Excuse Me! There’s Blue Fur in my PHO!

Well, technically, Blue Fur was AT PHO, not actually floating around the noodly soup goodness. That would have been gross…

After my Saturday Mandarin Class, I decided to take a detour to join the “Dot Commotion” at the PHO LAN restaurant in Richmond. Even the name of the restaurant has a bit of a Web connotiation to it as there’s nothing that computer geeks like better than “PHO” and “LAN Parties”. PHO LAN!

The “Dot Company” included John Chow, Ed Lau, Paul Mudhar, Michael Kwan, and Greg Morgan. Joining the PHO Phenomenon for the first time was Gary of BlueFur, and Rainer of ThinkReferrals. Both Rainer and Gary survived their very first PHO experience and have sworn to becoming more adventurous each time they come out. They have also learned the local rules: When in Richmond, pay with cash! Both Gary and Rainer were stuck clutching their credit cards, but hopefully they have learned their lesson.

I might have to make this a regular Saturday thing if I have nothing going on. It was really cool to see everyone in person. Even little Sally Chow made it out for her second PHO adventure after experiencing her first the week before.

While at PHO, we found out that Gary’s “Review Blue Fur” contest wasn’t going so hot. So to help him out, let’s give you a brief review of Blue Fur, and why they are called Blue Fur…

Blue Fur wasn’t always Blue Fur. A while ago, Blue Fur used to be called MONSTER HOSTING. As MONSTER HOSTING, they became one of Canada’s best kept secrets in hosting. Their service was so good that Ed Lau survived a DIGG without going down, and he was only on one of Blue Fur’s $4.95 US packages. That’s amazing and speaks volumes about the optimizations and reliability that Blue Fur is known for.

What Happened to MONSTER HOSTING?

Well, MONSTERS come in different sizes. There are big monsters. Little monsters. Of course, there are monsters that eat other monsters. MONSTER Hosting was targeted for termination by a bigger monster. Now I know what you’re thinking. EVIL MONSTER CABLE is up to no good again, but Gary assures us that it wasn’t them, however, due to a non-disclosure agreement through the settlement, he is not supposed to reveal any details. My only guess is that MONSTER Hosting was being gnawed on by the legal department of a BIG US MONSTER Hosting company that wanted to kick Gary out of his .CA domain. The funny thing about that is that .CA domains is that they can only be owned by a Canadian person or company. Well, this proves that if you have a Monsterous legal team, you can have anything you want, even if it means picking on little monsters that do good and honest business. What a bunch of bullies!

At any rate, that’s why Blue Fur came about. By choosing the name Blue Fur, Gary was able to keep his loveable blue mascot. Blue Fur is also a memorable name that may or may not illicit the immediate connection to quality hosting, however, this seems to work for Go Daddy. Go figure?

Although I do like the name, I have to say that the tag line “Experience the Legend” really doesn’t do it for me. Coupled with the “Blue Fur” it reminds me of a BBQ restaurant. Maybe I’m thinking of Memphis Blues? Perhaps “Legendary Web Hosting” might be a better way to help people understand the association between Blue Fur and a quality hosting experience.

My BlueFur Experience

I’ve actually recommended quite a few people to Gary for their hosting needs. Their awesome $4.95 US hosting plan is a great deal because not only is it an affordable monthly rate, but the hosting experience itself is solid like I mentioned above with Ed’s experience. Since most people setup their sites and leave them alone, and since the pricing is so affordable, prepaying for 2 years in advance guarantees your pricing, but also gets you 20% off. That’s only $95.04 US for two years of hosting! I wish I could get hosting that cheap for my sites, but of course, my requirements are just a little bit steeper.

I’ve actually helped people setup their hosting through Blue Fur, and having first hand experience with the setup, I was truly amazed at how quickly things were setup and done. They really do Quick and Easy Setup as stated as one of their biggest advantages over other hosts.

Blue Fur Will Give You a Free Domain Registration!

To celebrate the changing of the name, Gary is having a promotion where if you review his new domain, BlueFur.com, he will give you a free .NET, .COM, or .ORG domain name registration. But you have to hurry as he is only doing this for the first 50 people. Get the details here.

See you all at the next PHO LAN Saturday! 😀