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It's not often
that
you see freewheeling entrepreneurs like Patrick
Ruddell (better known as Chef
Patrick of blogging fame)
taking a job in a big corporation. They
are used to being their own boss and
setting their own agenda. Yet, here was
an email in my inbox last night from Oversee.net
VP Mason Cole telling me that the
company had gotten Patrick to sign on |
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Patrick
Ruddell (Chef Patrick) |
as
a "domain sales specialist"
(broker) working out of Oversee's Moniker.com
office in Pompano Beach, Florida.
April Fool's Day was a week ago and Mason
always shoots straight, so I knew the news
was on the level and that this was a story
worth looking into.
Patrick
is a guy that I took an instant liking to
the first time we met. He is smart,
personable and has exceptional marketing
skills that I knew would take him a long
way. Though he is relatively new to this
business he settled right in and with his
ability to think outside the box, he built
a name for himself almost overnight. With
everything going his way I'm sure that,
even though Oversee is a top notch
company, the news that Patrick would be
punching a time clock there left some
people with one thought crossing their
minds - "Dude, what were you
thinking!?" I hooked up with the
Chef last night to get some answers to
that question. |
DN
Journal: OK Patrick, after years of
being your own boss, why did you decide to give up
the entrepreneurial life and take this new position
with Oversee.net?
Chef
Patrick: Being self employed for
the last 5-6 years this was not an easy
decision. After discussing the options with my
wife and a couple of industry friends it seemed to
be a perfect fit for me. Many factors came
into play - health insurance, ability to increase
my income while continuing my current projects,
location (large domain community in
South Florida
), goals of becoming a high-end domain broker
and travel.
DN
Journal:
What will your specific duties at Oversee/Moniker
entail? I understand there will be some nice perks
like an upcoming trip to
Prague
?
Chef
Patrick: My primary focus is to
help clients acquire and sell domain names. I will
spearhead a Social Media push for Moniker/SnapNames
and co-host the Domain Masters radio
show. In addition I plan to travel a lot, at least
one show per month. In the next 60 days I have
plans to attend the GeoDomain Expo in New
O
rleans
(April), iGaming Super Show in
Prague
(May) and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in
Vancouver
(June).
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Chef
Patrick at the 2010 DOMAINfest
Global conference promoting his
various
sponsors with this customized shirt. |
DN
Journal:
You just moved from the
Tampa
Bay
area (where we are located) to
Orlando
in the past year. Now you are packing
up the family and heading off again for
South Florida What does your wife Zezura
and the kids think about the move?
Chef
Patrick:
Orlando
was always intended to be a trial. When we
moved here my wife and I said we’d give
it the school year and see if we liked it.
Well, school is almost over and this is
not the place for me. Sure we’ll miss Sea
World and Disney but we can
always visit. My wife and kids are extremely
excited to move to the Ft.
Lauderdale area. They love the beach
which we will definitely be a lot closer
to with this move.
DN
Journal: I
understand you will continue to write your
blog,
but will your new professional
relationship with Oversee affect what you
write about competitors (or whether you
write about them at all?)
Chef
Patrick:
No, I will not let my professional
relationship with Oversee.net affect my
blog. I have some great sponsors in Name.com,
Parked.com, WhyPark.com and
more that are direct competition for
Oversee.net products but they will
continue to be a major part of my blog. |
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This
is something the company knew when hiring
me. My employee contract allows me to
continue the blog without restrictions.
Oversee's SnapNames division was already a
site sponsor so I will continue to post
about their auctions and events. Now of
course if Oversee.net would like to
purchase ChefPatrick.com I am open to
offers! :-)
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DN
Journal:
I know DNCruise,
your domain conference on a cruise ship coming up
in October, is also still on with Oversee now also
signing on as a sponsor. Will this help make the
cruise and even bigger and better event?
Chef
Patrick:
Yes, Moniker/SnapNames has signed up for a
sponsorship package and overall the company has
been extremely supportive of my conference. For
now there are no plans on making Oversee.net a
major part of my first conference. Because I do
plan on making this an annual cruise, who knows
what will happen next year.
DN Journal:
Tell us more about your new role as co-host of the
Domain
Masters radio show.
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Chef
Patrick:
As of now my understanding is that Victor
Pitts and I will share hosting
responsibilities. I do have some ideas for
the show and plan on bringing in other
guest hosts in the near future. Maybe
you’d like to help with a show or two
Ron? In all fairness this still being my
first week with the company my focus is on
learning the systems and processes in
place for selling domain names.
DN
Journal:
You have said in the past that you usually
start your day at noon. Is joining
the corporate world going to require
re-jiggering your schedule?
Chef
Patrick: Believe
it or not I’ve been up by 8am
every day this week and in bed usually by midnight.
I say usually because it’s after 2am
and I wanted to make sure and respond to
your questions. So far so good, getting to
work on time!
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Chef
Patrick and David Castello at
the
2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas
conference. Patrick presents David with a
ladies
undergarment he claims was thrown on
stage at the Hard Rock Hotel after
David's drum solo there. |
DN
Journal:
One final question - are your already lobbying for
Oversee to return to the
Playboy
Mansion
for next year’s DOMAINfest
Global conference?
Chef
Patrick:
Heck I’m lobbying for the offices to be moved
to the
Playboy
Mansion
, LOL!
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