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Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Here’s a Valentine’s Day Contest from Name.com and Me, With a $250 Prize for You

Elliot Silver
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32

Let’s have a little fun this Valentine’s Day!  Name.com and I are hosting a Valentine’s Day domain name poetry contest on my blog, and the winner will receive a virtual $250 Name.com gift card! Yes – that is a lot of domain registrations or renewals, especially with Name.com offering .TV domain names for just $10.99 a year.

Here’s how the contest works.  You know the famous poem that starts, “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue…” Well, I want you to write the best domain-related poem and record yourself reciting it.

For instance, something like this might be interesting:

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
.IE is the ccTLD for Ireland
And .TV is for Tuvalu

You need to post the text of your poem in the comment section of this article and then record yourself reciting your poem (see instructions below).    All submissions must be received by Noon EST on Friday, February 18, 2011, and the winner will be selected by Paul and Ashley from Name.com.  Only submissions in video form will be eligible.

We are looking for the most original and humorous poem, and they don’t have to start with “Roses are Red…” You’re all winners at heart, but there will be just one winner for this contest, and only one submission will be allowed per person.

Get to it!

To post your video:

1)  Visit Name.com’s youtube channel to post your video response:  www.youtube.com/user/thebestregistrar

2) Under the video click, ‘View comments, related videos, and more’

3) Click on the comment box, see link to the right of comment box that says, ‘Create a video response’

4) Upload your video

Mark Haseltine Hired as NameMedia CTO

Elliot Silver
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2

NameMedia, the company that operates Buy Domains, Afternic, and SmartName, just announced that Mark Haseltine has been hired as Chief Technical Officer for the company. Haseltine has experience working at large tech companies like Oracle and Alta Vista.

The company’s press release from this morning is below:

NameMedia, the world leader in the acquisition, development and trading of digital real estate through a targeted website network and domain name marketplace, today announced the appointment of Mark Haseltine as Chief Technology Officer.

Haseltine is recognized as an engineering innovator, with more than twenty years experience working on search, content, CRM and e-commerce solutions for Internet pioneers like Alta Vista to tech giants like Oracle.

Most recently Haseltine served as Vice President of Engineering at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), a professional services firm that he helped to grow from a start-up firm to an organization with operations in more than 20 countries. Prior to serving on the executive team at GLG, Haseltine headed product development for Context Media, a leading provider of enterprise content integration software and services whose technology was eventually acquired by Oracle.

As an executive team founding member and Vice President of Engineering at AltaVista Software, Haseltine built and managed the organization that developed the pioneering search web site. Before joining AltaVista, he spearheaded CRM and e-commerce development efforts as a development director for Oracle Corporation.

“Mark’s background—developing innovative e-commerce, content and search solutions that drive revenue—is ideally suited to NameMedia’s mission of building the world’s best trading platform for domains, allowing domain owners the opportunity to realize the full value of their ‘digital real estate’ by listing their name on the equivalent of the ‘MLS’ for domain names—NameMedia’s Domain Listing Service,” said NameMedia CEO Kelly Conlin. “Today, NameMedia has more partners on its network than any other domain marketplace, and Mark’s experience will assure our continued innovation and leadership.”

“With more than two hundred million registered domain names to date—and the prospect of many more domain name extensions—this is an ideal time to be building the industry’s pre-eminent trading platform,” said Haseltine. “Just as the market for real estate or financial instruments have depended on trusted exchanges for their growth, the market for this essential asset of the Internet—domain names—will benefit from a global, networked platform.”

Haseltine’s portfolio will include technology leadership of NameMedia’s domain marketplace, Afternic.com, its SMB-focused sales site, BuyDomains.com, its domain name development platform, SmartName.com, and its network of niche websites. These sites service customers in more than 100 countries around the globe, supported by a partner network that includes the world’s top domain name resellers.

Mark holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Sunday Afternoon Update

Elliot Silver
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6

I am headed back home after a mini vacation, and I want to thank everyone who wrote and called for the good wishes. I’ve been feeling significantly better over the  past few days, and I have only a cough and some congestion remaining.

It’s good to know the LA Department of Health is looking into what may have made some people sick.  I am going back to my doctor’s office tomorrow for a couple of tests to see if they are able to determine what I had. My doctor initially diagnosed me with an upper respiratory illness, and I was given a Z-pack.

I’ve fielded a number of phone calls from news outlets (because of the mentions in DN Journal), and although I understand why they are  picking up on the story, I think everyone really needs to reserve judgment about how it may have happened until the Health Department issues its findings. It seems like a “juicy” story, but people should not jump to any conclusions.

Is Sedo Advertising .CO Auction on the Radio?

Elliot Silver
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26

As I’ve mentioned in the past, Sedo is currently holding its .CO premium auction, now through February 17, 2011.  They are advertising the auction in a number of places, but one place I wouldn’t have suspected would be the radio.

Steve Morsa sent me a note today, mentioning that he believes he heard a radio spot for the .CO auction in Los Angeles:

“Heard a short (seemed like 15-30 second long only) Sedo radio ad yesterday afternoon where they pitched that they sold domains; and that they had a number of .co ones up (or coming up) for auction.

It ran on the most-listened to news station in the L.A. metro market KNX News Radio. 1070 AM.”

Wonder how much radio time the company may have purchased across the US. Seems like an interesting method to get the word out. Only issue could be tracking results unless they happened to use a unique url like Sedo.com/radio or something like that.

Always good to see an expansion of advertising channels for companies selling domain names.

Oversee Responds to Illness Outbreak

Elliot Silver
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2

I wanted to pass along an update I just received from Mason Cole, spokesman for Oversee.net. I am very glad to hear that the company and local health officials are investigating the matter.  They plan to email this update to all attendees tomorrow.

Here’s the update provided by the company this evening:

DomainSponsor, the organizer of the DOMAINfest Global conference, and its parent company, Oversee.net, have been made aware that several people in attendance at DOMAINfest and various evening events during the week became ill during the conference or after it concluded.

There has been significant speculation about this situation, but as of now, not many actual facts are known.   Only medical authorities are qualified to identify this illness and investigate its ultimate source, so toward the improvement and protection of everyone’s health, it’s important not to speculate or make unfounded assumptions.   Of course, should you have a concern about your health, please seek the advice of a doctor.

The health and safety of DOMAINfest attendees is our first priority, and thankfully, most attendees and staff did not become ill, and those that did appear now to be feeling better.   Even so, in order to accurately identify the health concern and prevent its further possible communication, we have consulted with Los Angeles County health authorities and at their request have provided them a comprehensive list of places we know gatherings were held (either organized by DOMAINfest or by others) during each day and night.   We also have notified our vendors and service providers of the situation, and have encouraged them to cooperate with authorities and take any steps they believe necessary.

Medical authorities have further requested, and Oversee has provided, a list of all attendees and their e-mail addresses.   You may already have received a link to a survey asking for more information.   It is important that ALL attendees complete the survey, whether you were ill or not.   This will help authorities narrow down the range of possible causes and sources.   Only health authorities will have access to this data—neither Oversee nor any other party will be able to see it, so please do your part to help.

Oversee will continue to work with health authorities, though at this stage, work is best left in their hands.   If there’s more we’re in a position to share about the situation, we will do so.

DOMAINfest was a great event—our best ever with more than 700 attendees—and it’s regrettable that this has cast a shadow over an otherwise good week.   We’re very encouraged that most everyone is in improving health (including those on our staff), and look forward to seeing many of you in Barcelona in June.

Good Strategy, Poor Execution from Easton-Bell Sports

Elliot Silver
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4

Giro

I just bought a new Giro ski helmet the other day. Giro is a helmet company owned by sports equipment conglomerate Easton-Bell Sports. As I often do when shopping for a product, I researched who owned key category domain names related to my purchase.

I was impressed when I saw that Easton-Bell Sports owned SkiingHelmets.com and SnowboardingHelmets.com. These category defining names should either be used to funnel direct navigation traffic to the company’s main site, or smaller portals can be built, using the site as either SEO plays or to drive traffic to the main site.

When I visited both sites to see what the company was doing with them, I was disappointed. Not only are they undeveloped, but the Network Solutions landing page even has “Giro” related links.  They are essentially paying for visitors to click their own ads!

In looking at the historical thumbnails provided by Domain Tools, it appears that there was a site before or possibly a forward to the main site.  It appears that Network Solutions is now the primary beneficiary during this high season.

It’s a good strategy for a company to acquire keyword domain names, but it’s poor execution when those domain names aren’t being used.

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