.CLUB Comes Full Circle...

Colin, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and Jeff

GenGroucho Marx famously said he didn't want to belong to any club that would have him as a member. I beg to differ.

As 2021 has winded to a close, so has my tenure with .CLUB Domains, the registry operator for the .CLUB top-level domain extension which we sold to GoDaddy Registry earlier in the year. As 2022 begins, I find myself without a direct connection to the industry I have been so deeply a part of for nearly ten years.

Finding My Colin in Life…

It was early 2012 when I was introduced to Colin Campbell. A mutual friend mentioned that Colin had gotten involved in applying for a new "top-level domain" and could use some marketing help. As an early internet adopter, I was familiar with domain names, but not at the level to fully understand what a "top-level" domain or "TLD" really was. Sure, I had registered domain names, including some "non .com's" such as .TV and .FM along with the more familiar .Net and .org. I was active with blogs, websites, and even the early days of Social Media, but I was a complete novice when it came to "the DNS" and how domain names operated. As far as I was aware at the time, ICANN was simply what you said when someone asked if you can do something. "Yes, I can!"

Before meeting Colin for a fateful lunch in March of 2012, I did some research and learned about the new gTLD application window that had closed that January. I familiarized myself with the TLD launch process and terms such as "Sunrise," "Landrush," and "General Availability." I must have absorbed enough knowledge to convince Colin I could be useful as he offered me the opportunity to "join the .CLUB!" (It was years later that Colin admitted he was zonked on pain killers at that lunch meeting following a harrowing ski accident and subsequent surgeries. So maybe I wasn't as impressively prepared as I thought I was.) In any event, I was in, and quickly immersed myself in the process of becoming a domain name Registry.

Fake It ‘Till You Make It…

Reveal day came and we found out that we were one of three applicants for .CLUB, and unlike the other two in our "contention set" we had only applied for a single extension. For us, it was .CLUB or bust! We were all in on .CLUB while the other parties, DONUTS and MERCHANT LAW GROUP, were "portfolio plays," applying for 307 and 8 extensions respectively. Colin was determined to become a Domain Registry, so we had to win it to be in it! All or nothing.

My first domain industry road trip was to the Czech Republic for the ICANN meeting in Prague in June 2012. I knew no one except Colin, and I arrived a day or two before him, alone, wearing an embroidered .CLUB shirt, much to the bewilderment of the other contenders for .CLUB. I knew that we had appointed Neustar as our back-end service provider should we be successful in our bid for .CLUB, so my first night in Prague, at my first ICANN meeting, I found my way to a party hosted by Neustar. Everyone I met was welcoming and sincere, and I realized very quickly what a warm, friendly, and helpful Industry the Domain world is. Many of the folks I met that night remain trusted friends to this day and were welcome partners and even sometimes frenemies throughout the years. For an industry built on technology, the domain world is one filled with and buoyed by truly great people. It was a welcome change from my prior experiences in other less friendly and cooperative verticals.

By the time Colin joined me in Prague, I felt I was already a part of the community and ready to take on the challenge of becoming the .CLUB Registry. Colin and I set up our custom .CLUB branded booth and wore our .CLUB branded shirts with the pride of ownership we had not yet really earned, but very clearly yearned for. Again, we were all in, all the time (one of the .CLUB core values.) To put it in today's parlance, ".CLUB to the moon!"

#Winning!

Fast forward a year to June of 2013 and the very first private auction for the new TLD's. We're camped out in our small office, still wearing our shirts emblazoned with the .CLUB logo. I have a little Flip Cam pointed at Colin, who's been staring at the computer screen for hours, actually days, as we pass from auction round to auction round, watching the price increase and our two contenders holding firm. Until one drops out. And then there were two. Another price increase but we're ready with a freshly filled war chest thanks to Colin's intense 30-day fundraising via LinkedIn. And then, just like that, Colin logs in for another round and finds himself as the sole bidder. Contender two has dropped out. Flip Cam still recording, I capture Colin as he's filled with the realization and states what now is obvious, "We won!"

Game on! In just a few weeks after the auction concludes is the next ICANN meeting in Durban, South Africa. We scramble to sign up as a sponsor and make last-minute travel arrangements to have our "coming out" in Durban as the official Registry Operator for .CLUB! We've finally earned the right to proudly stand in our .CLUB booth wearing our .CLUB shirts!

Around the World in More Than 80 Days

And so, it began. A global adventure in a truly global industry. From the time we won the auction to the time we officially launched in May of 2014, and for many years thereafter we lived and breathed our hashtag #ClubIsEverywhere and built the .CLUB brand on the backs of great team members, great registrar partners, and hundreds of thousands of airline miles attending countless meetings and events here and abroad.

As mentioned above, Neustar was selected as our technical partner even before we were selected as the Registry Operator for .CLUB. As we planned our formal launch in 2014 we decided to go "live" from one of GoDaddy's customer care centers, as part of a month-long road trip visiting four GoDaddy campuses, attending an industry event in Hong Kong, and culminating in New York City for our arguably over-the-top launch party in da .club with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and a fantastic turnout of Domain Industry luminaries.

Full Circle…

As I reminisce about those early days, it seems almost pre-destined, and certainly poignantly fitting that we have sold .CLUB to GoDaddy Registry. We leave the bright .CLUB future in the hands of our very first partner, Neustar (acquired by GoDaddy to become GoDaddy Registry), and returning .CLUB to the place (GoDaddy) where Colin rang the bell as the first .CLUB domains became available for general availability registration.

Under Colin's leadership, we built a world-class team, including CTO Dirk Bhagat, President Michele Van Tilborg, CFO Thomas Campbell, General Counsel Jonathan Frost, Marketing Director Nivu Hussein (who was there from the very beginning as an intern), and many other dedicated .Clubbers along the way. Together and with a fantastic network of registrar partners, we took a common word, club, and turned it into a widely recognized brand supporting the online passions and dreams of individuals, communities, and businesses around the world.
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Sorry, Groucho. It has been an amazing journey in an industry and a .Club that was willing to have me as a member! I'll be forever grateful for it.