I recently attended NamesCon Online and wanted to share my experience. The three day virtual conference ran from September 9-11, 2020 and this was the first time the event was hosted completely online.
First and foremost I want to thank every single person on the NamesCon staff, and everyone involved in setting up the conference. I would also like to thank all of the partners, speakers and every one else who shared their time and great knowledge with all of us who attended the event. I know a lot of hours went into getting the platform and the content ready to go, and coordinating with all of the partners and speakers to get everything lined out which was seamlessly executed. I could tell a lot of effort went into planning this, and all of you are rock stars! GENUINELY! Thank you!
Although I had my speculations, I have to say that leading up to the event I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I knew that the conference was going to be completely online, and that there would be live video chats etc., but I wasn’t sure what all features the platform would offer outside of that. I had been seeing posts from the NamesCon Facebook page, that NamesCon Online was going to be “no plain-vanilla Zoom meeting” and there was even a 90-SECOND tour being offered to get a sneak peak of the platform. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised once I logged into the platform for the first time and started making my way around.
The event was hosted on a platform created by Hubilo who makes virtual conference and event software for the web and mobile.
I have to say that this was the best virtual conference I’ve ever attended by far. The software had a great UI/UX (user interface and user experience) which had a lot of the same functions and actions an attendee could participate in, that you’d expect to see at a real physical conference.
Being the tech geek and analyst type person that I am, I began researching the software during my first day of the conference. During my research I was able to determine that the platform had gamification options to keep things fun. Once I learned which features rewarded points I began performing these actions, which allowed me to rise up on the leaderboard to number one numerous times, but there was one other leaderboard contender Nour Saber who was a great and friendly opponent, and ended up winning with the most leaderboard points of 28,520 at the end of day three. I ended up with second place of 22,424 which isn’t too bad I guess considering most attendees didn’t get past the four digit range. Regina Tampipi was right behind Nour and I, ending day 3 with 12,792 points and trailing her closely was Steve Webb of Park.io. This was just for fun anyway, I don’t think many others had figured out the gaming functions of the platform (most probably didn’t care), and most people weren’t really accumulating points the way Nour and I were. I was having fun with it though.
End of Day 2, when I was in 1st Place!
Nour Saber – 1st place (28,454) Jason Franklin – 2nd place (22,232) Regina Tampipi – 3rd place (12,792)
The NamesCon Online platform was laid out like this. Within the menu, there was a Home, Social Wall, Attendees, Agenda, Speakers, Exhibitors/Partners, Meetings, Networking Lounge, Contests, and Information tabs. You could get to all of these tabs whether accessing from the web or on the mobile app. I used both frequently throughout the event, and the experience was seamless.
The social wall was a great place to see everyone from the conference posting updates whether it be an introduction, photo, poll, or even a video.
I can give you a hint, that each time you liked a post or commented on the social wall, it would score you 5 points each time on the leaderboard. That’s just one way to get points, but there were many other ways. The attendees tab allowed you to see everyone who was attending the event. From the attendees tab you could filter by All Attendees, NC First-Timer or NamesCon Team. You could also toggle a filter to see who was online at the time and even break it down to viewing by who had viewed your profile.
The agenda tab was how you kept track of which panels were coming up, who was speaking and what time it was happening. You could also click on an event from the agenda and add it to your calendar which would remind you if you had notifications turned on. I really enjoyed this feature, and used it quite often through the event. I attended a lot of different sessions during the conference which were all fantastic! One of my favorite sessions was the Blockchain Domains: The State of Play panel you can see in the second agenda screenshot below.
There was also a Speakers tab on the menu that showcased every speaker who would be talking on panels and hosting live sessions. This was great because you could toggle through and see more about each person based upon the profiles they had setup. I knew and had heard of many of the people speaking from the industry before, but this was a fantastic feature for anyone who wanted more information on a panelist, and for people new to the industry, I’m sure this feature was a huge bonus.
The Exhibitors/Partners tab showcased everyone who helped NamesCon Online happen from a sponsorship and media standpoint. To give them some kudos, I’m going to list them all here for you to see who the sponsors were.
Diamond Partner:
Platinum Partner:
FLATsite, MMX (Minds + Machines)
Gold Partner:
Unstoppable Domains, TrueName by Donuts, Dynadot, Desktop.com, Above.com, ShortDot, Name Ninja, Media Options, Logo.com, Internet Commerce Association, darts-ip, Kickstart Commerce, Entrepreneurs for Knowledge, NamesCon
Media Production Partner:
Antworx, Production Pool
The next tab going down the menu, was the Meetings tab. This tab was very handy, because as you met people through the conference you could setup up one on one meetings with them, which allowed video chat to get to know each other better, or just catch up with people from the industry you already knew, but hadn’t had the chance to chat with lately.
The Networking Lounge was a hot spot to be. This is where all of the tables were setup, so that you could either have a one on one, or join a larger table such as The Geeks’ Table or Coffee Table (as you can see below in the first image where I’m chatting with Candice Castro of Dynadot) which was a four top. In the next image down I’m networking with a few more people at The Geeks’ Table (Alan Shiflett, Andy Simpson, Michael Gilmour). If you’re ready to get super social, there are larger tables available such as The Keynote Table or The Periodic table which were ten top tables, and there were even a few twelve top tables. I took a seat at every table at least once during the event, and some of them I sat at numerous times. I really enjoyed the Networking Lounge, and from the feedback I got everyone else did as well.
There were a few software bugs when using the tables in Networking Lounge where the camera or microphone would cut out or hang, and the user would have to leave the meeting or refresh to come back in and allow it to work again, but these type of small bugs are to be expected upon a first time event, and everyone seemed very understanding about this happening. I believe this is just something Hubilo needs to fix on their side, so hopefully by the next NamesCon Online that issue will be resolved.
At the end of day one of the conference, I also had the opportunity to speak with and be interviewed by Alvin Brown of Kickstart Commerce about my experience as a first time NamesCon attendee. Check that out here:
My First @NamesCon: Let's welcome Jason Franklin to #NamesConOnline 2020! 🎉 https://t.co/YB9VCGfUkU
— 🟣 alvinbrown/ (@alvinbrown) September 10, 2020
There were some fun contests!
Last but not least there were some exciting contests happening when navigating into the contests tab. FLATsite had a four question game where if you answered the questions right, you were entered into a drawing to win some great prizes including a FLATsite subscription as well as a Google Home device. There was also a contest to post a selfie of yourself working using the #work hashtag, as well as one where attendees were competing for the best selfie sporting the NC Online pin that came in the swag bag for those who signed up for that ticket.
In conclusion, I can say without a doubt NamesCon Online was the best virtual conference I’ve ever attended. During the event there were many posts on the social wall asking for this to be an annual festivity. I hope this is the case as well, because I’d definitely do my best to attend each time. I’m also hoping the NamesCon Global physical conference in Austin still takes place in 2021 and if so I will hope to see you there. To everyone I met last week at NamesCon Online, I thank you for taking the time to talk with me. If I had to name some of the most important things I took away from the event it was the building of great relationships, knowledge from leaders in the industry and a phenomenal and unforgettable experience.
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Jason Franklin is a forward thinker, servant leader, technology enthusiast and humanitarian. His mission is to make a positive impact on humanity and the world a better place.
Jason is involved in technology, startups, energy, real estate, science, philosophy, volunteering and outreach.
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