ST. LOUIS — The Castello Brothers (Michael and David Castello) were awarded the 2008 Domainers Choice Awards for both the Domainers Rising Star and Domain Ambassador categories at the 2008 DOMAINfest Global Conference held at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, California, January 21-23.

"To be recognized like this by your peers is the highest honor," said Michael A. Castello, CEO of the Castello Cities Internet Network, Inc (Nashville.com, PalmSprings.com, Acapulco.com, etc). "The 2008 DOMAINfest Global Conference was a landmark event for our industry and we were proud to be part of it."

The Domainers Choice Awards are by popular vote and the Castello Brothers beat some very heavy competition to win both categories. The three semi-finalists in each category were announced on December 16th and the final vote was tabulated on December 31st.

David and Michael Castello accepting the 2008 Domainers Rising Star award.

"Most people in the industry know we first made our name as GeoDomainers," said David J Castello, COO. "We hope that by winning these awards we generate more publicity for Associated Cities and all GeoDomainers."

The 2008 DomainFest was attended by over 700 domainers and may have been the most popular domain industry event to date. On January 22nd, the Castello Brothers were joined by Dan Pulcrano (Boulevards New Media) to speak on a panel titled, "Maximizing Revenue from Local Advertisers."

The other 2008 Domainers Choice Award winners were Best Hosting Company: GoDaddy.com, Best Domain Publication: DNJournal.com, Best Industry Spokesperson: Frank Schilling, Industry Achievement Award: Kevin Ham, Best Registrar: Moniker.com, Best Domainer Tools: DomainTools.com, Best Domainers Blog: Elliot Silver for ElliotsBlog.com, Best Domain Auctions: (co-winners) Moniker.com and SnapNames.com, Best Domain Financial Services: Escrow.com, Best Domain Marketplace: Sedo.com, Industry Customer Service Rep: Eben Smith of Sedo.com, Industry Trade Association: The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) and Best Parking Company: TrafficZ.