Confirmed: .nxt conference canceled
The .nxt conference on new gTLDs has indeed been canceled, according to organizer Kieren McCarthy.
The show was expected to run next week, August 29-31, in London, following two successful events in San Francisco last year.
It was originally expected to run in June, but was postponed in May due to ICANN-related program delays.
I had planned to hold off posting the news until I had the full details, but I’ve received several emails this morning from people wondering what was going on so I thought I’d share what I know.
McCarthy is currently phoning attendees individually to explain the situation, so if you’re already a paid-up delegate I expect you’ll be getting a call soon. An announcement is expected later today.
ARI Registry Services tweeted this morning that .nxt is not offering refunds, but I cannot confirm that at this time.
More when we get it…
The first paragraph of their explanation is very telling:
“Why have you cancelled?
The number of sponsors and confirmed attendees were not sufficient to cover the cost of the conference. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to bridge the financial gap.”
In other words, they would have lost money. Anyone who is serious about business knows that there’s a risk of losing money. Instead of taking that loss in cash, it was decided to take the loss in credibility/reputation.
At least someone got an e-mail. No e-mail, tweet, phone call or smoke sign for me so far.
Well, it seems we need an ENGCO counterpart to EBERTO. ENGCO is the Emergency New GTLD Conferece Operator.
My hotel and flight weren’t refund in June. Happy to not have registered this conference again.