With ICANN approving the Applicant Guidebook for new generic Top Level Domains and the window for applications opening on 12 January, the second .NXT conference in San Francisco in late August is focussing on giving potential applicants, registries and consultants the very latest information on the process and prepare for launch. The conference will be held Wednesday to Friday, 24-26 August at the San Francisco InterContinental. A full conference pass includes all sessions, exhibit hall access and lunches. It is also anticipated there will be great networking opportunities with hundreds of internet professionals and education to take your career to the next level. One of the key speakers is Chris Disspain, CEO of auDA, the .AU policy and regulatory body, member of the Internet Governance Forum’s main decision-making body, the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) and as of the last ICANN meeting held in Singapore in June is now an ICANN Board member. Disspain will steer both the opening and closing sessions of the conference, pulling out critical details about the internet’s expansion from a series of experts, as well as summarising the outcomes of the conference itself on the last day. Other confirmed speakers include Shawn Gunnarson (Kirton & McConkie), Markus Kummer (ISOC), John Matson (Architelos), Rob Hall (Momentous.com) and Monte Cahn (co-founder and President of Right of the Dot). Registration costs $695. For more information and to register, go to dot-nxt.com .

A photo of Chris Crosby, Data Center Systems new president and CEO (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – Fiber-optic cabling and connectivity solutions provider Data Center Systems ( www.datacentersys.com ) announced on Tuesday that Chris Crosby will join the company as president and CEO. Data Center Systems founder and current CEO Kevin Ehringer will take the role chief technology officer and chairman. Prior to his appointment, Crosby was the senior vice president of corporate development at Digital Realty Trust.  “Chris is one of the most respected people in the data center industry not only because of what he has accomplished in his career but also because of his integrity, passion and intelligence.

Scality’s Jerome Lecat delivers a Tuesday Keynote at WHD 2011 (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) –- Cloud storage provider Scality ( www.scality.com ) announced on Monday it h as named Eric Craig the company’s North American sales director. He will support Scality’s increasing momentum in the market and leadership in delivering a next-generation, cloud-scale storage infrastructure. As a consistently high achiever in the sales of IT services, software, and integrated solutions, Craig will be responsible for all sales activities in North America.

A photo of Savvis’ new president, Bill Fathers (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – Web hosting provider Savvis ( www.savvis.net ) announced on Friday that it has named Bill Fathers its new president. According to the press release, Fathers will continue to report to chairman and CEO Jim Ousley as he did in his most recent role as senior vice president and global head of sales and marketing. He will be responsible for building Savvis’ strategic partnerships and growing its global customer base, as well as maintain his current duties.

The registry for .ORG, the Public Interest Registry (PIR), announced on 14 January that Brian Cute is their new CEO following Alexa Raad’s resignation late last year. .ORG is the third largest gTLD after .COM and .NET.

An image of John Panzica, senior vice president of sales at FiberMedia (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Data center operator, FiberMedia ( www.fibermedia.net ) announced on Monday it has named John Panzica the company’s senior vice president of sales. FiberMedia recently named a new management team and was recapitalized through an investment by Arkansas-based private equity firm, The Stephens Group

An image of Brian Cute, CEO of The Public Interest Registry (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The Public Interest Registry ( www.pir.org ), the company managing the .org domain name, announced on Friday it has named Brian Cute as the company’s new CEO. The company says that Cute will assume his leadership position on February 1. Cute has more than 12 years of experience in the Internet and communications industry