It looks like the .Club registry is taking a page out of the .CO registry playbook by appealing to startups and companies at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon event in San Francisco. According to a press release, “.CLUB is offering every Hackathon participant a free .CLUB domain name to use for their project and will award $6,000 cash to the teams with the best projects using a .CLUB web address.”
From my perspective, one of the main reasons .CO domain names have been such big sellers is that the registry appealed to startups. Registry representatives attended conferences like SXSW, hackathons, tech meetups, and other events that were attended by people who need domain names for their startup businesses. I think this is a smart way for .Club to let startup founders and decision makers know about .Club domain names.
The Hackathon takes place prior to the main TechCrunch Disrupt conference. According to the Hackathon website, the event will be held September 19-20, and it is “where developers and engineers descend from all over the world to take part in a 24-hour hacking endurance test.”
If any businesses are started as a result of the Hackathon, they will be very early in the naming stage, and the cash prize could be a big enough incentive for them to choose a .Club domain name. Obviously, .Club is a bit more specific than a generic TLD, but I presume there will be creative ways to use .Club domain names. It could also be a good way for the registry to introduce people to premium .Club domain names and the Startup.Club program if there is interest.
Hopefully someone from the .Club registry will update this article with the winners so we can see what .Club domain names they chose as the winners.
Thanks Elliot. I will definitely update you tomorrow when the Hackathon ends. Things are about to get underway here, and we’re excited to see some creative projects using a .CLUB name. Stay tuned…
>”Obviously, .Club is a bit more specific than a generic TLD, but I presume there will be creative ways to use .Club domain names.”
I’ve been saying it all along in my blog comments. The higher senses of the “club” concept make .club an excellent use as a generic domain over and above as well as in addition to the conventional literal sense. One only needs to fan the flames of recognition of that, even though people already use the word “club” in that higher sense themselves. I will not be seeking a consulting fee from Colin and the .club crew for this idea, however, and they are free to proceed capitalizing on it with my blessing. 😉
Will be curious if any lifestyle hacker (aka IT Nomad) will seize opportunity to brand themselves with ITNomad.Club
Elliot, here’s the update… Out of 157 submitted hacks, 83 registered a .CLUB domain. It was awesome. The winner of our $5,000 prize for the best project with a .CLUB domain was Meterbeater.club. The winner of our $1,000 prize for best name was TrumpThis.club. It was really tough to choose the winners as there were many really creative, great .CLUB projects launched this weekend. TechCrunch has profiles of many of them.
Hackathons are a blast.
Jeff