GoDaddy CEO Videotapes Himself Killing An Elephant

Malte · April 1, 2011

Soo, who wants to be affiliated with this.. ugh... man:

http://www.businessinsider.com/godaddy-ceo-videotapes-himself-killing-an-elephant-2011-3

Malte

Malte · June 1, 2011

http://twitter.com/#!/MarkhamBennett/status/75661022479925248

I cannot believe you still partner with and promote this company. Makes me ashamed to be your customer. :cry Are you tied to a multi-year contract with them or what's keeping you from switching partner?

Don't tarnish the SmugMug name.

Malte

Zanotti · June 3, 2011

205

Sam · June 3, 2011

I believe Go Daddy is planing to have Danica Kill a whale with an exploding harpoon. Should be more fun than the elephant.

Sam

Art Scott · June 3, 2011

Malte wrote: »

Soo, who wants to be affiliated with this.. ugh... man:

http://www.businessinsider.com/godaddy-ceo-videotapes-himself-killing-an-elephant-2011-3

Malte

I have been with Godaddy longer than I have been with Smugmug...and I also researched and read about the damage these elephants were doing to the crops in that area......what most people do not take into account is that the Govts. throughout Africa do not allow most to own guns and especially guns of that calibre, also the money paid by Bob to the Govt, state, village and the guide brought money into the area......also the elephant was not shot and stuffed and is not now standing in the GoDaddy Offices...the whole elephant went to the people of the area...not just one village but neighboring villages...no one filled a freezer with meat...it was eaten with in a short period of time.........

I see nothing wrong with what Bob did.....but then again i kill for food not trophies......give me a yearling deer over a 5 yr old with a massive rack, give a doe over a buck any day.......

Art Scott · June 3, 2011

Sam wrote: »

I believe Go Daddy is planing to have Danica Kill a whale with an exploding harpoon. Should be more fun than the elephant.

Sam

bob Might be avble to get Danica or Jillian to go on a hunt with the Natives of northern Alaska (Barrow) if he asks nicely

Zanotti · June 3, 2011

Sam wrote: »

I believe Go Daddy is planing to have Danica Kill a whale with an exploding harpoon. Should be more fun than the elephant.

Sam

In a bikini?

digger2 · June 9, 2011

Umm
Seems like we all do.

Malte wrote: »

Soo, who wants to be affiliated with this.. ugh... man:

http://www.businessinsider.com/godaddy-ceo-videotapes-himself-killing-an-elephant-2011-3

Malte

Malte · June 9, 2011

digger2 wrote: »

Seems like we all do.

Yes. That's what the excuses and mockery is telling me. But the silence from SmugMug is vastly more telling. Double-ugh.

Malte

catspaw · June 9, 2011

CEO's are replaceable. that guy isn't the company, nor is the company that guy.

*shrug* my POV

digger2 · June 9, 2011

It really is a bigger issue
We could probaly find issues with most companies that we deal with.
Is a toyota Prius clean? Sure, but it's battery technology is disgusting.
And so on. However, should i stop doing business with everyone who buys one?
Same with meat eaters to a vegan. Where do you draw the line? You can personally withdraw your $$ from go daddy by not using there domain service but thats your privelage.
I have other things that are more of an issue to me, like finding a cure for my friends MS.

Malte wrote: »

Yes. That's what the excuses and mockery is telling me. But the silence from SmugMug is vastly more telling. Double-ugh.

Malte

Malte · June 10, 2011

catspaw wrote: »

CEO's are replaceable. that guy isn't the company, nor is the company that guy.

*shrug* my POV

That guy is definately the company. If Don and the MacAskills weren't the heads of SmugMug, would SmugMug be SmugMug?

Malte

Malte · June 10, 2011

digger2 wrote: »

We could probaly find issues with most companies that we deal with.
Is a toyota Prius clean? Sure, but it's battery technology is disgusting.
And so on. However, should i stop doing business with everyone who buys one?
Same with meat eaters to a vegan. Where do you draw the line? You can personally withdraw your $$ from go daddy by not using there domain service but thats your privelage.
I have other things that are more of an issue to me, like finding a cure for my friends MS.

It's not as far-reaching to me, as it seems to be for you. A company that I want to continue to endorse can't be activley promoting another, in my opinion, immoral company. I guess that's where I draw the line.

Much love to you for fighting your friend's illness.

Malte

Fishrising · June 10, 2011

Art Scott wrote: »

I have been with Godaddy longer than I have been with Smugmug...and I also researched and read about the damage these elephants were doing to the crops in that area......what most people do not take into account is that the Govts. throughout Africa do not allow most to own guns and especially guns of that calibre, also the money paid by Bob to the Govt, state, village and the guide brought money into the area......also the elephant was not shot and stuffed and is not now standing in the GoDaddy Offices...the whole elephant went to the people of the area...not just one village but neighboring villages...no one filled a freezer with meat...it was eaten with in a short period of time.........

I see nothing wrong with what Bob did.....but then again i kill for food not trophies......give me a yearling deer over a 5 yr old with a massive rack, give a doe over a buck any day.......

As a fellow hunter, I am with you on this one Art!

Sam · June 10, 2011

I didn't see or hear of any attempts to drive away or discourage the elephants from doing what elephants do, "eat".

I seriously doubt this guy was just driving down the road willy nilly and some farmer came out and asked him for his help.

The story is disingenuous at best.

That said there are times when wild animals must be destroyed. That doesn't mean you celebrate it. This would be a time of sadness.

I don't use GoDaddy and can't see any reason to ever use them.

Sam

Malte · June 11, 2011

Sam wrote: »

I didn't see or hear of any attempts to drive away or discourage the elephants from doing what elephants do, "eat".

I seriously doubt this guy was just driving down the road willy nilly and some farmer came out and asked him for his help.

The story is disingenuous at best.

That said there are times when wild animals must be destroyed. That doesn't mean you celebrate it. This would be a time of sadness.

I don't use GoDaddy and can't see any reason to ever use them.

Sam

Thank you Sam.

Malte

richy · June 11, 2011

We all have to share this planet and we all have a right to be here. As we encroach (in some times illegally) into wild territory we get the animals we displace being forced out of their ever decreasing habitat.

There are times when there is no other option, but I doubt in this case the scenario was that all other options were exhausted so they called bob and he flew over to sort it out. He most likely will have paid to go over there and help. Somebody will be making money off it. Wherever money is involved there is the temptation for those with very little to do anything to get more. It is not outside the bounds of reality they see rich foreign idiots willing to pay money to 'help' with a problem, then ensure they get a few to shoot at to ensure they come back next year and pay to 'help' some more.

No doubt it elephants could use the internet there would be forums full of them complaining about those annoying little creatures stealing their land / food / water.

Whilst elephants have massive ranges they can be transplanted. I would have had far more respect for Bob if he used his undoubtedly considerable resources to have the elephants darted and transplanted to reserves.

To be clear, I am not anti hunting, Bambi taste bloody marvelous thank you and growing up in the country I have no qualms about where my food comes from and obtaining my own. However, it seems very clear that this ideal of 'helping' with problem elephants is massively open to abuse to the detriment of the elephants and the financial benefit of those organizing the junkets. Jasper Carrots method of dealing with moles ("just blow its bloody head off") is not always the right answer. We are also morally compelled when we create the problem to take a little pain in solving it in a slightly less destructive manner.

I don't use godaddy, I wasn't aware smugmug did. I don't expect smugmug will change anything because of this nor are they obliged to. It would be nice if it were otherwise but morals < $$$ which is just a basic fact of our society. However we are all free to make our own choices which is the best we can do and expect.

Malte · June 11, 2011

richy wrote: »

We all have to share this planet and we all have a right to be here. As we encroach (in some times illegally) into wild territory we get the animals we displace being forced out of their ever decreasing habitat.

There are times when there is no other option, but I doubt in this case the scenario was that all other options were exhausted so they called bob and he flew over to sort it out. He most likely will have paid to go over there and help. Somebody will be making money off it. Wherever money is involved there is the temptation for those with very little to do anything to get more. It is not outside the bounds of reality they see rich foreign idiots willing to pay money to 'help' with a problem, then ensure they get a few to shoot at to ensure they come back next year and pay to 'help' some more.

No doubt it elephants could use the internet there would be forums full of them complaining about those annoying little creatures stealing their land / food / water.

Whilst elephants have massive ranges they can be transplanted. I would have had far more respect for Bob if he used his undoubtedly considerable resources to have the elephants darted and transplanted to reserves.

To be clear, I am not anti hunting, Bambi taste bloody marvelous thank you and growing up in the country I have no qualms about where my food comes from and obtaining my own. However, it seems very clear that this ideal of 'helping' with problem elephants is massively open to abuse to the detriment of the elephants and the financial benefit of those organizing the junkets. Jasper Carrots method of dealing with moles ("just blow its bloody head off") is not always the right answer. We are also morally compelled when we create the problem to take a little pain in solving it in a slightly less destructive manner.

I don't use godaddy, I wasn't aware smugmug did. I don't expect smugmug will change anything because of this nor are they obliged to. It would be nice if it were otherwise but morals < $$$ which is just a basic fact of our society. However we are all free to make our own choices which is the best we can do and expect.

Thanks Richy.

Malte

racer · June 12, 2011

I have no respect for someone who shoots a threatened species for publicity, but I really didnt like the company anyway based on there commercials. This guy seems to want to give the image of being some sort of tough guy, who can have any women he wants, drink more beer then anyone else, and kill any dangerous animal. I would guess that this guy is highly insecure with his masculinity, and seen this as a opportunity to portray himself as societies flawed perception of being masculine.
He had two options, he could have showed his compassion for this animal and the world, by relocating this threatened species, being the hero, saving it from certain death. He picked the second option, being totally selfish and shooting it for personal satisfaction and publicity. Although I am not surprised, seeing that he runs a company that he promotes with "cleavage", ads with women in the style of objects/property.

This guy is just a example of some major flaws in our society.

Malte · June 12, 2011

racer wrote: »

I have no respect for someone who shoots a threatened species for publicity, but I really didnt like the company anyway based on there commercials. This guy seems to want to give the image of being some sort of tough guy, who can have any women he wants, drink more beer then anyone else, and kill any dangerous animal. I would guess that this guy is highly insecure with his masculinity, and seen this as a opportunity to portray himself as societies flawed perception of being masculine.
He had two options, he could have showed his compassion for this animal and the world, by relocating this threatened species, being the hero, saving it from certain death. He picked the second option, being totally selfish and shooting it for personal satisfaction and publicity. Although I am not surprised, seeing that he runs a company that he promotes with "cleavage", ads with women in the style of objects/property.

This guy is just a example of some major flaws in our society.

Appreciate it Todd.

Malte

Andy · June 12, 2011

Malte wrote: »

But the silence from SmugMug is vastly more telling. Double-ugh.

Malte

I posted about this many, many times on our Facebook page when the whole thing came out weeks ago.

Malte, I don't like what the guy did either. But we have been able to be very very efficient with godaddy and domains for SmugMug customers. It's saved us a ton of time, energy and Support. Switching now would just mean a disruption in our product plan and we have things that you and others are demanding we get out the door, so we're gonna stick to that plan.

Thanks for your passion, it's something I've always loved about you!

Malte · June 12, 2011

Andy wrote:

I posted about this many, many times on our Facebook page when the whole thing came out weeks ago.

From now back to March 8, when the elephant died, the only related SmugMug post on Facebook that I'm able to find is this one:

"SmugMug Tip of the Week! Get your custom domain hooked up with your SmugMug site in 3 easy steps http://smu.gs/lmcerq

June 2 at 7:18pm"

If you mean that you've responded to other people's comments about this there would be no way for me to know about it at the time, or to my knowledge, be able to find it now. If you're able to bring those comments up, I would sure love to read them.

Andy wrote:

Malte, I don't like what the guy did either. But we have been able to be very very efficient with godaddy and domains for SmugMug customers. It's saved us a ton of time, energy and Support.

So, like Richy said "morals < $$$". Here's how I see it. You take money from your customers to register a domain. Nevermind if you take no cut, doesn't matter. That money then finances Bob parsons' habit of travelling the world killing magnificent creatures. Is that something SmugMug wants to stand for?

Andy wrote:

Switching now would just mean a disruption in our product plan and we have things that you and others are demanding we get out the door, so we're gonna stick to that plan.

You could make a public statement that this partnership will end as soon as it's technically feasible. Done.

Andy wrote:

Thanks for your passion, it's something I've always loved about you!

You are very welcome.

Malte

richy · June 13, 2011

Thanks for the statement and the support Andy, it's appreciated. I wasn't aware re the comments on facebook. I'm not sure godaddy is significantly cheaper than say enom, but switching over from one supplier to another and working with the new api's and the migration would be significant to say the least (correct me if I'm wrong), as you couldn't push the domains, you'd have to do a full migration or just migrate when they are renewed which again is a huge pita.

It would be a nice gesture, and I am not being arsey when I say morals < $$$, its a simple fact. The company will rate any idea based on how much of a huge pita it will be to do and how much it will cost vs the benefit. Any company will do this. Maybe at some point in the future it would be nice to switch, an idea to keep on the back burner.

The flip side if of course that for some people (and as folks roughly in charge of our own lives with no shareholders, owners etc to appease and staff to be responsible for we have that luxury) what he did is enough to ensure we don't do business with him if at all possible. For those who want to stay at SM who have a domain and don't wish to support GD then I guess in theory you can transfer your domain elsewhere but you then have to be responsible for paying for it and configuring it and SM have to put effort into allowing the transfer out (assuming they do allow this). I have no idea how sm domains work, I just bought my own from where I normally buy domains (servintdomains.com who are an enom reseller).

Molotov Everything · June 25, 2011

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20074046-17/godaddy-nearing-deal-to-be-acquired-for-$2.5-billion/
Well it looks like godaddy is going to be purchased by some private equity firms, and who knows what Parson's role in the company will be after the sale. He might be left as CEO, put on a board of directors, or maybe just retire to go buy a private island and start cloning dinosaurs to hunt, who knows.
See how this all plays out but it seems like if you're unhappy with smugmug for partnering with godaddy, the course of action would be to stop using smugmug and let them know why (assuming you currently have a smugmug account).

ThatCanonGuy · July 2, 2011

I have to say, I agree with this thread. Maybe I'll switch my domain. This could be an alternative to Godaddy: https://www.google.com/a/cpanel/domain/new

When you're seeing if your domain name is available, at the bottom of the page where it tells you, it says "Powered by GoDaddy." Click Learn More, and choose eNom.

chrisjohnson · July 3, 2011

Check out www.nodaddy.com, and be quick because it goes offline in a few days. Lots more reasons to be concerned when you use godaddy. Not people I would choose to partner with personally.

TBandura · July 18, 2011

Agreed, I've never been a huge fan of GoDaddy, and it seems like people in a position of power like that can get away with a disturbing amount of things considering how much publicity they get for it.

Yaflyyadie · August 16, 2011

fishrising wrote: »

as a fellow hunter, i am with you on this one art!

^ x 3

GREAT REPLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

zoomer · August 16, 2011

Not intending to poke the bear.
If it weren't for sport hunters and the enormous amounts of money they pay to hunt these animals there would be no protection for these animals and they would have been killed off many years ago. This is the same money that is used to hire people to protect these animals from poachers.
Sorely needed money for the economies of the regions they are hunted in. Typically the meat would alway go to the local inhabitants.

GoDaddy CEO Videotapes Himself Killing An Elephant

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