XYZ knows that the internet of tomorrow is being built by the minds of children today. That’s why we’re excited to announce our partnership with Junior Achievement (JA) to invest in the future of young entrepreneurs in a meaningful, hands-on way.
Every year, approximately 10,000 high school students from 65 regions across the United States participate in the JA Company Program®, where juniors and seniors (and a few lucky sophomores!) learn how to run their own company by developing a business plan, operating within an organizational structure, and even liquidating at the end of the program.
This year, JA and XYZ are taking this 13-week intensive entrepreneurship program even further by implementing a company website development component for three regions: Southern California, Austin, and Ft. Lauderdale. With over 50 businesses launching in these areas, each one will receive a free .xyz domain, Weebly website builder, and WHOIS privacy protection.
“Junior Achievement is excited to partner with XYZ to enhance the authentic startup experience for students in the JA Company Program®. Branding, web presence, marketing, and sales are crucial to business success and now JA students have access to additional resources that have the potential to increase current business performance and inform their future entrepreneurial endeavors.” – Andy Schenck, Curator – Entrepreneurship Experiences, Junior Achievement USA.
Since this is probably the first time many of these students will be building out a website, we’ve developed a microsite with tips and resources to help them get started (students: ask your teachers for the password). And to help these young business leaders make the most of their unique opportunities, Team XYZ will be visiting a handful of schools in the Southern California area to train classes on choosing the right domains for their business, how to build their websites, and other best practices.
XYZ’s partnership with the innovative JA Company Program® is just another example of our dedication to helping the next generation of entrepreneurs get online with .xyz. XYZ also has a longstanding history with partners like CoderDojo, Product Forge, General Assembly, and Hustle N’ Code. Be sure to follow us @XYZ on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of our trips to the classrooms, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the program’s progress!
For students in need of assistance, click on the link below for access to videos, how-tos, FAQs, and more (ask your teachers for the password). And don’t forget to message us once your website is live for a chance to get featured in our weekly #WebsiteWednesday series!
PublicSpace.xyz – GoDaddy customer (United States)
Turn up your cassette player, grab a couple of floppy disks, and pour yourself some lean because this week’s #WebsiteWednesday is PublicSpace.xyz.
PublicSpace.xyz is fashion designer Eric Wu’s love letter to vaporwave and the people who make it. Wu started designing with a highly successful KickStarter campaign for festival-ready athletic shorts: Wu & Y: Art on Active Wear Shorts. The shorts were popular with the running community and the festival crowd, and so Wu launched WU & Y as a brand, which then proved to be a massive hit within the vaporwave community. Now, PublicSpace.xyz sells high-quality, Los Angeles made clothing with designs sourced from Wu and artists around the world. It even scored Wu a platform on the Huffington Post, where he talks about the power of clothing and entrepreneurship.
If you’re unfamiliar with vaporwave, that’s ok. It’s a micro-genre of electronic music that combines the vibrancy of Japan in the 80s with the feeling of booting up Windows 95, set to a washed out disco beat that’s been warped with editing software. Trust us, it’s good to listen to. Well, if you’re into it at least.
The oldest post millennials are turning 20 this year. PublicSpace.xyz is about as generation Z as it gets.
Wu smartly incorporated .xyz into his social media handles on Instagram as @PublicSpace.xyz with more than 20,000 followers, and on Facebook as /ThePublicSpacexyz. Not only does it cover the three generations that vaporwave touches, but it also looks heckin cool.
Last week, XYZ was honored with two out of four Timmy Awards: one for Best Tech Workplace for Diversity, and another for our CEO, Daniel Negari, as Best Tech Manager. This was following an already eventful September, which included speaking at the Marketplace Master automotive conference, an appearance at TechDay LA 2017, meeting with GoDaddy at their new office in Hiawatha, and catching up with our partners at WorldHostingDays. Check out our event recap video below to watch all of September’s great moments!
XYZ and CEO Daniel Negari were both recognized as leaders in the tech community with two Tech in Motion Timmy Awards – for “Best Tech Workplace for Diversity” and “Best Tech Manager”. Being selected from a field of more than 120 nominees and joining previous winners like Constant Contact, Dollar Shave Club, Venmo, and Trip Advisor was an incredible honor for us.
“XYZ prides itself on attracting talent from different backgrounds to bring diversity to the office and help the company grow through contrasting vantage points. Our team’s diversity has become one of our greatest assets in making .xyz the go-to domain ending for the next generation of innovators in 230 countries and territories.” – Shayan Rostam, Global Director, XYZ
The Marketplace Master conference in Dallas, Texas, drew hundreds of car dealers from around the country. Shayan addressed attendees in his keynote, titled “Increase SEO with Digital Automotive Real Estate,” and spoke on a panel about successful digital marketing strategies for dealerships. Dealers learned firsthand about the benefits of .Cars/.Car/.Auto domains, and even interacted with one the whole week, since the conference’s official website was MarketplaceMaster.Auto.
GoDaddy has always been a great partner for us, and we reached a big milestone together when we passed 100,000 .xyz domains at GoDaddy in September 2016. Fast forward to September 2017, and there are now nearly 200,000 .xyz domains registered at GoDaddy! The timing was also appropriate, since we were just at their newly renovated office in Hiawatha, Iowa to discuss strategy for the year ahead. We were also excited to find last year’s celebratory gift on display, albeit empty. Thanks again for a great time, GoDaddy!
WorldHostingDays USA drew hosting and cloud professionals from across the internet to Las Vegas. We saw GoDaddy’s CEO, Blake Irving, moderate an interesting panel with hosting giants like Intel, and had many great meetings with our retail partners. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get notified about our October sales!
The #XYZsquad also made an appearance at TechDay LA to mix it up with startups and entrepreneurs. It’s always fun to help new businesses pick out their .xyz domains, as well as run into some of our loyal customers at the event.
We first met Majesty Alliance, a new platform connecting investors with startups, at TechDay LA. They loved .xyz and Generation XYZ community so much that they even invited us to do an interview with their CEO a few weeks later. The interview covered a ton of great topics to help entrepreneurs kick off their businesses, so stay tuned for the full interview coming to our blog soon!
XYZ also made an appearance at the Vietnamese Online Marketing Forum with our partners at MatBao and ChiLi. Attendees of the show received special deals on .xyz domains with website builders, as well as limited edition MatBao/XYZ swag. And VOMF was just the beginning – XYZ will be at many more events in Asia next month!
September was a great month for XYZ and we have a lot in store for October, so be sure to come back next month for all the amazing highlights. In the meantime, remember to check the XYZ blog every Wednesday to read our #WebsiteWednesdays, and get daily updates on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!
Goetze.xyz – 1&1 customer (Germany)
Sissi Goetze is one of Germany’s most sought after men’s wear designers. Goetze.xyz’s clothes have been featured in Vogue, GQ, Elle, TenMag, ZOO Magazine, Men’s Health, and more. She’s been interviewed by i-D Germany, has her own perfume, GOETZE, created with famous perfumier Mark Buxton, and has been featured by We Shall Run, and Not Just A Label. So when Goetze wanted to stand out online as much as her groundbreaking collections, she made a .xyz website.
Goetze’s designs draw influence from disparate, iconic male archetypes. The resulting synthesis produces simple, elegant menswear or unisex essentials with architectural aspects and contradictory elements. Goetze’s clothing has taken the fashion world by storm, and has earned Sissi accolades and features in the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, and Berlin Fashion Week.
Goetze.xyz and the corresponding branding effort make an excellent case-study for the effectiveness of a LastName.xyz domain to unify marketing across platforms seamlessly and affordably. It shows that creators around the world are turning to .xyz not only as a unique way to display their work, but to increase views as well.
Sissi Goetze’s work can be found internationally, but only Goetze.xyz has everything. If you’re interested in following Sissi Goetze, sign up for her newsletter or connect with her on Facebook (@goetzexyz) and Instagram (@goetze.xyz). For more amazing .xyz users, follow XYZ on Instagram.
JHill.xyz – Namecheap customer (United States)
JHill.xyz is the online home for all of Jason “J” Hill’s artwork. A senior character artist for Respawn Entertainment, you can find J’s artwork in games like Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Evolve. But the only place to find all of his projects is through JHill.xyz.
JHill.xyz is a perfect example of an artist using their .xyz domain to give their portfolio a personalized, professional look. J used to have his work scattered across the internet on various portfolio sites. By choosing JHill.xyz, he centralized his online presence and gave his fans a proper portal to his work, opening up his ability to connect and expanding his opportunities to get noticed.
Though J is a digital artist and sculptor whose art has primarily appeared in video games, J also produces how-to videos for thousands of subscribers on YouTube. He makes videos to “motivate people to follow their interests, to grow their passions, and to pursue their interest in art and design.” From complex, technique-driven videos on rendering and ZBrush sketching, to basic videos about anatomy, proportions, and surface textures, JHill.xyz has tutorials any artist could want, no matter their skill level. Original creations and iconic monsters fill his portfolio, many of which have had their creation process broken down into simple steps to help others grow similar skills.
You can follow all of J’s projects on Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Twitch, and Facebook. To see more amazing artists that use .xyz domains, follow XYZ on Instagram.
