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I'm nominating for the auDA board this year

Shane

Top Contributor
Nominations don’t open until much later in the year, but given the recent interest in auDA issues I've decided to make my announcement earlier than planned.

I will be running for a seat on the auDA board this year.

I feel that the board has been without a director who genuinely represents small business and domain investors, and who engages with the community on a regular basis.

The board has instead been dominated by people from within the domain name industry, as well as people who may not necessarily have the regular SME owner’s best interests at heart.

It makes sense that the board would be made up primarily of people from within the domain industry, however given the way that pending changes in the AU domain space will affect all SME owners and domain name investors, it is my intention to be their voice on the board.

I believe I fill a rather unique gap between genuine end-users of premium domain names, and pure domainers.

But before I get into my background, I think it’s important to begin with where I stand:

1. Direct registrations

I'm on record as having said I supported the idea of shorter domain names, in the form of direct registrations.

What I don’t support is any form of implementation that damages existing com.au domain holders and their investments in branding, trademarks and indeed the domains themselves.

It is my firm belief that all existing com.au domain holders should be issued the .au version of their domain without the risk of losing it to any other party.

Australian business owners and domain name investors have invested vast amounts of money into com.au registrations, both as new registration and aftermarket purchases.

There should never be a situation where direct registrations jeopardise these investments.

If there is a risk that existing holders could be damaged, then any plans for direct registrations must be shelved.

2. Engagement with registrants

I believe auDA needs to seriously increase its level of engagement with existing registrants.

The vast majority of end-users, in particular SME owners, have no idea about what is happening in the Australian domain name space.

Whilst their domain name might represent a very small priority within their business, they should still be fully informed about any possible changes affecting their domain name or names.

Direct registrations are a major example of where many people believe engagement with everyday domain owners was poor, and who knows what other changes will come in future that need to be far better communicated.

3. Evening up the balance

Small business owners, and large businesses for that matter, are the major users of domain names in Australia, however they have very little representation on the auDA board.

Whilst some past and present board members may have been SME owners, I do not feel that they were on the board as a genuine representative of SMEs.

My background in small business and domain names

The business I founded six years ago, insurance brokerage Trade Risk, has used premium domain names in order to grow into a multi-award winning national business.

I know first-hand that without investing in premium Australian domain names that I could not have achieved the same success.

I am also the founder of Nuts.com.au, which is a fast growing online food retailer, as well as the owner of NumberPlates.com.au which is a leader in its category.

What my businesses have in common is the use of premium Australian domain names.

I have invested strongly in these and many other names, and I am very aware of their value as business assets.

I have a lot to lose if the implementation of direct registrations is handled poorly, as do many other SMEs and domain investors.

Unlike the vast majority of end-users I've also been a part of the domainer community for many years.

I registered my first .com domain in 1999 and my first com.au in 2003.

I have been a member of Australia’s leading domain name forum, DNtrade, since 2010 and have been a constant contributor throughout that time.

Corporate Experience

Whilst I haven’t sat on previous committees or boards, I do have a strong background in the corporate world prior to moving into small business.

Prior to founding my own business in 2010 I was employed as a Compliance Analyst for a subsidiary of the ANZ Banking Group.

I've also held compliance and project management related roles with corporates including Suncorp Bank, the National Australia Bank and other smaller financial institutions.

In my current primary role I am the principal of my own insurance brokerage. With insurance being a very heavily regulated industry, I am required to uphold very high standards in terms of compliance.

So why vote for me?

I feel very strongly that SME owners have been completely left in the cold when it comes to direct registrations.

I also believe that domain name investors (who are also SME owners) have been completely under-represented on the auDA board for many years.

Some past and present auDA directors seek support from the domain investor community around election time, however once the election has been run we rarely hear from them for another year.

I have been a strong contributor to the domain name investing community in Australia for a number of years, and also a strong advocate for small businesses using premium domain names.

It is my intention to finally give SME owners and domain name investors a genuine seat at the table so that we can have some well-deserved influence over policies which can and will affect our livelihoods.

Even if we cannot win a seat on the board, at the very least we can send auDA and the current directors the message that we are prepared to act together for our own interests - just as many of them have been doing for years.
 

Shane

Top Contributor
Further to my comments on direct registrations, if I was given the opportunity to oppose direct registrations at the board level, I would.

Despite my personal fondness of shorter domains, I am well aware that the majority of people I seek to represent are firmly against the introduction of direct registrations.

I do believe however that the battle we need to be concentrating on is implementation.
 

Shane

Top Contributor
What an eloquent "job application" Shane! Good on you. :)
Thanks Ned. It's always easier to write well when it's something you're passionate about.
You got my vote Shane

Don
Thanks Don. I appreciate it.
What is your stance on free beer?
Just as the fastest cars are rental cars, the best tasting beers are free ones! :p
I heard he supports free beer and suggests you take advantage of it whenever it is provided by supply side sponsors.
Absolutely.
 

findtim

Top Contributor
beer with FREE nuts i'm guessing !
well done shane, GREAT well thought announcent, i'm sure we will all do what we can to get you a seat.
so to harp on again, JOIN AUDA.....................
tim
 

Shane

Top Contributor
beer with FREE nuts i'm guessing !
well done shane, GREAT well thought announcent, i'm sure we will all do what we can to get you a seat.
so to harp on again, JOIN AUDA.....................
tim
Thanks Tim! Of course, you can't have free beer without some free nuts! I'm thinking roasted and salted pistachios. Mmm...

I appreciate the support and hopefully we can get a seat that really belongs to us as a group.
Thank you. :)
 

neddy

Top Contributor
Sorry to hijack your thread Shane, but I thought this could be relevant.

I see there is already some competition coming out of the woodwork for places on the auDA Board. Your early strike is obviously concerning some people. ;)

Happened to be on LinkedIn today, and I saw that a non-posting member on here had liked a particular post by a Craig Smithers from Hosting Australia.

Part of Smithers "manifesto" is as follows:

"It could be the case a domain investor / squatter gets your brand and you will need to pay them $$$$$ to get it."

Here is the full text of the post:

There are some significant changes about to take place in the domain industry.

Currently you would be aware we have .com.au / .net.au / .org.au
auDA has decided to release just .au to the market in the near future (e.g. commbank.au). As most of you have a business that relies heavily on your brand / domain name this could have a significant impact on your business. It’s still early days however the board of Directors at auDA (they make the decisions) is up for election later this year and only members can vote. It is important to ensure that we get Directors who are pro-innovation and understand the needs of businesses.


It could be the case a domain investor / squatter gets your brand and you will need to pay them $$$$$ to get it.


Enough of my rant, would love your support and given there are only about 300 currently members this email could hold a lot of voting power.


How to help: As you are a domain name holder you can join as a Demand Class member via the link below. It does incur a $22 cost.
Membership link: https://www.auda.org.au/about-auda/membership/auda-online-membership-application/


If you do decide to support please let me know so I can send you an update and let you know when voting comes up. If you don’t support that is fine (just won’t be buying you a drink next night out! ha)


The only restriction is that you need to be a domain name holder/registrant. So if want to be a SUPER STAR, feel free to pass onto colleagues / staff / family / friends.


Cut off date is June 14.


Cheers guys!
 
Last edited:

findtim

Top Contributor
there's a few misleading words in that, the threat of squatting he makes it sound like "vote or else"
and "we get Directors who are pro-innovation and understand the needs of businesses"
nowhere does he say exactly what he stands for nor if he is actually going to nominate?
and 300 members, i counted the list on auda and got 152
tim
 

snoopy

Top Contributor
Half hearted candidates like that (you know the type who don't even bother with a statement) could help domainer/dntrade candidates if we can vote together and be behind 2 candidates. A few guys like that and none of them will have a chance because they are going to get 10 votes each, that reduces the number of votes it takes for others to get elected.

I think the important thing is two candidates representing domainers that gets the lions share of domainer votes, a unified approach with votes focused on only 2 candidates is way the get people on the board.
 

neddy

Top Contributor
Shane, the good news is that there should be three vacancies for Demand Class Directors at this years election.

Miguel Wood (who was only elected in November), has resigned. Story at Domainer.

You've got an ever better chance of now being elected imho!
 

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