The Digital Marketing and gTLD Strategy Congress – March 11-12, 2013 New York City
(Download Conference Brochure / Visit Website)November 09, 2012 – The Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress has made the following announcement for the keynote, speakers, initial sponsors, partners and dates for the inaugural event taking place March 11 & 12, 2013 in New York City.

By mid-2013, the current top level domains (TLDs) such as .com, .net and .org will be joined by several hundred new generic TLDs (gTLDs). These include branded additions such as .Walmart, .Amazon and .Google as well as generic category TLDs like .shop, .money and .app.

The Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress has been created to bring together digital marketing & branding leadership from the world’s most iconic brands, the creative minds from many of the leading branding agencies as well as the domain and registry community for two days of learning and networking in advance of the release of the first tranche of these new top level domains.??“More than 1900 applications for new TLDs have been received by ICANN, the internet’s governing body, many from leading brands who are looking to dominate or protect their own corner of the web” remarked Christine Hess, event director. ‘‘Today’s digital brands need to work fast to ensure that they have a strategy in place for a future with more than 1000 new top level domains.”??The congress is supported by The Advertising Club of New York, Afilias, Domain Diction, Domain Incite, CircleID, WIPR, The Domains, Domain Name Wire and Jovenet and features senior speakers from Afilias, Neustar, Landor, Donuts, Citibank, Dot.Org (The Public Interest Registry), Dot.Ski, Columbia Business School, and Deloitte.

Roland LaPlante, CMO and Senior Vice President of Afilias commented. “ICANN’s new gTLD program will forever change the way brands leverage the Internet. Brand Managers and Agencies that figure this out early will gain first mover advantages and a real boost versus competition.”

With ICANN presently expected to make their initial approvals by June 2013, this essential event is perfectly timed and located to provide applicant brands with the information and support they will need prior to launch—as well as give non applicant, and prospective applicant brands the information and guidance they need to navigate the new Internet landscape.

Conference keynote, Louis Cohen, SVP, Citibank, North America Marketing, Head of Search & Affiliate Marketing remarked “Whether your organization has applied for a Top Level Domain or not, any digital marketer or brand manager that is not already working on their strategy will be at a marked disadvantage once the new gTLD’s come onstream in 2013.”

To review the agenda outline and to inquire about the few remaining speaking opportunities please visit www.gtldworldcongress.com. For more information on speaking, sponsoring, partnering or attending, please contact Christine Hess at [email protected].

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UPDATE: December 4, 2012 – The Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress today announced Carl Fremont, Executive Vice President, Global Media Director, Digitas will address an audience of brand managers and domain industry insiders on March 11, 2013 at the Dream Downtown Hotel in New York City.

Carl oversees all of Digitas’ Media Capability which is one of the largest digital planning and buying groups covering all facets of digital media including search, display, mobile, social & smart TV.

Digitas’ media professionals produce ideas that drive impact for their clients.

Carl will speak on the topic of “The Future is Now: Ensuring Your Brand Remains Competitive as Digital Marketing Rapidly Evolves.”

The new TLD landscape will impact digital branding strategies worldwide. Organizations need to plan how they will allocate resources to protect their brands and leverage opportunities.

Fremont will offer insight into whether your brand should go on the offensive, the defensive or both. He’ll also discuss what you need to be doing right now to develop your digital strategy and build the relationships and partnerships you need to drive your brand forward.

Fremont joins a faculty of TLD applicants, advisors, brands, agencies as well as the domain and registry community who will set the stage for two days of learning and networking just as ICANN’s new TLD program goes live.

The congress is supported by The Advertising Club of New York, Afilias, Domain Incite, CircleID, WIPR, TheDomains, Domain Name Wire and Jovenet and features senior speakers from Afilias, DomainDiction, Neustar, Interbrand, L’Oreal, Frontier Communications, Landor, Donuts, Citibank,

Dot.Org (The Public Interest Registry), Dot.Ski, Columbia Business School, and Deloitte.

For more information or to register to attend please visit www.gtldworldcongress.com or contact Christine Hess at [email protected]

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UPDATE: January 8, 2013

Conference Brochure – The official event brochure is now available in PDF for free download providing full details on the agenda, the venue, the sponsors, partners and the current speaker roster. Download brochure now / visit conference website

Speakers – The Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress is delighted to have been able to secure L’Oreal’s Georges-Edouard Dias, Chief Digital Officer (and gTLD applicant contact for their 13 applications) as a keynote on this event (see session details in the brochure). His keynote as well as presentations by Interbrand, Digitas, Citi and Frontier Communications underscores that this is a key event for current and potential brand applicants—as distinct from the usual ICANN meetings.

Sponsors – CSC Corporation has joined Afilias as a founding sponsor of the event. You can read CSC’s entry on the ICANN wiki here.

Venue & Hotel – The Dream Downtown Hotel in Manhattan is now accepting discounted reservations on the event room block. Registered attendees should contact the hotel directly at 1-646-625-4880 and reference “Momentum Consulting” to secure the lowest rates. The hotel itself is literally next door to Google’s massive New York Headquarters

Attendees & Pricing – The conference already has confirmed attendees joining us from all over the US, UK, Scandinavia, Canada, France, Australia and Germany and a surge of registrations is expected as January 18th comes closer and the ticket price rises from $1295 to $1495.

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UPDATE: February 11, 2013

Brigitte King, Senior Vice President, Digital, L’Oreal will be the chairperson for the event and will also be delivering a keynote presentation entitled The L’Oreal Story: Building Beauty Brands with Digital, Data and Direct Relationships.

L’Oreal is a key applicant brand with applications for both brand and generic TLD strings. This will be a unique opportunity for other brand and generic applicants to learn from one of the worlds leading brands.

Acclaimed blogger and advertising creative Ilana Wiles to present a short session entitled, “What I Would Do If I Owned dotMom”. With a dedicated readership in the hundreds of thousands, Ilana is tuned into the desires and fears of the “Mommy” community. Her presentation will offer inspiration for how the operator can win over that community—as well as lessons for any TLD operator hoping to tap into a community

Session in full:

Ilana Wiles doesn’t have $185,000 to spend on the .mom TLD, but that’s not going to prevent this acclaimed mommy blogger and advertising creative director from sharing her thoughts on what she would—and wouldn’t—do with dotMom. With a fast-paced presentation lasting just 15 minutes, all applicants and brands will take away fresh and practical perspectives on how to use a TLD to advance your goals and successfully start the process of engaging with a targeted community.

Next, we are delighted to have secured The Boston Globe’s Jeff Moriarty, Vice President for Digital Products, and Bart Lieben, Attorney-at-law to present YourBrand.Boston? Capitalizing on TLDs to Service Business and Community Interests: The .Boston Story

Session in full:

The .BOSTON TLD aims to become a new online identity for the city of Boston, its inhabitants, companies, organizations and institutions, managed and supervised by The Boston Globe. With an application accompanied by an official endorsement from the City of Boston, this top-level domain aims to provide a new opportunity to service both the community and businesses while capitalizing on the significant mass market appeal of the nation’s 4th most densely populated city. This session will share key insights into the vision, challenges and opportunities realized by The Boston Globe and what it can mean to brands, generics and industry.

Finally, Hal Bailey, Director, Domains Business, Google will join the futurist panel Domains in 2015, 2020, 2025: A View of the dot Future

The updated agenda can be found online at www.gtldworldcongress.com.

Updates:  UPDATED Feb 11, 2013 3:44 PM PST