December 8, 2010 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) –
Go Daddy has a reputation for knowing how to throw a company holiday party, but 2010 is destined to be the best yet. In fact, Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons promises, "this year's party will put last year's to shame!"
The Go Daddy extravaganza is set for Saturday night at Phoenix's Chase Field, home to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"We have a whole lot to celebrate and this year, we intend to go bigger than ever," said Parsons. "I'm going to give $1MM out to employees throughout the course of the night, not to mention a big charity donation and a rockin' party with 'off the hook' entertainment!"
Go Daddy is known for its generosity and pays the taxes on all prize giveaways so employees aren't "penalized for receiving a gift," as Parsons puts it. Most all of Go Daddy's nearly three-thousand employees are expected to attend. Out-of-state employees and their guests are flown in at Go Daddy's expense, and put up in a downtown Phoenix hotel.
In the Nov. 28 issue of BusinessWeek magazine, Parsons was interviewed about Go Daddy bucking the trend of companies downsizing their holiday parties. Over the years, Go Daddy has taken criticism for throwing such extravagant parties, but Parsons insists his employees deserve to celebrate Go Daddy's success. "I could just pocket the money, but that's not the Go Daddy way of doing business," Parsons explains. "As far as any controversy about whether it's politically correct to throw a party like this these days, I say, no one ever saved their way out of a recession!"
Go Daddy has a lot to celebrate this year. The world's top Web hosting provider and domain name registrar grew sales by 25 percent during a tough economic climate, hired more than 400 new employees and expanded with new facilities in Iowa and Singapore. Go Daddy is also a finalist for SC Magazine's "Best Security Team" award.
Go Daddy will once again share its success by making a big charity donation at the party. Last year, Go Daddy gave $500K to dedicate the "Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Domestic Violence Center" at Phoenix's UMOM facility. This year's beneficiary is set to be unveiled on stage during the party.
Entertainment, rumored to be three A-list performers, will also be a close-guarded secret until party night. Past entertainers have included the Gin Blossoms, .38 Special, the Temptations, Sinbad, Paula Poundstone, Joan Jett and the Four Tops.
In addition to employees, celebrities are also expected to party down with Parsons. Go Daddy Girls Danica Patrick, Jillian Michaels and Candice Michelle are all set to attend. There will also be a few "surprise" guests. Last year, heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali made a rare public appearance.
"People ask me why we throw such a big party each year," Parsons said. "I can think of no better use for the money than to spend it on our employees. Besides, I don't want to be the richest man in the graveyard."
About The Go Daddy Group, Inc.
Go Daddy is a leading provider of services that enable individuals and businesses to establish, maintain and evolve an online presence. Go Daddy provides a variety of domain name registration plans and website design and hosting packages, as well as a broad array of on-demand services. These include products such as SSL Certificates, Domains by Proxy private registration, ecommerce website hosting, blog templates and blog software, podcast packages and online photo hosting. The Go Daddy Group has more than 44 million domain names under management. Go Daddy registers, renews or transfers a domain name every second. GoDaddy.com is the world's largest Web hosting provider and is the world's No. 1 domain name registrar according to Name Intelligence, Inc. During the first half of 2010, The Go Daddy Group registered more than one-third of all new domain names created in the top six generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, including .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz and .mobi.
