I managed to get in touch (via instant messaging) with a very busy Bill Sweetman in Hollywood, California early this morning. He’s taking in the sights and sounds of DOMAINfest 2008 He gave me a bit of a rundown on what’s happened so far, as well a what to expect in the coming days.

Bill has also been talking with some of the domain industry heavyweights about where the industry is, where it’s headed, and specifically in terms of the growing domain name aftermarket.

Bill reports that attendance is up this year with over 600 people attending versus about 400 that were at last year’s show. Those attendees represent more then 25 countries, providing proof of the worldwide marketplace for domains. Bill says there’s a good mix of both what he calls “mom and pop domainers” alongside the big guys. For reference, 28% of domainers at DOMAINfest report owning over 1,000 domains.

To read all of James’ posting, see about.tucows.com/2008/01/22/domainfest-day-one/