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.CLUB HQ Wiped Out By Irma, But Technical Operations Not Impacted

dotCLUB Superhero imageThe corporate headquarters for .CLUB in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were wiped out by Hurricane Irma in recent days, but there has been no impact on technical operations, which are managed by Neustar in Virginia (and ZDNS/KNET in China).

The building had large parts of the roof been torn away, exposing the office to devastating wind and rain, pretty much ruining everything. It will be business as usual for the Florida .CLUB team, but they’ll have to find a new place to temporarily hang their collective hats. More importantly, all employees are safe and sound, with relatively minimal issues.

“Literally, it looks like a bomb went off. I couldn’t believe the damage. It’s truly a sad day for our company. We feel for everyone affected by this horrible storm and we are very fortunate as all our staff are safe,” said Colin Campbell, Founder, and CEO of .CLUB Domains.

Drone photography of Hurricane Irma damaged .CLUB Domains Office Rooftop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Drone photography of Hurricane Irma damaged .CLUB Domains Office Rooftop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida: photo courtesy .CLUB Domains

The standalone building in the up and coming Progresso/Flagler area has recently been approved for funds from the Fort Lauderdale government via the Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to launch a tech incubator under the brand Startups.Club. The building was scheduled to be renovated for completion sometime in 2018.

“Many .CLUB domain names are used by Startups. Creating a working facility specifically to support startups in the Fort Lauderdale community seemed like an ideal fit, in tune with our mission, and the perfect environment to also house our global corporate headquarters.” said Campbell. “It is unfortunate we have to vacate the premises sooner than expected, but the good news is our plans to renovate and open the Startups.club facility should remain on track,” Campbell added.

“The company will find a way to operate during this period. We are hoping we can find temporary space near our damaged office. We love the Progresso/Flagler area. It’s a young creative community with a real fun vibe.” As the registry operator for the new domain name extension .CLUB, while the corporate offices were in the path of Irma’s destruction, the company’s technical platform and servers are located in Virginia and were not affected in any way. The company currently employs 17 people and has been working closely with a few Fort Lauderdale startups who will also now need to find temporary facilities until the building is repaired and reconstructed.