Today I was sent an excellent presentation by Edmon Chung, about the dotAsia domain launch which he delivered at the 6th IDRC International Seminar at Seoul, Korea.
You can see the presentation here: http://www.idrc.or.kr/data/2008_s/Edmon_Chung.pdf
Some interesting things to note.
Most of the claims to domains based on intellectual property rights came from parties in the US.
Interestingly, the most applications for .Asia domains came from Australia and the USA.
On 26 March 2008 there were already 250,000 .Asia domains registered. I suspect that now maybe more than 500,000 are registered.
The most expensive domains that sold were, not suprisingly, sex.Asia, discover.Asia, and buy.Asia. (I would expect that domains like casino.Asia, mahjong.Asia, poker.Asia and property.Asia also would have sold for high prices).
Our site, www.Admart.Asia was listed on page 22 of the presentation as one of a number of companies that were early adopters of the .Asia domain, along with some other famous companies and brands such as www.seiko.Asia, www.Levis.Asia, www.Honda.Asia, www.cnnmobile.Asia, www.livenation.Asia.
It made us proud for Admart to be featured among a selection of very famous international brands and companies. Further, we are a true Asian company, who started with the .Asia domain, not an established foreign company who has started operating in Asia under the .Asia domain.
If for some reason you cannot download the presentation let me know as I have downloaded a copy and can send it to you.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
Well, its a nice time of year and today we are celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival. Tomorrow is a holiday, but of couse Admart.Asia will be up and running as usual.
For this festival, most people will eat moon-cakes, although I do not like them very much. And on the topic of mooncakes, check out this advertisment here, where a Singaporean is giving them away for free....http://www.admart.asia/en/detail.php?id=6672
Today, we also added a new "Festival image" to our site, which is something we do from time to time (OK, yes, that idea was inspired by Google with what they do with their "Google-Doodles" on their website). What we do is display little pictures from time to time to draw attention to an upcoming event or festival in Asia. You can of course see the latest image on our site at www.Admart.Asia
For this festival, most people will eat moon-cakes, although I do not like them very much. And on the topic of mooncakes, check out this advertisment here, where a Singaporean is giving them away for free....http://www.admart.asia/en/detail.php?id=6672
Today, we also added a new "Festival image" to our site, which is something we do from time to time (OK, yes, that idea was inspired by Google with what they do with their "Google-Doodles" on their website). What we do is display little pictures from time to time to draw attention to an upcoming event or festival in Asia. You can of course see the latest image on our site at www.Admart.Asia
Monday, September 8, 2008
Website server problems - site down :(
Our site was down the last 24 hours. Its was a terrible feeling to be down that long.
We have had issues with server hosting service occasionally, but this last one was the longest.
We know this is totally unacceptable to our users and our investors, and we are working to address this.
Here is what happened. I get an email from a user of Admart inHong Kong telling me the site is down. I check the site and sure enough it is. A few minutes later, I get an email from someone wanting to post an advert in China asking if the site is accessible in China (yes of course it usually is). Then an email from Australia, etc etc. On top of that our sales people then get paid banner advertisers calling us asking us what's going on and why their banner is not running. Most are quite understanding, but some can be very harsh (and I can understand that).
And yes, of course I worry, and am aware that once an existing user (or a new user) can't access the Admart.Asia site, they may never come back. We are in the middle of ramping up our marketing and we are getting more and more media interest in our site. So being off-line is a big disaster. But for every challenge we face, we do grow stronger from it. We deal with it, and we grow, and we try to continue to our very best to continue to succeed and provide great service.
So, during the time the site is down, I feel terrible. Everyone in our company does. Our sales agents, advisers, country managers, investors, etc. We need to be reliable. Always there. Always accessible. Available anywhere for anyone, just like Google or Yahoo.
Well, the site is now finally back up. And the good news is that within minutes, new adverts are coming in and new people are signing up.
Next report will be more positive I hope. We are working towards local language versions of our site, starting with Chinese, which we have had many requests for. We are working on an international chat forum. And there are a few potential developments that we are keeping secret for now. So stay tuned.
I am now going to cook some Chinese chicken soup for my lunch, and if all is running smoothly with Admart.Asia this afternoon, I might even treat myself to a movie tonight.
We have had issues with server hosting service occasionally, but this last one was the longest.
We know this is totally unacceptable to our users and our investors, and we are working to address this.
Here is what happened. I get an email from a user of Admart inHong Kong telling me the site is down. I check the site and sure enough it is. A few minutes later, I get an email from someone wanting to post an advert in China asking if the site is accessible in China (yes of course it usually is). Then an email from Australia, etc etc. On top of that our sales people then get paid banner advertisers calling us asking us what's going on and why their banner is not running. Most are quite understanding, but some can be very harsh (and I can understand that).
And yes, of course I worry, and am aware that once an existing user (or a new user) can't access the Admart.Asia site, they may never come back. We are in the middle of ramping up our marketing and we are getting more and more media interest in our site. So being off-line is a big disaster. But for every challenge we face, we do grow stronger from it. We deal with it, and we grow, and we try to continue to our very best to continue to succeed and provide great service.
So, during the time the site is down, I feel terrible. Everyone in our company does. Our sales agents, advisers, country managers, investors, etc. We need to be reliable. Always there. Always accessible. Available anywhere for anyone, just like Google or Yahoo.
Well, the site is now finally back up. And the good news is that within minutes, new adverts are coming in and new people are signing up.
Next report will be more positive I hope. We are working towards local language versions of our site, starting with Chinese, which we have had many requests for. We are working on an international chat forum. And there are a few potential developments that we are keeping secret for now. So stay tuned.
I am now going to cook some Chinese chicken soup for my lunch, and if all is running smoothly with Admart.Asia this afternoon, I might even treat myself to a movie tonight.
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