Grassroots.org needs our help

[David G]

Right, before Michael Mann I got the backorder more often than not (probably more than 50% of the time) but soon it was rarely if ever. It became a very unlevel playing field. Frank Schilling soon also arrived on the scene and it became even more tilted with BuyDomains or NameAdmin seemingly getting almost every name :upset:

I painfully recall a nice name (but not a great one) which I wanted to own a lot since it was in a field I was targeting at the time so over the course of a few long mos did lots of extensive personal work to determine it was going to drop and even found out why. I spent many hrs working on it.

Then Mr. Mann came along and got it at the last second with his automated script and vast insider knowledge of the drop time and probably zero work involved. I never had much inclination to work hard at it again after that incident which really soured me on the drop game.

Younger players such as EJS probably were not around at the time and do not realize how or why so many of us have bitter feelings about the old BuyDomains.com and Mr. Mann.

Someone so immensely rich and successful should be funding TRAFFIC attendance himself since 2k to him is like .20 cents to many of us.

Grabbing domains today is MUCH different than it was then, Domain auctions did not exist, When you placed a backorder at Snapnames or Namewinner, you usually got it, that was until Mann stepped it up and essentially stole those same backorders out from under the people who first placed them.

I wonder how domains he took from Rick Schwartz? It's ironic that the same people Michael Mann needs support from today, are the same people he robbed from yesterday.




I haven't even begun

 

[DomainsInc]

Right, before Michael Mann I got the backorder more often than not (probably more than 50% of the time) but soon it was rarely if ever. It became a very unlevel playing field. Frank Schilling soon also arrived on the scene and it became even more tilted with BuyDomains or NameAdmin seemingly getting almost every name :upset:

I painfully recall a nice name (but not a great one) which I wanted to own a lot since it was in a field I was targeting at the time so over the course of a few long mos did lots of extensive personal work to determine it was going to drop and even found out why. I spent many hrs working on it.

Then Mr. Mann came along and got it at the last second with his automated script and vast insider knowledge of the drop time and probably zero work involved. I never had much inclination to work hard at it again after that incident which really soured me on the drop game.

Younger players such as EJS probably were not around at the time and do not realize how or why so many of us have bitter feelings about the old BuyDomains.com and Mr. Mann.

Someone so immensely rich and successful should be funding TRAFFIC attendance himself since 2k to him is like .20 cents to many of us.

That sucks but you must still be doing pretty well for yourself if you've been in the domain game since before Mann was around. Can you imagine how domainers just entering the business today feel?

 

[Vision]

Maybe if Vision can give me an official appraisal Uncle Sam will accept. :yes:

Gregory, I spoke with Uncle Sam.

They will accept my authenticated appraisal with respect to iphones.mobi

iphones.com was never acquired by Apple, thus iphones.mobi is valued at reg fee.

 

[David G]

That sucks but you must still be doing pretty well for yourself if you've been in the domain game since before Mann was around. Can you imagine how domainers just entering the business today feel?

I do not know how long Mr. Mann was here, possibly before me? He may have got real big later in his career for all I know.

But I am not really as successful as was possible because I did not get into it too heavily until about the time the heavy hitters like him were already on the scene but you are right, it is even tougher today of course. I also did not concentrate enough on product names as I should have done with 20-20 hindsight.

 

[Mr. Deleted]

2k to him is like .20 cents to many of us.

WOWSERS YOU MUST HAVE A FORTUNE!

 

[iDName]

.

 

[jasdon11]

Agreed!

Fearless, iPhone is a TM. If you show Apple iPhone ads you will be sued. If you use any other cell phone ads you will be sued for showing competing ads. So what can you use iPhones.mobi for?

An iphone fan site.

 

[iDName]

 

[SonnyBurnett]

My grandmother said "if you make good actions makes them in Hush"

MultiMillionDollars man want more money??
Blah!!

 

[Angela Siefer]

I think the reasons have been mentioned before in this thread even though they may not be real clear. IMO a big reason is to get free links from domainers and the large TRAFFIC sponsors since he loves all the free links to Grassroots.org and is expert at getting them, which number and depth of links are amazing.

FYI, last time I checked Mr. Mann also owns a very impressive and valuable group of top-tier domains which are tied it with grassroots.org - I am sure all the links also make his superb network even more valuable and bring lots of extra traffic.

The reason we want to be at TRAFFIC is to gain the support of the domain community. Grassroots.org provides assistance to small nonprofits to help them establish a web presence. Something many of them could not do without our assistance. Think of a small foodbank. They know how to get food donated and distributed. They do not know anything about registering a domain or setting up a website. Those are the kinds of organizations we assist. Since the domain community consists of individuals who understand the value of having a presence on the internet, the domain community is the perfect place to ask for support.

Specific ways I will be looking for support:
1.) Domain donations,
2.) Sponsorships and prizes for our fundraisers at Domain Roundtable and Search Engine Strategies NY,
3.) Volunteers to help GR directly or the charities we serve, and
4.) Creative partnerships to help GR provide more benefit to the 1000+ charities we assist.

I would love to meet any of you in person. You can find me in the lobby at TRAFFIC unless an extra ticket pops up.

My grandmother said "if you make good actions makes them in Hush"

MultiMillionDollars man want more money??
Blah!!

Grassroots.org does not equal Michael Mann. He is the board president but we are an independent 501(c)3 organization. For Grassroots.org to succeed in our mission (to serve as a catalyst for positive social change by leveraging modern technologies and best business practices) we must have a broad base of support and involvement. You all would never assume having work from one clients was sufficient to establish a new business. It is the same with a nonprofit, relying upon one person for funding not only puts the organization in a precarious financial position, it gives the appearance that it is a one man show. In addition, if Grassroots.org wants to continue as a 501(c)3 public charity, we must show financial support from the public.

 

[JuniperPark]

A small group wants to start a website?

1) Go to Godaddy.com (or eNom), buy a domain for about $8

2) Select a hosting package and pick a free template. About $4/mo.

3) Enter data about organization into templates.

Done. Total elapsed time less than 1 hour.

There... no need for grassroots.org or any donations, I just did the job. Feel free to copy this and email as desired. Oh, and tell Mr. Mann to finance his own ego trips in the future.

 

[SonnyBurnett]

Pay that ticket...pay that ticket like us.
Why Grassroots don't pay??

Pay that f****** ticket.

 

[Angela Siefer]

A small group wants to start a website?

1) Go to Godaddy.com (or eNom), buy a domain for about $8

2) Select a hosting package and pick a free template. About $4/mo.

3) Enter data about organization into templates.

Done. Total elapsed time less than 1 hour.

There... no need for grassroots.org or any donations, I just did the job. Feel free to copy this and email as desired. Oh, and tell Mr. Mann to finance his own ego trips in the future.

Its more an issue of the hand holding we provide. Helping them choose a domain, explaining that they need to make sure they renew it, explaining what should go on a website, providing free SEO advice, and our newest service is a partnership with World Lingo which will provide free machine translation for them. We also match select clients with MBA students from the University of MD Dingman Center so that the MBA students can provide consulting on specific business issues the charities are struggling with. A good deal of those we serve operate through volunteers only, no cash budget.

 

[Fearless]

Angela,

TRAFFIC is a diminishing venue. Rick's refusal to provide complimentary tickets and booth space to your charity is one indication of this.
So you're not missing out on much. Continue going to the other accommodating domain shows. That is where your best future lies.

 

[exponent]

Angela,

TRAFFIC is a diminishing venue. Rick's refusal to provide complimentary tickets and booth space to your charity is one indication of this.
So you're not missing out on much. Continue going to the other accommodating domain shows. That is where your best future lies.

I agree. The future lies in private / back room deals, not auctions.

 

[Raider]

Pay that ticket...pay that ticket like us.
Why Grassroots don't pay??

As Angela explained, the reason is rules for non profits..

However, non profits are good at finding ways around those rules, they find "Loopholes" and who is the most qualified person at finding "Loopholes" ? The founder himself of course; Michael Mann, this is one of the reasons that made him so rich, Selling BuyDomains for $80 MILLION dollars, many names that would of been OURS if it wasnt for his greed and his great ability to find a "Loophole" in the system, And now they come here asking the same people he legally robbed from to donate to his charity.... UN REAL!

Nothing against Angela or the people who are employed by this guy, I agree with Trader when he said Mann is lucky to have her working for him. :yes:

 

[Fearless]

Did you get tickets donated Angela? Anyone who used the Traffic link to get a room at the Venetian should cancel and get a room from Priceline.com for $140/night.

When you cancel your current Venetian reservation they will tell you you have to keep the first night but they will reduce the price to $199 for that night and refund $50. Then for the rest of your stay here's how you do it on Priceline:

1. Select Las Vegas and the days
2. Select Name Your Own Price
3. Select Las Vegas Strip Vicinity North and 5-Star Luxury
4. Put a bid of $140.
5. You'll get the Venetian or the new Palazzo Tower.

Call back the Venetian and get them to tie your 2 reservations together so you stay in the same room.

That's it. You save $109/night.

 

[domain newbie]

Did you get tickets donated Angela? Anyone who used the Traffic link to get a room at the Venetian should cancel and get a room from Priceline.com for $140/night.

moo- Traffic trying to profit from venetian reservation as well ?

 

[David G]

As Angela explained, the reason is rules for non profits..

However, non profits are good at finding ways around those rules, they find "Loopholes" and who is the most qualified person at finding "Loopholes" ? The founder himself of course; Michael Mann, this is one of the reasons that made him so rich, Selling BuyDomains for $80 MILLION dollars, many names that would of been OURS if it wasnt for his greed and his great ability to find a "Loophole" in the system, And now they come here asking the same people he legally robbed from to donate to his charity.... UN REAL!

Nothing against Angela or the people who are employed by this guy...

ditto.

P.S. I 'hated' BuyDomains.com when owned by Mr. Mann. Since he sold it they are even bigger with over 800,000 domains owned but for some odd reason I rarely see them successfiully grabbing names much anymore as they did years ago so perhaps they are less of a force in some ways. Maybe Michael's scripts stopped working so good over time or they did not stay up to date on drop times, etc.

 

[Rubber Duck]

I think one of the things that people should take into account here is that "Not for Profit" does not mean that the founders cannot be beneficiaries. Most Not for Profits are little more than a scam, although I have no direct knowledge of Grassroots.org. "Not for Profits" are not only able to pay their founders huge salaries and generous expense accounts for doing very little, but they are also able to channel large amounts of cash back into associated enterprises which make massive profits. It is not unusual for commercial printers to set up charities of this ilk in the UK. They get all the money in for Charity Calendars or the like, a small cut goes to Charities, some of which are pretty bogus themselves and the rest goes back into Printers who are running a pretty lucrative business. It is effective marketing, and it allows them to charge a premium for some pretty uninspired product.