A recent interview with Rick Schwartz posted over at Search Feature:
Mike Dammann: How did you get the idea to start the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Conference and Expos and how close are you to the search engine industry?
Rick Schwartz: It started as a 12 person get together at my home. When 35 wanted to come I hooked up with my Attorney, Howard Neu, and decided we needed a venue other than my house and an agenda of activities and discussions. When 135 signed up we got THRUST into the convention business. 6 months later we held our second TRAFFIC show in Las Vegas and this time 235 showed up. By the time we have another show in Florida a few months later, we were 350 strong. So it was never planned, it was needed and we just took the ball and ran with it.
After 10 shows we have established ourselves as the key event in the space and thousands of domainers and investors have come to one show or another.
As for the search industry, it is an industry having more and more in common with domain owners. In our show in May in Orlando we will have at least one SEO panel and in future conferences even more as our channels overlap more and more.
Mike Dammann: Rick, you have recently made your last blog post and announced that one of your main projects will be Property.com.
Are you getting more involved in the development process?
Rick Schwartz: Very much so. Property.com is one project, however the project I am going to put a lot of effort into is Widgets.com. Probably by the time this is published, the site will be up and running. I have put a team together that shares the same vision I have and want to make Widgets.com a very valuable Internet business. It is based on a very simple idea that will allow it to grow virally in a very quick and special way. We are going to tap into some of the brightest minds in the world and run contests that will bring widgets to a new and profitable level. Until now folks made widgets, gave them away for free and that was that. We are going to change that and in the process transform this channel into a profitable money maker.. more