What a great day today! Not only did I book my flight to Chicago for next month’s GeoDomain Expo, I also just heard from Patrick Carlton (Executive Director of Associated Cities), and Lowell.com was approved to become a member of Associated Cities. This is exciting news, and I look forward to contributing to that organization and learning from the members who have experience in developing and making money from their geodomain names.

I also had a conversation with David Castello who informed me that ticket sales for the 2008 GeoDomain Expo are 200% higher than last year. This is also great news because it means I can learn from and share with more likeminded people. I don’t know the exact number of people who are attending, but I hope they don’t run out of space! Knowing the Castello Brothers, Dan Pulcrano, Jess Bookstaff and many others in the geo space, I don’t think I am going to get much sleep during the conference.

If you haven’t had a chance to register for the GeoDomain Expo, I recommend that you do it ASAP. The cost of flying to Chicago is rising, so it’s in your best interest to book soon.  The cost of attending the show is $695, which is less than most domain conferences, and the convention hotel is less than $250.

It’s been a while since the last post like this, but back by special request is another edition of Register Domains for Charity. Below are a few unregistered domain names I believe have good potential. Although I am not charging anything for researching these names, I am requesting that the person who registers each makes a donation to a non-profit organization.

ScrapMetalCenter.com
ScrapMetalCenters.com
ScrapMetalCollector.com
ScrapMetalCollectors.com
ConferenceCallingHosts.com
SterlingSilverBars.com
Fromager.org (cheese expert)
PrivateHelicopterFlight.com
PrivateHelicopterFlights.com

You don’t need to tell me how much was donated, but I would love to know which charity was helped, so please drop me a line after!

A few non-profits I recommend (with the link to make a donation):
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
ALS Association
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure for Breast Cancer
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Meir Panim
American Cancer Society
Turning Point (Domestic Violence Organization)
BC Children’s Hospital

Charities Previously Helped By Generous Readers of My Blog:
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
ALS Association
American Cancer Society
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

I’ve wondered what would happen if you list a domain name for sale in a live auction (such as Moniker’s Live TRAFFIC Auction), and then you sell it elsewhere without the assistance of the auction house. For curiosity’s sake, it didn’t matter how the sale occurred or whether the domain name was actually included in the auction. I always wondered what the auction house would do if they found out the domain name sold elsewhere.

In reading a thread on DN Forum, it seems to have happened to someone, and Moniker sent the domain owner a letter asking for their 15% commission payment. Apparently, the domain owner had sold the name using Sedo, but when he the buyer hadn’t paid after four weeks, the domain owner signed an agreement to sell the domain name using Moniker. Almost immediately after signing the agreement with Moniker, the sale through Sedo was unexpectedly completed.

I am not a lawyer, so I am not going to give any kind of opinion, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.