As the year comes to a close, not only should we all reflect upon the successes and any failures of the year in order to grow from the lessons contained in each, we should also set aside some time to simply celebrate.  Celebration has manifested in multiple forms here at HostGator this year, and we’ve had a lot to celebrate.  It had been a truly great year, full of very positive change and we’re all looking forward to what the new year will bring.

We had our annual holiday party recently, but before we get into those pictures I wanted to share with you the tree that was set up in one of our Houston buildings last week:

Every tree needs a topper; some sort of symbol or designation that sets the tone for the season and for the tree itself.  Apparently for a HostGator tree, that symbol is Darth Malgus, of “Star Wars: The Old Republic” fame.  It’s starting to look like this tree was decorated by, well, nerds.  There’s the aforementioned jack-o-lantern again.  Also, we see an Ethernet cable and a network switch; further supporting this nerd theory.  And is that a telephone receiver?  Let’s take a further look:

Yes, that is indeed a telephone receiver.  We also now see a couple of HostGator lanyards.  No tree would be complete without Snappy, but is that also a more realistic gator there on the left?  Yes, it does appear so.  Below, we’ll find a rubik’s cube and a keyboard:

And what nerdy tree would be complete without a couple of O’Reilly books underneath; always give the gift of learning:

Now that you’ve seen this amazing tree, we’ll move right along to the company party.  The Houston party was held at Dave & Busters, a Texas-based restaurant and entertainment complex.

The series of pictures will best tell the tale of the company party; we ate, we drank, we played games.  It went something like this:

It’s safe to say that a good time was had by all.  We came together as a company to celebrate our successes and share some time together.  Thank you, from the bottom of our collective heart, for allowing us to have such a great year and we look forward to serving you for many, many years to come.  Have a safe and happy holiday and new year from all of your friends here at HostGator!

HostGator.com was registered on October 22nd, 2002; Ten years ago today.  A lot has happened in that time, but we have remained true to the initial vision for the company throughout. It is with great pride and a strong sense of achievement that we acknowledge this anniversary.

Customer Service remains king here at HostGator.  It is the foundation upon which the entire company has been built.  We have had our growing pains, and learned the inherent lessons therein, but we have never wavered from that initial desire to provide outstanding Customer Service.

As we leave our single-digit years behind and walk confidently into our double-digits, we are stronger and more ready to take on the future than ever before.  We thank every single one of you who have allowed us to serve you over the years, and we welcome everyone to continue walking with us on this amazing journey.

Do you follow us on Twitter and Facebook? If so, you could win free hosting or even one of our infamous and coveted plush Snappys!  We will be doing random give-aways all day today in celebration of our anniversary.  Like us on FaceBook and follow us on Twitter for your chance to win!  In fact, leaving a comment on this very blog post could potentially be worthwhile as well, but be sure to use a valid email address.

And without further ado: Happy Birthday, Snappy!

In 1936, Life magazine estimated that 6% of Americans had a tattoo.  Undoubtedly, this was mostly comprised of sailors or other military personnel and likely also a carnival sideshow entertainer or two.  In March 2005, The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology determined that 24% of the general U.S. population had at least one tattoo.  HostGator presently has about 850 employees in Texas.  We were able to wrench 619 of those Gators away from more important tasks in order to survey them.  We found that 244 of the 619 had at least one tattoo.  If we guesstimate the math to the best of our ability, we find that just over 40% of HostGator employees are tattooed.

In recent years, there seemed to be more and more professional athletes turning up with visible tattoos.  Of the 431 players in the NBA, 233 (or roughly 54%) have tattoos.  Aside from the NBA, there seems to be very little statistical information regarding tattoos as related to various industries.

In 2008, seventy percent of tattooed Americans needed to hide the ink for their jobs.  Visible tattoos are essentially a non-issue at HostGator; we have non-tattooed as well as heavily-tattooed people throughout all levels of the company.  You’ll find tattoos on our front-line Jr. Administrators as well as members of upper Management.

Some other interesting statistics: 17% of those who have a tattoo have considered having it removed and 5% have subsequently covered a tattoo with a different design.  When broken down by political party, 15% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans and 13% of Independents are tattooed.

The Pew Research Center, in February 2010, stated that 15% of 18-25 year olds think that the increase in people being tattooed has caused a positive impact, while 60% of 18-25 year olds think that the increase in people being tattooed has caused no discernible impact.  It’s been said that the only difference between a tattooed person and a non-tattooed person is that the tattooed person doesn’t at all mind that the non-tattooed person doesn’t have a tattoo.

Whether you view tattoos as an art form, a tool of rebellion or a downright disgrace it’s clearly something that is forever etched in numerous cultures and shows no sign of declining in popularity.  Tattoos aren’t just for sailors, rock stars and the yakuza anymore.  The doctor or EMT that saved your (or a loved ones) life might very well be tattooed.  Also the police officer who pulled you over for speeding, but let you go with just a warning (this time!).  The judge you had to stand before last time when the police officer wasn’t so understanding about your speeding… possibly even the lawyer who was in the courtroom that day.  We now know there is a 40% chance that the HostGator System Administrator who resolved your last issue and brought your server back to life from the brink of certain death is tattooed.

Several Gators decided to share some of our tattoos with you.  Please enjoy the following slideshow containing actual tattoos of actual HostGator staff, from our Houston and Austin offices:

HostGator is proud to have presented the 2012 Tour Du Rouge, benefiting the Gulf Coast chapters of The American Red Cross.  The ride traversed five hundred and twenty-six miles, beginning in Houston on May 6th and ending in New Orleans on May 11th, at an average of 88 miles each day.  HostGator designed the awesome jerseys visible in the images below, as well as t-shirts and lots of other event graphics.  Allan, one of our Admins who participated in the ride this year, was kind enough to share some of his experiences with us.

The morning of the ride began with a performance of The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by a group prayer.  After the ceremonies, a police escort (complete with horse-mounted officers) accompanied the riders from the starting point in Northeast Houston through to the first major freeway, about five miles away.  Beaumont would be the destination for day one.  Allan completed this 88 mile trek in just under 5 hours, despite some rough patches of road along the way.  The image below is from the starting line, with Allan front and center, notice those stylish HostGator jerseys!

Day two would take the riders from Beaumont through Port Arthur and ultimately over the bridge, across the state border into Louisiana. The group stopped for lunch on Holly Beach before hitting the road again and enjoying the scenic Gulf Coast view; finally bedding down in the city of Sulpher, Louisiana.  Allan would traverse these 93 miles once again in just under 5 hours.

Day three held the longest single stretch of the tour; just over 100 miles, from Sulphur to Abbeville.  The day began around 6:30a, in order to get a head start of the inevitably blaring sun.  Unfortunately, Allan experienced a flat tire around mile 3 on a particularly bad patch of road.  This day would turn out to be his most difficult, as he also suffered a knee injury fairly early in the day.  Things began to turn around during the lunch stop in Mermentau, though and Allan was able to finish the day strong.  He made it to Abbeville in about 6 1/2 hours; 30 minutes before the pouring rain.  The weather would prove to be more of an adversary as the tour continued, though.

Day four would deliver the riders into Morgan City, Louisiana.  Breakfast at a local café that morning included an a capella performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by the café owner’s son.  Later in the day, the riders paid a visit to Avery Island for a tour of the famous Tabasco factory and it’s attached store, which reportedly had some rarely-seen, but absolutely amazing Tabasco chipotle raspberry ice cream.  Allan spent just over 4 hours on this 78 mile trek; by this point, the riders had now covered a total of over 360 miles.

Day five took the riders across the Mississippi River and into Gonzales, Louisiana.  All told, this would be the least eventful day for the tour.  The highlight was the lunch stop at St. Joseph Plantation that included some log cabin style, old-timey school houses.  In hindsight, it would be the calm before the (quite literal) storm that would rain down upon the riders on the final leg of their journey.

The final day of the ride would prove to be a fitting end of a long journey.  Destination: New Orleans, Louisiana! Following a slightly confusing (and last minute) re-routing of the riders’ path, Allan and the others would battle fierce wind and sudden downpours as the weather finally decided to let loose on the riders after many threats earlier in the week.  Allan would cross the finish line having spent just over 4 1/2 hours on the final 84 miles of the tour.

With the ride now behind them, and the riders now in dry clothes (at least temporarily), the group gathered at the New Orleans Police Department for an escort into downtown ‘Nawlins.  Despite the continuing wind and rain, the riders were warmly greeted by not only a cheering crowd, but also an impressive live band.

Clearly at this point, the only reasonable thing left to do was spend the evening on Bourbon Street in celebration of a ride well ridden.  We’d like to share a picture from Bourbon Street, but to be honest, they’re all a little bit blurry for some reason or another… All told, Allan’s GPS reports a total of 532.7 miles covered, with a total ride time of 29hrs 43mins 30secs over the course of six days.  The 2012 Tour du Rouge was now in the history books.

Our sincere appreciation to The American Red Cross and all those who took part in the 2012 Tour du Rouge, especially the riders themselves and our very own fearless Admin Allan who was kind enough to not only share his experience with us, but also the following pictures:

We are fortunate enough to have some very loyal followers who like to show their appreciation in unusual and creative ways.  This goes all the way back to the early days of HostGator, when none other than crunk rapper Lil Jon offered to introduce Brent to some ladies at his show in Florida, in appreciation for Brent having personally assisted him with some technical issues.  Another random caller once offered to send Brent some weed, via the US Postal Service for the same reason.  For the record, both of these offers were respectfully declined.  These days, it’s not terribly unusual to receive the occasional gift basket at the office, but please no more offers of groupies or drugs.

Here’s a couple examples of the art we’ve received:

This Snappy was done by a child of
one of our Customers.

Back when we sponsored the Joe Nemecheck
NASCAR, we received a few racing-themed
comic strips starring Snappy. Please click
on the image to see the whole series.

More recently, a Customer named Richard called us up for some assistance on his account and ended up singing us a song he wrote by the name of “GatorBill Me.”  The recording of the call is posted below along with the lyrics. By way of explanation, the acronym “PSR” stands for Preferred Support Representatives; Richard’s term for our Jr. Admins.  Without further ado, please enjoy:

GatorBill Me

I love my webhost
I love my VPS
Just like I love my mom
And I love my PSRs at my host
They teach me “how to host”

But best of all
I love the hosting HostGator gives me
Don’t talk; shut up
Just GatorBill me
‘Cause I’m feeling kind of creative today
And the business plan makes it easier

My PSRs are great
All they do is help and they encourage me
And I love the Help desk
They’re always available
Even on Christmas day.

But best of all
I love the hosting HostGator gives me
Don’t talk; shut up
Just GatorBill me
‘Cause I’m feeling kind of creative today
And the reseller plans makes it easier

Better off on a VPS
Than to use the shared plan
The control, the ease, the price
Host my site on Gator server one

I love the hosting HostGator gives me
Don’t talk; shut up
Just GatorBill me
‘Cause I’m feeling kind of creative today
And the dedis plan makes it easier

QuickInstall!

QuickInstall!

If you’d like to hear some more “GatorBill Me,” Richard also sent us an .mp3 that he recorded himself:

This saga does not end here. Having been inspired by “GatorBill Me,” a certain HostGator employee, who has requested to remain anonymous, decided to pen their own Gator song as well. Though a recording of this does not exist at this time, perhaps enough public outcry could convince this employee to grace us with a recorded version of their song:

Ode to HostGator

One, two, three and to tha four
Everything you need comes knockin’ at your door
Not really at your door, through your internet connection
Sitebuilders, templates…. what’s that, you need lessons?
Video tutorials; don’t forget the KB
Check it for yourself, don’t take it from me!

What’s that you say, you need a web host?
I’ll tell ya one time, who’s the host with the most
Go on sign up, you can thank me later
Wicky-wicky, wut-wut, check out HostGator

The top-notch staff, always happy to assist
Via chats, phones, twitter and tickets!
twenty-four seven, three sixty-five
Never chat bots, this help is alive!
Money back guarantee, never any hidden fees
If you can find a better host, sign up with them, please!

What’s that you say, you need a web host?
I’ll tell ya one time, who’s the host with the most
Go on sign up, you can thank me later
Wicky-wicky, wut-wut, check out HostGator

If these artistic offerings happen to have inspired you, we’d love to hear your Gator-themed musical stylings or see your Gator-themed artwork.  Feel absolutely free to leave a poem in the comments, or you can certainly always email us at feedback@hostgator.com, ATTN: Blog.

Toilet paper is serious business. It’s genuinely a severely overlooked and under-appreciated medium of information distribution; believe that! Fortunately, http://www.getshitter.com can assist in elevating toilet paper to a more appropriate level of respect, by taking your twitter feed and turning it into toilet paper. What you subsequently do with said toilet paper would then be completely up to you.

As we all learned from the classic Pauly Shore cinematic masterpiece Bio-Dome, the most effective means of instituting change, or raising awareness, is to think globally and act locally. The month of April contains both Earth Day (April 22nd) and Arbor Day (April 27th).  As you may already know, back in 2008 HostGator took the initiative of becoming a Green webhost, which you can read even more about here.  With environmentalism in the air this month, we thought it would be appropriate to discuss toilet paper and the trees that make toilet paper possible. Because like toilet paper, trees are also serious business.

I’m going to stop beating around the bush, not because a bush could potentially make for decent TP, but because toilet paper conservation is something that deserves significantly more attention than it presently receives.  At least once per day, you hold in your hand a number of 4.25 inch squares that could change the world, if you held less of them at a time.  Twenty-seven thousand trees give their lives daily to supply the world with toilet paper.  That is not a typo; that’s a 27, followed by a comma and 3 zeros.  Don’t take my word for it; go ask National Geographic.

Thinking globally may lead you to discover General Sherman, a giant sequoia tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California.  The General is one of the tallest, widest, longest-lived and most famous trees in existence, therefore unlikely to ever become toilet paper.  Another unlikely TP candidate would be a certain White Cedar located in the Great Lakes area of Canada: it’s 155 years old and less than 4 inches tall.

In acting locally, we began here in our own offices by purchasing GetShitter toilet paper for our restrooms to further educate all HostGator employees on trees and toilet paper conservation. To see the twitter feed we used for this purpose, click here, and please be sure that you are not easily-offended by juvenile bathroom humor… after all, Gators can be found in the sewers from time to time…

Now that we’ve appropriately addressed thinking globally and acting locally, we’re on a roll (so to speak)!  How though can we thus act globally?  Our thoughts turned to our HostGator India office, India being widely known for having a culture that does not utilize toilet paper.  In the spirit of educating, enlightening and raising awareness about environmental issues, we present this series of photos to explain how that culture accomplishes this goal:

How is showing you those pictures acting globally, you ask?  Well, it’s not.  But encouraging you to adopt the same behavior is!  Because if we want to change the world, and save some trees, then we need to take action; one ply at a time!  Interestingly, the above-pictured method is considered even more sanitary than using toilet paper.

The Arbor Day Foundation began in 1972 and now plants and distributes more than 10 million trees annually. Earth Day began in 1970 and is largely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. Please visit both of their websites to further educate yourself about potentially making a difference that could impact the entire world. What’s been around longer than both Earth Day and the Arbor Day Foundation, combined? Toilet paper, which dates back to the 6th century AD, in early medieval China. Feel free to print that fact on your roll of GetShitter.com toilet paper! Happy Earth Day and Happy Arbor Day from HostGator!

Snappy here with an important announcement!

HostGator.com has sent me a company memo this morning confirming that they are once again participating in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October and I wanted to pass the good news along to you.

Memo:
“In 1985, the search for a cure for Breast Cancer was gaining headway and AstraZeneca founded National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness of this growing cause. Thanks to the establishment of NBCAM, in October of each year, organizations across the nation focus on the fight, helping to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the race against breast cancer. HostGator.com is proud to join these organizations in their support for a cure.

So it looks like I’m going pink for October! For those of you who have loved ones who have experienced or are going through this, please give them a Snappyrific hug for me.

Have a great day and think pink.