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TLD Operator Community no longer a “community”

Kevin Murphy, June 11, 2015, Domain Registries

The TLD Operator Community, which launched last Friday, has hastily rebranded itself after confusion about its proposed role.
It’s now the TLD Operator Webinar. It has switched its URL from a .community domain to a .help domain.
Almost immediately after the initiative was announced, I started hearing gossip about a split with the Domain Name Association.
There was a slight crossover between the DNA’s mission and what had been announced about the erstwhile “Community”.
On Friday, I was told by ARI Registry Services, which is coordinating the webinar:

a new community for all new Top-Level Domain (TLD) applicants has been created to provide a forum for operators to achieve meaningful commercial success. The TLD Operator Community will differentiate itself from other new TLD think-tanks by focusing entirely on the commercial activation of new TLDs for the benefit of the entire community.

But according to ARI CEO Adrian Kinderis, this was a poor description of the initiative.
He said in a DI comment that it was rather “one off effort by our consultancy team to get everyone together for a chat.”
“My team have incorrectly characterized it as ‘forming a community group’,” he wrote. “I assure you, the last thing we need is another community group.”
ARI was intimately involved in the launch of the DNA and Kinderis continues to be its chair.
The Webinar will happen June 30 (or July 1, depending on your time zone) and feature speakers from Donuts, Vox Populi, dotBerlin and others.
Barclays, which was due to participate in the webinar, is no longer listed as a speaker.

New gTLD trade group launches

Kevin Murphy, June 5, 2015, Domain Registries

A group of new gTLD registries have got together to form the TLD Operator Community, a new “think tank” devoted to the commercial aspects of running new TLDs.
According to its web site:

The TLD Operator Community is designed to provide all new TLD applicants with an opportunity to share their experiences, learn from each other and focus on the commercial realities of operating a TLD – away from the confines of ICANN, policy or technical discussions.

The group appears to be coordinated right now by ARI Registry Services.
The distinction between the TLD Operator Community and the Domain Name Association appears to be that the DNA has more of a focus on outreach and education beyond the industry.
The new group will hold an introductory webinar June 30 (or July 1, depending on your time zone) featuring speakers from Donuts, Vox Populi, dotBerlin, Barclays and others.