The formation of a hosting industry association has been attempted a few times in the past. The first attempt came in 1997, when the hosting industry was still in its infancy. Over time, similar attempts have taken place with varying degrees of success, but sadly their structures did not allow them to enjoy long-term success. Despite the supportive feedback from many Internet and Hosting service providers, a unified organization has cotinued to elude the industry.
More recently, Tony Holloway of MadRooster.com Internet Services spearheaded an effort to rejuvinate this cause, during mid-to-late 2006. Again, the industry expressed its support, but the organization's structure ultimately did not hold up past exploratory stages.
Tony's efforts were not in vain. To the contrary, Tony's work fueled the the fire for our efforts today. The notion of a hosting industry organization resurfaced at HostingCon 2007, where much talk was made about the need for an association. Conference participants voiced both excitement over the idea and frustration over the magnitude of the undertaking. On the last day of HostingCon, a small group of hosts and vendors got together over lunch and nominated (in a most unofficial manner) Paul Hirsch and Dan Garon to organize renewed efforts, much to Dan and Paul's surprise.
Paul and Dan accepted the challenge, and soon after returning from the conference, launched an exploratory effort to research the feasibility and practicality of the idea. They conducted interviews with a number of hosting companies, vendors and journalists, sharing and gathering ideas for what a hosting association could be, why it is needed, and ultimately, how to make it happen.
Michael Yablonowitz, a participant in the original HostingCon 2007 lunch, joined the initiative soon after. Michael brought in Rob Marton to help develop the new brand, and Sasha Berman to offer legal and business advice. Exploratory research was completed, and the results were clear-this industry needs an association, and it has never needed it more than now.