In pursuit of continued domain name industry success, the Domain Name Association (DNA) is delighted to announce the launch of the next industry resource—the DNA University.

The aim of the DNA University is to establish a dedicated education platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas, best-practice methodologies and continued development of the industry’s combined expertise.

To this end, the DNA University will offer stakeholders an opportunity to share their experiences, learn from each other and provide a forum to incubate concepts that will advance the domain name industry.

One of the Domain Name Association’s core principles is to develop educational resources and cross-industry campaigns which achieve our mission to advocate the uptake and use of domain names as the primary tool for users to navigate the Internet.

In its short history, the DNA has made important contributions in achieving this mission.

This includes the launch of the State of the Domains report, commissioning the Domain Name Preference study, various lobbying campaigns in support of the commercial interests of our members, the formation of operational working groups such as the Registry-Registrar Working Group, and the launch www.inthewild.domains to showcase innovative and creative domain name uses.

One of the first initiatives of the DNA University will be to roll out a webinar series that will offer expert insights across a wide range of topics.

The DNA University webinar series follows and builds on the highly successful TLD Operator Webinar which was well received by our members and other stakeholders in the industry. The DNA Board has agreed to bring this project under the DNA University banner for the benefit of our members and the wider domain name industry.

I’m very pleased to announce that Tony Kirsch, Head of Global Consulting at ARI Registry Services, has been selected as our inaugural “Dean” of the DNA University following his successful role as organizer and moderator of the TLD Operator Webinar.

As a passionate industry advocate and longtime advisor to some of the world’s most successful new Top-Level Domains, Tony’s experience and insights across the industry will be invaluable in providing the DNA University with innovation and leadership as we roll out this exciting program.

Tony said:

“It’s an honor to be asked to be the Dean of the DNA University and I’m extremely excited to bring our experiences from the recent TLD Operator Webinar within the DNA. There is clearly a large, and growing, demand for education in the domain name industry and our research shows that many in the industry are in need of support.

This is one of the most crucial times in the history of the internet. As an industry, we have a responsibility to work together to ensure our shared success for years to come and I am passionate about making the DNA University a unique collaboration forum that drives this.”

The first DNA University Webinar, “Premium Domain Name Planning,” will be held on 28 July at 15:00 UTC and is open to all registry operators, domain name registrars and new gTLD applicants who can register here. It is free of charge.

This topic was chosen for the inaugural session because, carefully planned premium name selection and marketing efforts are crucial for success as a domain name registry. In this webinar, attendees will understand a 360 degree view of premium names—including the key experiences of seasoned TLD operators, strategies in developing premium name lists and customer/sales insights from some of the world’s most prominent registrars.

Future webinars are planned to address: working with registrars, an introduction to the DNA Registry agreement; pre-delegation testing, TMCH/Sunrise, open vs. restricted operations, getting to general availability (Landrush / Early Access Programs), ICANN Compliance notices, IDNs adoption, Universal Acceptance.

I encourage everyone in the industry to support the DNA University webinar series and attend this session.

By Kurt Pritz
Executive Director of the DNA