Last month, I advised my intention to step away from Domainer.com.au; and the domain industry generally.

As I also said back then, I wanted to find the right person to take over my labour of love. That someone had to have a similar level of passion for the domain industry in Australia – and importantly, they also had to have the time to devote to the blog on a weekly basis.

There were two people that I considered as exceptional in this regard.

One was my long standing friend Luke Summers who has helped me from the beginning with Domainer. Without his input and friendship, this blog would have been a lot poorer. His technical knowledge on the back-end has been invaluable; as have his articles.

The other person was Robert Kaay. He hasn’t been involved with domains as long as Luke and I, but he is one incredibly motivated and successful person. He’s been prepared to learn the business the hard way, and he has achieved remarkable success in the domain industry generally. To my mind, he is now also the best domain broker in Australia (better than I ever was). His involvement with Domainer started back in December 2015 with this great guest article.

Decision Time

This was made really easy. Luke told me about a month ago that he was also diverting a lot of his time and efforts outside of the domain industry, and he would not be able to do Domainer justice. I appreciated his candour.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I announce Robert Kaay has agreed to take over the reins. I think he will take Domainer to greater heights than I ever did, and more importantly, he will keep the focus on the immense challenges facing the Australian domain name space.

The Mechanics

Robert will be purchasing Domainer.com.au and the website, but this will take a few weeks to properly put into place (I’m about to go away for two weeks).

However, to get things underway, Robert will officially take over the responsibility of being Publisher of Domainer.com.au as from today (after this article). Any articles, posts or comments published from hereon in will be his legal responsibility.

My son Luke will be assisting him in the interim.

Good luck Robert!

Ned O’Meara – 29 May 2018

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Nicole Murdoch has advised me that she has regretfully resigned as an auDA Demand Class Director – effective 19th April 2018.

She is a good friend of mine, and as most readers on here would know, she was my running mate at the November 2017 auDA AGM election. As an important footnote, Nicole received the highest ever membership vote in the history of auDA elections.

I wish her well – as I’m sure all other members do.

Ned O’Meara – 20th April 2018

As part of my exit from all things .au, our family interests intend selling off our extensive domain portfolio.

It’s not a “fire sale”, but we are very motivated sellers – and prices will reflect this. Particularly for those that buy in bulk.

We’re not going to be sending out our entire list to anyone – it is far more expedient if you let us know what your “niches or keywords” are, and we will pull you a list.

As an indicator, our domains include:

• 1 and 2 word generics;
• Brandables;
• “Geo occupations / services”;
• One of the biggest collection of 3L domains (our best sellers by far).
• A “real estate” portfolio probably second to none;
• Accommodation and tourism / travel domains;
• And many others …

Some early birds have already jumped on this bandwagon, so if you’re interested in having the pick of the crop, then please email us today.

Ned O’Meara – 19th April 2018

This week is my last as publisher of Domainer.com.au. My final post will be on Friday.

I am sure that there are some people that will breathe a sigh of relief to that particular news! And I also know and appreciate that there are many others that will miss this blog.

Domainer has been a labour of love for me over the past few years – and for those that may doubt that, just note that I have never taken ads or monetised it in any other way.

But my health, stress levels and personal life must take priority – and the .au space in its current state has not helped. I have other projects that I want to take on outside of the domain industry, and my wife and I are both looking forward to a change in emphasis.

As to the future, I’m willing to sell. Price is not that important to me – the right person is. And they will get a bargain. 🙂 Anyone that may be interested can email me in confidence.

Ned O’Meara – 18 April 2018

Everyone who reads this blog will know that it hasn’t been plain sailing at auDA for the past 20 to 24 months.

Do I think it will get better in time? Yes, I do. But there needs to be some sensible changes first. And in my opinion, unless there are signals from the auDA Board that these changes are imminent, then members and stakeholders will continue to agitate and express their concerns via all means available to them.

Part of this process will start when the Government Report is released later today. In today’s article by The Age, it’s banner reads:

“Web agency not fit-for-purpose, government review finds”

Here is an excerpt:

“In a statement, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield echoed the review’s findings that the organisation was not fit-for-purpose, and would need to make significant changes to maintain its authority.

The review’s findings include 29 recommendations to bring the operation of .au more into line with the needs of Australian internet users, including increased transparency, greater representation of stakeholders and requirements for conflict of interest checks.

The government has accepted all 29 recommendations.”

Upcoming SGM (Special General Meeting)

Still no word on when this is to be held, but auDA now seems to have a perfect storm about to descend on it. Most people that I speak to (and I still get calls and emails every day) do not want auDA to “Crash & Burn”.

They simply want better leadership, and properly managed processes.

You don’t need to be a Rhodes Scholar to know that both Supply and Demand are lining up with the proverbial “baseball bats” when it comes to Resolution 1 – the vote of no confidence in the current CEO. If you asked me to put money on this resolution passing overwhelmingly, I would have no hesitation. It’s not often that Supply and Demand come together at auDA, but they did last year when it came to removing the then Chair.

If I was the current Chair, I would be reaching out to the organisers of the Grumpier campaign right now. I imagine there are some common sense solutions that could be tabled without the need for an actual SGM. But that’s just my opinion, and I could be wrong.

Having suggested that, it’s not helpful when confidential information about one of the organisers gets leaked to the media. Whoever was behind this – and I’m not suggesting anyone in particular – it was quite despicable – and “dirty pool”. I very much feel for the individual who was targeted so unfairly.

Ned O’Meara – 18th April 2018

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Fresh on the heels of a couple of recent resignations from the Policy Review Panel, looks like yet another foundation panelist has left the fold.

Professor Andrew Christie is no longer the Academic Representative; and former short-term Board Member Ian Halson has replaced Luke Summers.

No matter how they try to spin this, it looks like scrambling to me (as it does to many others).

With all these changes, I think auDA needs to start the process again (and add more representation).

After all, what’s up for discussion involves potentially the biggest changes in the .au landscape.

Ned O’Meara – 13th April 2018

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