Blogs

I had probably one of the most amazing and productive trips last week. I was in Amman, Jordan to attend the 4th Arabic Script IDN Working Group meeting along with over 20 colleagues from the region. The "Arabic Script in Internationalized Domain Names - Working Group" (ASIWG) is an autonomous and self organized group formed by regional and global Internet key players interested in the integration of the Arabic script in Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

This week our CEO, Alexa Raad, and I attended the Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries (CENTR) conference in Barcelona, Spain. I was excited to provide a presentation on the DNSSEC Industry Coalition started by our company last August. The coalition includes major Internet community leaders and is working to increase understanding and widespread implementation of DNSSEC.

We are very excited to announce the debut of the .ORG Ambassador Awards at this year’s NTC Conference in San Francisco from April 26 – 28, 2009, from the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). Formed in the spirit of collaboration and community that we’re continually promoting across the .ORG domain, this year’s Ambassador will be a recognized leader! The primary category for award nominations will be in the ‘Tech Savvy’ area, noting key ways your .ORG uses technology and social media to advance your missions worldwide or in your community.

We conducted a brand survey at the end of 2008, reaching out to 10,000 Internet users across Europe and North America. We wanted to get a reading on two primary points – what types of organizations does a .ORG domain represent, and what characteristics are associated with a .ORG domain name.