Happy New Year #GenXYZ! We hope you’re as excited for 2018 as we are. But in all the anticipation surrounding the start of a new calendar year, it’s important to take time to reflect on everything that was accomplished in the previous one. For all of us here at XYZ, that list of accomplishments is something we couldn’t be prouder of. But we didn’t do it alone, so we want to look back at all the awesome things Generation XYZ helped make happen in 2017.
2017 was a big year for growth here at XYZ. We acquired our 10th domain extension, .Storage, and re-launched it as an unrestricted namespace, which caught the attention of storage businesses and even coverage by industry resources like Sparefoot. Earlier in 2017, after teasing a big announcement for months through our AYDACFU campaign, we launched a new class of 1.111 billion .xyz domains, dubbed the 1.111B® Class. It encompasses all 6 through 9-digit numeric .xyz domains that have been reclassified for alternative uses, and we’ve already seen some very unique examples of active 1.111B® Class sites.
Speaking of alternative uses for .xyz domains, one of our favorite highlights in 2017 was the announcement of the exclusive partnership between Ethereum and XYZ, which allows users to pair their .xyz domains to their Ethereum wallets, making crypto trading and management a simple process through any registrar that offers .xyz. This partnership opens up Ethereum to a whole new audience and gives .xyz adopters an unprecedented new freedom in how to use their domain. Check out a video of Ethereum announcing the partnership at their DevCon3 event below.
If you’ve been a regular reader of our monthly event recap blog series, you already know that we’ve visited dozens of countries and countless cities around the globe to spread the word about .xyz this year. We brought the #XYZsquad to San Diego for Comic-Con, then to Downtown Los Angeles for the world’s biggest gaming convention, E3, and they even danced their way onto Austin’s local news at SXSW. And that was just the beginning – they also made pit stops in China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, among other places.
In addition to making .xyz’s presence known to the public at major events like these, we are also proud to be able to connect directly with the members of #GenXYZ with the help of our strategic partners. Product Forge regularly provides .xyz domains to the innovators who participate in their hackathons, CoderDojo teaches middle school and high school students how to code with their own .xyz domains, and Junior Achievement implemented a new website requirement to their 13-week entrepreneurship classes, which gives high school students .xyz domains – and all the other necessary tools and resources – to build their company’s first website.
All of us at Team XYZ clearly have a lot to look back on and be proud of from 2017, but none of it would be possible without the support and passion of all of you in the #GenXYZ community. Your passion is what motivated us to eventually claim two Tech in Motion TIMMY Awards this year, one for Best Tech Workplace for Diversity and another for our CEO Daniel Negari for Best Tech Manager. So below we’re sharing just a few of the many big successes from our end users in 2017:
We’re proud of everything that the #GenXYZ community and our team accomplished this past year, and we know that 2018 is only going to be better. We have some very exciting new initiatives rolling out this year, so be sure to stay up to date on all things XYZ by subscribing to our newsletter, reading our blog, and follow us @XYZ on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
BostonSeaport.xyz – Network Solutions customer (United States)
Nestled across from Boston’s historic waterfront lies a small neighborhood known as Boston Seaport, and it’s going through a big change. As the neighborhood develops and welcomes more new residents, it chooses to connect them all together through this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, BostonSeaport.xyz.
BostonSeaport.xyz is the portal uniting the neighborhood’s restaurants, cultural institutions, event spaces, and residents. Run by WS Development, a Massachusetts-based property developer dedicated to creating people-centric spaces, BostonSeaport.xyz ties the community together through its constantly updating map of the area and calendar of events. All aspects – from activities and events, to food, tourism, and transportation – have their place on BostonSeaport.xyz. Just as the neighborhood has become a premier destination for Bostonians and travellers alike, BostonSeaport.xyz has become the go-to domain for all things relating to the neighborhood.
BostonSeaport.xyz is the perfect example of an organization using a .xyz domain to bring people together. Location specific domains, particularly ones relating to big cities, are often difficult to obtain, but BostonSeaport.xyz was able to get their exact choice. If you want to learn more about BostonSeaport.xyz, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And be sure to follow @xyz on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more great .xyz use cases.
As 2017 winds to a close, Team XYZ was happy to focus on continuing to foster the #GenXYZ community in November. Keep reading to get all the details, or check out the highlights below!
The #GenXYZ community in China always shows a unique passion when representing .xyz, and they were back it again this month at the 2017 Shanghai Marathon. The runners supporting .xyz in the race ran the entire 26.2 miles (or 42.2km) with .xyz flags streaming behind them, and they couldn’t have been more excited to rep .xyz!
After trotting around the globe in October, it was great to spend some time this month right here in our own neighborhood of Santa Monica. We started off the month by heading across the street to Lime Cafe, a favorite lunch spot around our office, and holding a pop up XYZ shop to hand out great .xyz swag and get the dozens of lunch-goers set up with their own .xyz domains. Lime even made a special menu item for us, and the “XYZ Special Burger” was the most popular menu item of the day! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to follow where we’ll be next.
The innovation of #GenXYZ was on display again this month as our partner Product Forge hosted their Medical Visualization hackathon in Edinburgh, Scotland. The hackathon focused participants’ bright minds on creating solutions that will deliver precision medicine that is tailored for individual patients. They built their projects and can now bring those ideas to help the global healthcare industry thanks to their .xyz domains.
The entrepreneurial spirit of our end users isn’t limited to just .xyz adopters. .Cars/.Car/.Auto adopters Waive.Car brought their new ride-sharing startup to ABC’s hit show Shark Tank, and went toe to toe with the sharks to secure an investment in their business. They even gave XYZ a shoutout, as we’re one of their first advertisers. Congrats Waive.Car, we can’t wait to see what waits for you on the road ahead!
Over the past few months we’ve been getting ready to welcome another new neighbor near our office, Santa Monica College. They recently finished construction on a brand new campus just down the street, so we made sure to swing by for SMC’s homecoming football game to show our support and spread the word about .xyz to the students. We’ve only just begun collaborating with SMC, so be sure to check our Instagram to see what else we have in store!
We’ve had plenty to be thankful for this year, and we were glad to have a chance to reflect on it as a team while celebrating Thanksgiving at the office. From the official launches of .Storage and the 1.111B® Class, to announcing a partnership that allows users to pair and trade Ethereum exclusively with .xyz domains, 2017 was a great year for us and for .xyz adopters around the world. We’re not done yet though, as we have plenty in store for December and beyond, so stay tuned to our blog for all the latest .xyz news.
Shimejis.xyz – Namecheap customer (Netherlands)
The average American spends 10 hours in front of a screen daily, and that number is only growing. If you’re going to spend that much time in front of a screen, why not have a little fun by personalizing it with your favorite characters? With this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, Shimejis.xyz, you can do exactly that.
Originally created by Yuki Yamada of Group Finity, Shimejis are tiny, fan-made animated characters that wander around your computer’s desktop. Shimejis.xyz was created by Jarno Le Conté, a Dutch web designer and animation fan who wanted to bring the Shimeji program from your desktop to your actual internet browser. There are now hundreds of Shimeji characters from popular video games, animes, Disney movies, and webcomics to choose from, with fans constantly adding more adorable characters every day. You can download the Chrome extension or visit Shimejis.xyz to get your own.
As a Japanese creation that was modified by a Dutch web designer, Shimejis.xyz shows the truly global focus the #GenXYZ community has. If you want to see more great #WebsiteWednesdays, be sure to keep reading our blog. And make sure you follow @xyz on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more great .xyz use cases.
Starting today, .Storage domains are available to the general public for one standard registration fee, with no premiums, reserved names, or verification required. That’s right – all .Storage domains, including 1-character domains like i.Storage, 2-character domains like LA.Storage, and valuable keywords like Safe.Storage can be registered for as low as $46/month per domain at registrars like Gandi, GoDaddy, and Name.com (12-month commitment, prices may vary by registrar).
But great names like these won’t be around forever, so be sure you get the best .Storage domains before someone else does! You can save thousands by registering new .Storage names instead of old domains in the aftermarket. Here are a few recommended domains based on recent aftermarket sales listings:
| Available .Storage domains | Aftermarket alternative | Aftermarket list price |
|---|---|---|
| Longterm.Storage | LongtermStorage.com | $97,500 |
| Paperless.Storage | PaperlessStorage.com | $94,888 |
| Oklahoma.StorageOKC.Storage | OklahomaCityMiniStorage.com | $27,300 |
| California.StorageCold.Storage | CaliforniaColdStorage.com | $10,000 |
Still need more information to help you make a decision? Consider this:
For more inspiration, check out some of our favorite active .Storage websites at www.Go.Storage/live, or claim your space at one of our authorized registrars.
