Last Friday after finding that only 10K in contribution were received by the ICA in the month since the Snow Bill was introduced, we challenged the domain industry to step up to the plate and join the ICA.
We put our money where our mouth is and offered to match up to 10K in new member contributions.
We are happy to report that as Michael Collins stated today “The matching program has been the most successful fundraising effort ever for ICA”
There were 19 new members this week and the ICA collected in cash and pledges a total of $50,870, including our $10,000 match.
Thanks to all who participated.
The fundraising effort continues.
This was a great week for the ICA, but it needs many more great weeks.
The Snowe Bill is just one of the many issues we face in the domain industry.
VeriSign announced yesterday another round of increases for .com and .net domains effective October 1.
When the contract for the central registry was renewed in 2006, the ICA had very few members and an extremely low budget.
No other organization stepped forward to fight VeriSign and they were able to get their no bid contract renewed.
At the time the contract was up for renewal other major domain registrars expressed interest in bidding for the contract, including Godaddy.com and stated that they would actually run the central registry for less than the $6 a year VeriSign was then charging to run the central registry.
However, no other registrar was given the opportunity to bid and the contract was handed to VeriSign with the guaranteed increases.
As domainers we all lost. The “big” domainers, the “small” domainers, everyone who holds a domain now has an extra bill to pay. Added cost for nothing extra in return.
We are all going to have to pony up and pay more to VeriSign because we did not dedicate the resources to fight VeriSign at the time.
We are all going to have to pay more to VeriSign because we did not come together as an industry and fight for what fairness dictated, which would be open bidding with the contract awarded to the lowest bidder.
As an industry we sat back and allowed it happen, and it happened.
If you own 500 domains it will cost you $215 more this year to renew your names than in 2006 and will cost you $430 more in 2008 to renew the same domains.
At the next increase it will cost you $670 more.
And that increase will be for each year, year after year.
So if you own 500 domains it will cost you more than twice what it costs to join the ICA, in extra fees
The more you own the more it will cost you.
So the point again is if you don’t stand up for yourself you will get run over.
This is Not a scare tactic.
This actually happened.
You have to face reality. You are in an industry that exists under contracts granted by the U.S. government to Network Solutions to handle the central registry. Therefore everyone is effected by the actions of the U.S. government regardless of where you live.
If you leave in the Cayman’s your fees are going up on October 1.
If you live in Hong Kong your fees are going up on October 1.
ICANN is a regulatory body, whose grant of power can from the U.S.
They have regularly scheduled meetings making decisions on domain names.
You need representation in this process.
The ICA.
This is the business we have chosen. One created by the US government and regulated by the government and the organizations they set up.
In coming years, other laws will be introduced that will effect this industry. Contracts with the central registry will be up for renewal, The UN will seek to take control of the Internet away from the U.S.
If you want a voice in any of these issues you need the ICA.
The work has just begun.
It’s time for someone else to step up and do a matching program of their own, write to who they know and get them to join, and keep the momentum going.
It was a good week, now we need a good month.
Then we need to keep working.
Many thanks to you and several other bloggers for keeping the ICA front and center in your postings. Your collective efforts made the difference in reinforcing the importance of the ICA, resulting in all the new memberships. As you stated, there is much more work to do, but this is great progress. Congratulations!
Hi Mike,
All domainers owe you a big thanks.
Our G4 Group brought in 4 new members for the ICA this past week and many thousands in contributions.
This is just the beginning…Every individual in this industry needs to join ICA, regardless of their level of financial support. Every domain conference should include an automatic ICA membership for each participant with part of the admission fee going directly to the ICA. This would include Traffic, DomainFest, DomainRoundTable, and any other industry conference.
The alternative is obvious- with no industry there won’t be any need for conferences.
Rob Grant
http://www.RealEstateDirectory.com
http://www.WebMediaProperties.com
Great post, Michael.
Rob
I agree with you in principal, however I want to make sure that we are not digging into the same pockets.
TRAFFIC is already a $50K+ contributor to the ICA.
So is Oversee.net which runs domainfest.
Domainroundtable.com as far as I can tell has not contributed anything nor are they or Jay a member of the ICA.
You might suggest raising the price of admission by $100 per person that would then be contributed towards the ICA, but again those of us who are already members would be paying again.
I think the real key is to get those who go to these show and are not members of the ICA to join.
There are several hundred of these people out there.
Tomorrow we are going to look at those who are not on the list, and not contributors.
The ICA should launch its own yearly members-only conference in Washington DC.
It would have a huge impact on building membership.
David
Excellent Idea.
Mike – great success on your part in this effort. We joined at the Associate level. Thanks for your encouragement.
I do find it interesting that a domainer does a marketing campaign on NamePros and in 1-day gets 1000+ new email subscribers yet it is pulling teeth to get $295 out of this same group.
I ponder this…if initial domain registrations, lets not include renewals in this were $295 each – what then happens to these people. Or, as $295 each would greatly affect all of us, what if your very first ever domain, just 1 domain, the cost of entry was $295…would there just be a few active members and all the rest just looking in. These scenarios obviously do not exist, but just gives a thought.
I need to upgrade soon, before I sound like a multi-thousand dollar giving authority with just a simple $295 contribution. As mentioned though by you, there is tremendous value in membership base.
Greg
I share your frustration.
What is the added cost we are all going to pay to Verisign for its increased fees and how much would we have saved over 5 years if we would have been organized and gotten that contract stopped.
I agree with David…a industry-wide conference with all monies (minus expenses) going to ICA.
There could be some great classes and even door prizes and auctions that would attract a huge turn out.
PS…thanks to theDomains for the genrous matching
Thank Michael and your group for:
Money,
Exposure,
Awarness,
Pointed Talk,
Ed – Michigan
First off hats off to you Michael and all other leaders that are stepping to the plate. I don’t know about others on this forum ,but I am in this industry for the long run. Maybe someone on this forum has a calculator handy. What is 5 % of the on line advertising Industry? That is the low low end of just the direct navigation industries, slice of the pie that we eat. This slice of the pie is only going to get larger, as the public starts getting wise on how to dial up companies addresses directly. Great Industry to be in right ?
Would you imagine in your wildest dreams someone wanting those kinds of dollars for themselves, and all they have to do is pick off small holders one by one and in so doing setting precedence as they go. Knowing that if the Snowe bill passes the take gets bigger. On top of this the small business owners have no $ coming in 24/7 to protect their interests, because knowone cares to pool assets to fund a passage residual income source used to protect their turf?
Our competition employs professional fund raisers, with a planned systematic approach to change our addresses to theirs. Its been going on now since I’ve been in the business for as long as I can remember.
The ad companies aren’t pushing direct navigation because they don’t control the addresses. They will not quit, without a fight. Please support a fund raising initiative for the I.C.A. “HelpRaiseFunds.com “