This conference was put together fast. It needed speed because it became an obsession for me as I started to learn more about ICANN’s New gTLD Program scheduled to begin January 2012.

I had a working knowledge of ICANN (I worked at Comodo, a Certification Authority and Bell Labs) but I had not heard about this New gTLD Program beyond the normal techno-obscura-babble surrounding domain conversations.

Yet, CADNA, a not-for-profit that represents major brands, believed this process was not getting properly discussed within the converged spaces of IT and marketing. They explained the process to me and I was stunned.

I spent a few weeks in intense discovery and I became quite convinced that the legitimate critics had been largely ignored by ICANN. I contribute to Ad Age’s DigitalNext section and then realized that the topic was being dominated by the voices who had a lot to gain with process as is.

That’s our purpose here. To share a balanced view of our discovery process with marketing, IT and legal executives at Fortune 500 companies who will need to make these fundamentally important decisions. Our specific conference goal is to teach stakeholders what, in fact, is “at stake” and to encourage ICANN to modify some particularly difficult provisions for marketers.

In just a few weeks we’ve gotten a groundswell of players to share and commune from corporate brands to media and industry leaders. People from Esther Dyson to the ANA and IAB have been vocal critics of various aspects of the New gTLD Program. But the clock is ticking – if we are to make a difference, we must move fast.

I am deeply grateful for the time our partners have invested in bringing this conference together. The time to act is now.

Judy Shapiro
@judyshapiro
CEO, engageSimply