring the right resources to bear on this issue,” said Roland LaPlante, CMO and Senior Vice President of Afilias, who will participate as a panel member of the discussion.

Joining LaPlante in the webinar will be such diverse voices as William Barrett (Online Strategy Leader, Global Brand and Communications, Deloitte), Karl Isaac (Executive Director, Digital Branding, Landor) and Paul Twomey (Managing Director, Argo P@cific, former ICANN CEO). The event moderator will be David Rogers (Executive Director, BRITE—Brand Innovation Technology Conferences, presented by the Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership.)

Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership is the leading forum worldwide for executives and researchers addressing the challenges of building and sustaining great brands. The Center provides today’s leaders with innovative branding solutions and a global perspective through a network of partner centers at leading schools in China, Germany, Korea, Spain and Singapore. The Center’s mission is to turn the research and intellectual capital of academia’s foremost thinkers on branding into practical tools and insights for real-world application. The Center fosters a community of researchers, alumni, students and leading practitioners from global corporations to advance new knowledge, widespread learning and an impactful dialogue on the challenges of branding.

Afilias’ Global Registry and DNS services power 20 million domain registrations across 16 TLDs, including six TLDs operating under ICANN contracts. Afilias’ new TLD services include a state-of-the-art EPP registry, a globally diverse and redundant Anycast DNS network, 24x7 call-center and technical support, and links to the global distribution channel. In addition, Afilias provides other premium solutions to augment its registry offerings, including technology to enable mobile phone compatibility for websites and a unique IDN-capable email solution. All Afilias services are DNSSEC and IPv6 ready, and reflect more than 10 years of experience in supporting gTLDs operating under ICANN contracts.”