Our Celebration Cookie Went to eBay Auction and Won for Charity
A couple weeks back we reached a significant milestone: our ten millionth domain name under management. One of the ways we celebrated was by commissioning the Designer Cookie to create something special for us: the OpenSRS 10,000,000 domain sugar cookie!
Each member of the Tucows’ team were given one of these celebratory sugar cookies and they were an immediate hit. Many staff (even the hungry ones), preferred to display their trophy on their desks, despite tauntings from their fellow colleagues about the deliciousness of the pastry.
We learned shortly after distributing the cookies that one of the staff had put his cookie up for auction on eBay, offering to match the winning bid with the proceeds going to the Coast to Coast Against Cancer children’s charity.
We had a fun time posting eBay questions about the cookie and having our colleague answer them, but I don’t think any of us here at OpenSRS would have guessed the final selling price for one sugar cookie would have reached $127.50!
After the auction was over, the losing bidder offered to purchase HALF the cookie for the auction price, bringing the total amount to $510 (after matching). We just couldn’t bear to have the cookie split in two, so another staff member has agreed to donate their cookie to the cause.
The winner of this limited edition trophy, was Andrew Allemann from domainnamewire.com who has a thorough recap, along with the humorous questions (and answers) asked during the auction.
Special thanks to Andrew, and the rest of the auction bidders for surprising us with your generosity!
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OpenSRS Bakes Cookies Into Its Product Lineup
First Transaction Benefits Coast to Coast Against Cancer FoundationToronto – April 16 – Tucows Inc. today announced that it has embarked on an expansion of its OpenSRS service offering to include cookies. The company’s first such cookie transaction was completed on April 15th, 2010, with the successful sale of an OpenSRS cookie by eBay auction. The final selling price of the limited edition, commemorative cookie was $127.50. Prior to the closing of that transaction, a second buyer came forward and thanks to some fast work in the Tucows kitchen, a second cookie sale was brokered. A matching fund pushed the total money raised to over $500.
Net proceeds from the sale of the cookies will be donated to The Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, a Canadian charitable organization which Tucows has been a supporter of for many years.
Coast to Coast is Canada’s only national charity devoted to fighting childhood cancer. Coast To Coast Against Cancer ensures 100% of receiptable funds raised go toward improving the survival rate and quality of life of children (and their families) impacted by cancer. Learn more at http://www.coasttocoastagainstcancer.org.
Elliot Noss, President and CEO, Tucows Inc, noted that the company is always looking to tap into new growth areas that take advantage of the depth and breadth of talents within the company.
“It’s so important for a company to understand and revisit its core competencies,” said Noss. “What do we do well? What are our assets? We have 10 million domain names under management. We have 10,000 resellers. Fine. Good. But we also have a kitchen full of mixing bowls and spoons. We have a 24-hour convenience store a half a block away that sells flour and eggs. Cookies were a natural product extension for us.”
Ross Rader, General Manager at Hover, Tucows’ retail division, spearheaded the cookie sale initiative within Tucows.
“We’re thrilled to have our first cookie sale completed,” said Rader. “And we’re especially pleased that Coast to Coast, and the kids they help, will be the real benefactor of this new auction expansion.”
The charity auction continues a tradition at Tucows to give back to the community. “It’s really a win-win-win setup for everyone involved. Coast to Coast gets the cash, we get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and the buyer can enjoy a yummy cookie knowing they’ve helped some special kids who are battling cancer,” said Rader.
The winning bidder was identified as Andrew Allemann, who runs DomainNameWire.com, the leading blog for the domain name industry. “I had to win this auction. This isn’t some reg fee name. This is a premium, category-killer for sure,” Allemann said in a blog posting revealing himself as the auction winner.
The cookie sale is just one of a number of fundraising inititives planned for 2010. Along with the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, Tucows supports other worthy causes including Creative Commons, Little Geeks Foundation, One Web Day, Parkdale Community Health Centre and others.
About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS manages over ten million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 10,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.
This news release may contain forward looking statements. The cookies may contain nuts, or other allergens.
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