The South Florida Domain Pros (SFDP) trade association held a meeting last night at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We drove over from our home base in Tampa for two reasons - 1) to see our industry friends based on the southeast coast of the Sunshine State, an area some view as the epicenter of the domain investment world, and 2) to get a closer look at the Pier Sixty-Six Hotel where Howard, Barbara and Ray Neu will be staging the debut edition of THE Domain Conference (TDC) September 26-29, 2015. TDC sponsored the SFDP dinner meeting to provide members a preview of what they will be experiencing at the same location next fall.

As soon as we arrived at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six we headed to the top of the 16-story hotel that provides a spectacular view of the surrounding area. The shot above is looking west across the yacht basin on the Intracoastal Waterway to the Fort Lauderdale skyline. Below you see the view looking east toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Above: An overhead view of the pool area at the Pier Sixty-Six where cabana networking will kick off THE Domain Conference on September 26, 2015. 

Below: THE Domain Conference Founders Howard Neu, Barbara Neu and Ray Dillman Neu at the impressive Pier Sixty-Six Hotel just before the South Florida Domain Pros meeting they sponsored got underway last night.

Above: The first of approximately 80 attendees to arrive for the South Florida Domain Pros meeting get the networking party started. Guests came from as far away as California and Canada!

Below: Domain Holdings Co-Founder John Ferber likes what he sees at the buffet table!

Above: SFDP guests filled the Windows on the Green room at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Hotel where they enjoyed dinner and listened to talks from Howard Neu (THE Domain Conference), Fred Mercaldo (City Brand Media) and Ron Jackson (DNJournal.com).

Below: City Brand Media Co-Founder Fred Mercaldo came in from Scottsdale, Arizona to fill attendees in on the exciting things his company is doing in the geodomain space.

Above: Claude Dauman (left) from Domains90210.com and Michael Castello (CCIN.com), both visiting from California, listen to speakers at last night's SFDP meeting in Fort Lauderdale. (Photo above and below by Scott Ross).

Below: DNJournal's Ron Jackson filled guests in on some of the latest trends in domain sales, monetization, development and new gTLDs.

Above: The Neu family introduced .CLUB Chairman and Founder Colin Campbell (right) whose company is the premier sponsor for THE Domain Conference. The Neus also announced a special launch discount code - good through tomorrow (February 28) - that will allow anyone to buy a ticket to the debut conference in September for just $299 (the regular price is $499). To get the deal go to the show website and enter SFDP15 in the Promo Code field. That's a great price for what  is shaping up to be an outstanding event at a fabulous venue and it includes daily lunches and all  conference parties.

Below: Special thanks to the "Founding Caretakers" of the South Florida Domain Pros trade association (left to right): Scott Ross, Tracy Fogarty and Victor Pitts, whose hard work got this groundbreaking organization off the ground. They were all on hand to greet members and guests last night and make sure the event was a productive and enjoyable one  for everyone on hand. Scott, Tracy and Victor also wanted to thank the group's first year-round sponsor, Bruce Marler (LocalTek), who is going to take over administration of the SFDP website.

The SFDP meeting gave us a lot to look forward to when THE Domain Conference sets up shop at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six less than seven months from now. See you in September!