Yesterday I acquired the registration of a domain name I wish I wasn’t able to have made – bostonjaycees.org. Allow me to explain.

Back in 1997 I originally registered this domain name for the Boston Jaycees, an international, not-for-profit community service organization for young people between the ages of 21 and 40. I had recently joined and offered to build its first Web site. Over the years the Web site served as the main communication link for the chapter, especially when we decided to suspend printing a paper-based newsletter, and grew our email list to well over 600 people. I ran the Web site myself for a number of years, handing it off to our more than capable Administrative Vice President.

The Boston Jaycees, and Jaycees in general, have been a big part of my life for many years. I gained a tremendous amount of experience leading the organization, both as Administrative Vice President and eventually President. As an organization whose selling point is “leadership development thru community service” I benefited from the experiences of meeting people and leaders within the community. From the programs we put on to being Santa Claus to inner-city kids for many years, I feel I gained much more than I put into it. The pinnacle of this was when we did an exchange program with the Belfast, Northern Ireland Jaycees, and I had the opportunity to speak before a packed audience at Belfast City Hall, including many political leaders. Oh, and I met my wife through the Jaycees too!

I don’t know what specifically led to the domain name not being renewed, as I haven’t been involved in the Boston chapter for many years, especially now that I am in Chicago. As part of the domain name services offered by my Internet consulting firm Dunkirk Systems, LLC, I monitor domain names to ensure they are properly renewed. I had this domain name in my monitoring system… not sure why, probably more for nostalgia. Or perhaps because I have “rescued” many domain names for similar organizations? When I saw it was not renewed, I attempted – and succeeded – in acquiring the domain name using SnapNames, a premium service specifically for this purpose.

Why did I acquire the domain name? It is my hope that the domain name will be used once again for a Boston Jaycees chapter. I offer to manage this domain name at no cost to the chapter, just as I do for the Chicago Jaycees today, to ensure it is used for its intended purpose. I made an attempt to contact someone at the organization but never got a reply. I hope to be contacted soon, and can be done so through the contact form on the Dunkirk Systems, LLC Web site.

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Business • Domain Names • (3) Comments • Permalink

Do you need to include the “www.” when displaying a URL? This was a recent topic on Seth Godin’s blog, and reading various other blog posts and articles on the topic, the general consensus is you do not need to include the www-dot before a domain name. When someone sees a domain name all by itself, they assume it’s a Web site. But does it mean that every time you enter just a domain name you will get the Web site?

Unfortunately the answer to this is no. And it has nothing to do with marketing or how much room you have to display a domain name. It has to do with Web server and network configuration.

Here’s an example of where leaving out the www-dot will not show you the Web site. Berkshire Hathaway is the multi-billion dollar empire of Warren Buffett. Though he hangs out will his fellow top-tier billionaire Bill Gates, he shuns technology whenever possible. Berkshire Hathaway does have a Web site, albeit extremely simple. If you browse to it at http://www.berkshirehathaway.com you will be presented with the Web site. However, leave off the www-dot going to http://berkshirehathaway.com and you get an error.

The www-dot in question is called a subdomain, and is used to identify various types of servers on a domain. If you have ever configured Outlook or an email program with an email server, you probably entered a server name beginning with mail-dot. As a result, using – and not using – the www-dot subdomain needs to be configured. It needs to be addressed within the network domain configuration as well as the Web server or servers. It must be configured and tested properly, as leaving off the www-dot can be configured to take you to an altogether different Web site!

Why not take this time to check your own Web sites and blogs to see if they pass the test of leaving off the www-dot. And while you’re at it, check your vendors, partners and even competitors. Good luck telling them if doesn’t work – I emailed Berkshire Hathaway over a month ago when I first saw this problem, and it still exists.

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Domain Names • Technology • (0) Comments • Permalink

As someone asked me for a list of the domain name blogs I read, I thought it best to post it here on The Hot Iron, as others may be interested in them as well.

Here they are, in domain name alphabetic order:

CircleID - Very thorough discussion on Internet infrastructure including domain names
Conceptualist.com - By Sahar Sarid, a great blog by a domainer and founder of Bido.com, as well as great insight into business and entrepreneurship
Daily Domainer - Good domain news and accompanying mailing list for domain news and alerts
Direct Navigation - Good domain name news, including “taken or not” contests
Dominik Mueller’s Blog - Good news and insight from an experienced domainer
DN Cartoons - Domainers laugh at themselves
DN Hour - The Digg for domain name content
DNXpert - Good domain name news from the author of the Domaining Manifesto
DNZoom - Blog for an excellent domain name management tool
Domain Bits - Good news and information from Jeff Behrendt
Domainer's Gazette - Good news and information from Peter
Domain Name News - One of the best news sources from Frank Michlick and Illinois’ own Adam Strong
Domain News Wire - A good news and information source
Domain Name Industry News - A good domain name and Internet news source
DomainTools Blog - Updates on the DomainTools service and industry information
Dot Sauce - The blog is just part of the information offered on this fast-growing domain name resource
Elliot’s Blog - Domain name developer Elliot Silver’s blog provides insight into his own business and the industry
What’s Your Name.com - News and insights from inside a domain register by Kellie Peterson at name.com
Rick’s Blog - “Domain King” Rick Schwartz’s blog, with frank domain name and business news and opinion
Seven Mile - Domainer guru Frank Schilling’s blog, though it hasn’t been updated in months
SuccessClick - Stephen Douglas’s blog with good domain name news
The Domains - Good industry and news source
Whizzbang’s Blog - Domainer Michael Gilmour’s blog is part of the information sharing, including an archive and forum

A final note – while this list is extensive, I have to admit I don’t always read every post in its entirety, and this also applies to blogs and feeds I read in general. Many of these blogs have links to others.

Please let me know your thoughts on any of these, as well as any others I may want to read.

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Business • Domain Names • (0) Comments • Permalink

It does seem all good things come to an end, and this can include businesses. MyMugs.com, a maker of custom printed coffee mugs owned by a friend of mine, is closing. He has decided to leave the business, and has posted the assets of the business for sale on eBay. If you’re in the market for a dye sublimation convection oven, this is the auction for you!

Among the assets listed are the domain names for the business. The list includes the main name, mymugs.com, and a few dozen others related to the sale of custom coffee mugs to different audiences and different purposes. If you are in the mug business, these names could be for you. If you are a domainer or domain name investor, these names could be for you as well.

After he posted the list of names, we talked about how the auction will close and how much he will get for them. Like me, he started the auction at US$1.00 and will see how far it goes. As these names are being sold as a lot, someone may be interested in one or a few names and is bidding based on that. There is competition in the space of the custom mug business, ranging from small businesses to Walgreen’s stores selling custom photo mugs.

The auction closes on June 11, 2008 at about 9 pm PT. I’ll be watching this one, and perhaps even placing a few bids.

Business • Domain Names • (5) Comments • Permalink

Register.com is giving away domain names... well, one per person. I got an email this morning with the offer, and I was able to claim a name.

Why would Register.com do this? To get more customers of course. They could have done domain name front running like Network Solutions, but that would have given them a hefty legal bill for a class-action lawsuit as well. Register.com charges more per domain name than other registrars, and also offers many add-on services such as hosting. But not everybody shops solely on price, and Register.com may be the way to go for you, or at least for one domain name.

Domain Names • (0) Comments • Permalink