PITCHfest Contest Winners Shine at DOMAINfest Global 2011 Conference; New Online Ideas Demonstrate Innovation and Creativity

LOS ANGELES, March 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The recent DOMAINfest Global® 2011 conference, hosted by DomainSponsor®, the traffic monetization division of Oversee.net®, featured a PITCHfest™ business plan presentation contest for the second year in a row.  The contest successfully introduced nine innovative, new, online business, service and technology ideas to the internet entrepreneurs and domain investors at the conference.

Two PITCHfest Innovator trophy winners were selected based on the creativity, viability, originality, and revenue potential of their early stage business models. 

The first winner was selected by the audience via a text voting system.  The PITCHfest "People's Choice" winner was David Clements, who presented an SMS text payment system concept that allows users to send money via text message.  

An expert panel of four judges, including three individuals closely associated with Tech Coast Angels, selected Stefan Wrobel's Smartvark.com as the second PITCHfest Innovator trophy winner.  Stefan's beta stage business model offers users a fast, targeted way to find and save money at restaurants and stores in their neighborhood by presenting deals tailored to their specific tastes.

Other PITCHfest contest presenters included ZipSmart.com, AFAA/NBC Universal Biggest Loser Online Training, HireHelp.com, Eclat Network Inc., Domainspike.com, Worlize.com, and Vertio.net.  Judges for the PITCHfest session included Andries de Villiers representing last year's PITCHfest winner adMarketplace.com, Scott Jarus from Ironclad Performance Wear, John Morris from Vistage International and Jeff Cohn from eStrategy Partners.

"This year, we received 22 outstanding submissions for our PITCHfest contest," said Peter Celeste, Senior Vice President of Oversee.net and General Manager of DomainSponsor.  "With our new, rapid-fire 5-minute presentation format, business plans from the 9 finalists were presented quickly and efficiently, giving DOMAINfest attendees the opportunity to be exposed to a broad range of exciting new products and services.  Internet entrepreneurs from around the world come to DOMAINfest to network, generate business ideas, and form new partnerships. By including PITCHfest in the DOMAINfest agenda, we were able to reinforce the entrepreneurial atmosphere of the conference."

This year's conference broke records for attendance, drawing more than 700 Internet professionals from 30 countries.  It also attracted a record-setting 38 sponsors and exhibitors.    

Bob Parsons, legendary founder and CEO of Go Daddy, gave the keynote address to a standing-room-only crowd. Ben Mezrich, author of "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook," which was adapted for the award-winning movie, "The Social Network," was a special guest for a fireside chat with Oversee.net CEO Jeff Kupietzky. Videos and photos from the conference are available now at www.Domainfest.com

DOMAINfest also hosted a fundraising event, raising $33,000 for Jenny McCarthy's autism foundation Generation Rescue.  The funds will be used to help numerous families get services they need to help improve their child's quality of life with autism.

A post-conference survey showed that 94% of respondents were satisfied to very satisfied with their DOMAINfest experience, citing networking opportunities as the #1 benefit of that experience.

About DOMAINfest

Founded and hosted by DomainSponsor, the domain monetization division of Oversee.net, DOMAINfest® brings domain industry and Internet marketing professionals together to learn, network, and do business. Guests include online advertising experts, domain publishers, domain monetization experts, SEO/SEM specialists, website developers, online marketers, ad or affiliate network suppliers, search advertising providers, venture capitalists, bankers and trademark/legal advisors. Visit http://www.domainfest.com to review the latest information regarding upcoming DOMAINfest events.

About Oversee.net

Oversee.net® is the leader in Internet real estate, specializing in monetizing, registering, selling and developing domain names. The company provides an array of managed services to domain investors, corporations, and individuals across more than ten million web sites. Oversee owns one of the largest portfolios of domain names in the world — more than 1 million names. The company's unique optimized technology connects consumers and advertisers with highly relevant advertisements. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Portland, Oregon, Pompano Beach, Florida, New York City and Frankfurt, Germany, the company's core brands include DomainSponsor®, SnapNames®, Moniker®, DOMAINfest®, LowFares.com^™, Airport Parking.com® ShopWiki and CreditCards.org.  To learn more, please visit www.oversee.net.

SOURCE Oversee.net