Would anyone be interested in attending a hosting advocacy group in Southern California? Or even better, working with me to make such a thing happen? Something similar to the kind of stuff that goes on here at WHT, but in the flesh instead. I was thinking we could have speakers on relevant topics (taxes, advertising, hardware, etc.), networking, maybe even a small tradeshow.
Thoughts anyone?

This has been tried several times in the past, and always seems to fail. I had a coversation with Haralds Jaas, from Superb Internet, who was trying to start the Web Hosting Industry Association, and he could not get any of the larger players to participate.

The trick is to get a motivated membership then get the word out. If there is enough interest to start an organization -- maybe with regional chapters, I would be happy to talk to the editors at Hosting Tech to see if they will let me write an article about it. Of course, I would run something on Data Center Wire and I am sure Rewdog would talk about it on WHR, and I think Andy has plans for a hosting news site. If we could gather enough interest, and participation it could be successful.

Originally posted by uuallan
This has been tried several times in the past, and always seems to fail. I had a coversation with Haralds Jaas, from Superb Internet, who was trying to start the Web Hosting Industry Association, and he could not get any of the larger players to participate.

I don't think that we would really need Verio or people on that level to make this work. Actually, I would guess that Verio and other companies on the 100,000+ account level probably have a lot of this knowledge already in-house, and would probably spend most of their time trying to recruit resellers...Not a pleasant event to be at if you're being hounded constantly by a sales guy. Or are you talking about smaller players that are still significant?

The trick is to get a motivated membership then get the word out.

Hmm...sounds like a bit of a chicken and egg problem... :)
Thanks for the rest of your help offer though, maybe as we get more responses we can see if this will be feasible.

Originally posted by UnifiedCons

I don't think that we would really need Verio or people on that level to make this work. Actually, I would guess that Verio and other companies on the 100,000+ account level probably have a lot of this knowledge already in-house, and would probably spend most of their time trying to recruit resellers...Not a pleasant event to be at if you're being hounded constantly by a sales guy. Or are you talking about smaller players that are still significant?


Initially, I am talking about players who are smaller, but still significant. But eventually, you want people like Verio, InterLand, AT&T, etc to join. If you are going to provide hosting advocacy, you need people who have access to the advocatees, and that means larger companies who are already donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians.

Besides, frankly, larger companies have nicer and bigger conference rooms, and usually an ample supply of donuts :D.

>> The trick is to get a motivated membership then get the word out.
> Hmm...sounds like a bit of a chicken and egg problem... :)

I don't think this is a chicken/egg problem, I think uuallan is right. WHT would be a good place to start.

But maybe you should make clear what your intentions are and your goal - this will help a lot.

But maybe you should make clear what your intentions are and your goal - this will help a lot.

Well, it seems to me that a significant portion of the web hosting industry is very entrepreneurial. Most of us run companies that aren't more than a couple dozen people in size; many of us run companies that are only one or two people. I have yet to find any one person who knows everything about an industry and has time to do every job in a business by him/herself.
Talking not only with each other in the flesh, but also with people in other, related professions (CPAs, lawyers, hardware/software manufacturers, etc) seems like it would add value to all of our companies.

So to sum up, my intention/goal is to bring together web hosting providers (and associated businesspeople) for mutual benefit and enjoyment.

Ohhh you mean we all get together a few times for brewskis and write it off as 'business expenses' *hick* :D

I'm up for anything, Manhattan/Hermosa/Redondo Beach area.

I agree with Chicken.
I'll bring the salt.

Originally posted by cyansmoker

I'll bring the salt.

Cool, I'll bring the slugs (or, are we talking about something different :D)!!

If you're looking for US companies, it would make sense to have it in the central US, not the west coast.

If you're looking for US and Europe, the east coast.

Just my $0.02.

Much as I'd like to travel to the middle of the country to throw back a few (and eat some slugs?), I think a few different groups organizing themselves in the major cities would work. I'd get together with people from this area, but I didn't fly out for that expo thingy... many did however.

I think Chicken is right, a setup like LUG, PUG, or JUG makes more sense. If there is an umbrella organization, with meetings around the country, you could get more hosts involved.

Is there really a "network effect" though? That is, does it matter to the people in California how many people are part of the Boston club?

Also, I was thinking that we could maybe have something a little more organized than just brew & chat. Although brew is very important. :D
Like maybe scheduled speakers?

Oh yeah, and could the people who voted that they would be interested in a SoCal group please PM/Email me so I know how close to a "critical mass" we might be

Yes i'd even help start it, but i'm not in Southern California

Originally posted by UnifiedCons
Is there really a "network effect" though? That is, does it matter to the people in California how many people are part of the Boston club?


Yes and no. It could be modelled after the American Bar Association. Each state has its own ABA chapter, and arranges its own meetings -- that deal with issues relevent to members of the state, but there is still a national organization. The national organization is necessary to provive a unified voice to speak out for or against issues that affect the legal industry. The ABA is a good model, because it is able to successfully speak for law offices that have 300 lawyers on staff, as well as those practices with a single lawyer (check out http://www.abanet.org/).

A national voice also provides a central repository, where people can go to find out about the hosting industry, and web hosts.

Maybe I am thinking on a grander scale than you are, it sounds like what you are trying to accomplish can be done through the local chamber of commerce (i.e. meeting with local professionals who can offer advice on taxes, advertising, legal matters, etc). But I think a strong argument can be made that hosting needs a national voice that will be able to advocate on behalf of large and small hosts.