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ski_resort_observer
01-11-2007, 05:17 PM
There are allegations that one of the Marketing Managers at kmart, I will leave his name out for now, posted a website bashing Okemo. Nothing is confirmed yet but evidence gathered seems very conclusive. I really don't know if Alan Wilson is stll running kmart but if he is there is no way he would have been aware of this. Again, the facts have not been confirmed and are just allegations at this point.

The Rutland Herald has just been alerted and we will soon find out if this is true. They won a Pulizer Prize a few years ago, probably Vermont's best paper plus kmart is just up the road.

The site in question is http://okemonotorious.com

Strat
01-11-2007, 05:33 PM
There's way too much work there for it to have been created by anyone without a strong mission and powerful web development software... pictures, video, man... this looks pretty damn sleazy...

ski_resort_observer
01-11-2007, 05:54 PM
Strat, you probably know more about this I do. The domain name was registered thru myprivateregistration.com in Australia.

Tin Woodsman
01-11-2007, 05:58 PM
There's a thread about this on the TGR forums. It is definitely a K-Mart marketing guy that put this together. I honestly don't see what the big deal is - Okemo is flat out lying and K-Mart is calling them on it, albeit in a rather underhanded way.

BushMogulMaster
01-11-2007, 06:04 PM
There's way too much work there for it to have been created by anyone without a strong mission and powerful web development software... pictures, video, man... this looks pretty damn sleazy...

It appears to be hosted by Yahoo, and somehow affilliated/connected to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).

The domain must have JUST been registered, as it is not yet in the Whois directory. This one will be interesting to watch!

ski_resort_observer
01-11-2007, 06:10 PM
There's a thread about this on the TGR forums. It is definitely a K-Mart marketing guy that put this together. I honestly don't see what the big deal is - Okemo is flat out lying and K-Mart is calling them on it, albeit in a rather underhanded way.

Tin, I can't believe your saying this.....you have complained about the credibility of ski resort marketing departments for years, and rightly so. If this is true it will damage further the good ski resort marketing departments that are making an honest effort to restore the faith that has been lost over the years. I have no problem with kmart calling out Okemo but to do it this way is just plain wrong.

There is already talk about Okemo suing ASC. The owners of Okemo are very respected and well known operaters in the ski resort biz world and person that did this will find out he picked the wrong bird to pluck.

ski_resort_observer
01-11-2007, 06:13 PM
There's way too much work there for it to have been created by anyone without a strong mission and powerful web development software... pictures, video, man... this looks pretty damn sleazy...

It appears to be hosted by Yahoo, and somehow affilliated/connected to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).

The domain must have JUST been registered, as it is not yet in the Whois directory. This one will be interesting to watch!

It is in the whois directory, that's how it was so easy to find the name of the person who posted the site, alittle more digging resulted in his name with resume.

BushMogulMaster
01-11-2007, 06:32 PM
It is in the whois directory, that's how it was so easy to find the name of the person who posted the site, alittle more digging resulted in his name with resume.

I just found it too. Wasn't in the first Whois lookup I used.

Strat
01-11-2007, 06:59 PM
Direct WhoIs link for those who want to see....

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=okemonotorious&tld=com

random_ski_guy
01-11-2007, 09:57 PM
So ASC gets a windfall from selling Steamboat and this is how they start to spend it. Classic.

****************

Needless to say, this is looks like a new form of viral marketing. Designed to make it look like people, instead of corporations, are talking positive or negative about a product. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I'm not completely offended yet, but I probably need to give kmart more time. So far its just aggressive. When kmart's marketing makes there own mistep they will get theirs. Anyways, kmart can talk bad about other ski areas, but in the end its still an overcrowded mess of a mountain.

random_ski_guy
01-11-2007, 09:58 PM
So ASC gets a windfall from selling Steamboat and this is how they start to spend it. Classic.

****************

Needless to say, this is looks like a new form of viral marketing. Designed to make it look like people, instead of corporations, are talking positive or negative about a product. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I'm not completely offended yet, but I probably need to give kmart more time. So far its just aggressive. When kmart's marketing makes there own mistep they will get theirs. Anyways, kmart can talk bad about other ski areas, but in the end its still an overcrowded mess of a mountain.

Strat
01-11-2007, 10:56 PM
There's way too much work there for it to have been created by anyone without a strong mission and powerful web development software... pictures, video, man... this looks pretty damn sleazy...

It appears to be hosted by Yahoo, and somehow affilliated/connected to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).

The domain must have JUST been registered, as it is not yet in the Whois directory. This one will be interesting to watch!

It is in the whois directory, that's how it was so easy to find the name of the person who posted the site, alittle more digging resulted in his name with resume.

Alright, the plot thickens... the name on the whois search is indeed a Killington employee, but the addresses and "myprivateregistration.com" are fake... myprivateregistration is a "well known phishing and internet scam service provider" according to this (http://www.scamfraudalert.com/showthread.php?t=2548) post on Scamfraudalert.com... I'm not sure how all this links together but it's certainly very, very fishy...

BushMogulMaster
01-11-2007, 11:05 PM
There's way too much work there for it to have been created by anyone without a strong mission and powerful web development software... pictures, video, man... this looks pretty damn sleazy...

It appears to be hosted by Yahoo, and somehow affilliated/connected to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).

The domain must have JUST been registered, as it is not yet in the Whois directory. This one will be interesting to watch!

It is in the whois directory, that's how it was so easy to find the name of the person who posted the site, alittle more digging resulted in his name with resume.

Alright, the plot thickens... the name on the whois search is indeed a Killington employee, but the addresses and "myprivateregistration.com" are fake... myprivateregistration is a "well known phishing and internet scam service provider" according to this (http://www.scamfraudalert.com/showthread.php?t=2548) post on Scamfraudalert.com... I'm not sure how all this links together but it's certainly very, very fishy...

Interesting... very VERY interesting. I'll have to research this one some more.

BushMogulMaster
01-11-2007, 11:12 PM
Domain Name.......... okemonotorious.com
Creation Date........ 2007-01-12
Registration Date.... 2007-01-12
Expiry Date.......... 2008-01-12
Organisation Name.... Dwight Eppinger
Organisation Address. P O Box 99800
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. EmeryVille
Organisation Address. 94662
Organisation Address. CA
Organisation Address. US

Admin Name........... PrivateRegContact Admin
Admin Address........ P O Box 99800
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ EmeryVille
Admin Address........ 94662
Admin Address........ CA
Admin Address........ US
Admin Email.......... contact@myprivateregistration.com
Admin Phone.......... +1.5105952002
Admin Fax............

Tech Name............ PrivateRegContact TECH
Tech Address......... P O Box 99800
Tech Address.........
Tech Address......... EmeryVille
Tech Address......... 94662
Tech Address......... CA
Tech Address......... US
Tech Email........... contact@myprivateregistration.com
Tech Phone........... +1.5105952002
Tech Fax.............
Name Server.......... yns1.yahoo.com
Name Server.......... yns2.yahoo.com



The previous information has been obtained either directly from the registrant or a registrar of the domain name other than Network Solutions. Network Solutions, therefore, does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Show underlying registry data for this record


Current Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
IP Address: 68.142.212.118 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: US(UNITED STATES)-CALIFORNIA-SUNNYVALE
Lock Status: clientTransferProhibited
DMOZ no listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Data as of: 14-Jun-2005

The "Organisation Name" is Dwight Eppinger, who is a marketing manager at Killington. A page on the Killington site refers to him as, "Interactive Marketing Manager, Dwight Eppinger."

It all fits the bill. An interactive marketing manager would probably have the knowledge to throw something like that together. I wonder if he realized the possible repercussions of his actions?

sugarboarder
01-12-2007, 12:39 AM
What an idiot to put his name on the domain reg.!! I would have gone with "Default User" or something similar.

bill-now
01-12-2007, 07:55 AM
Perhaps someone should let Dwight Eppinger know that his name is being used for this dastardly deed. To paraphrase Elmer Fudd, his reaction would be veeeery interesting.

http://www.elmerfudd.us/elmer.jpg

BushMogulMaster
01-12-2007, 08:04 AM
What an idiot to put his name on the domain reg.!! I would have gone with "Default User" or something similar.

Or at least pay an extra $5 for a true private reg.....

smootharc
01-12-2007, 11:12 AM
...but it appears the website was yanked.

I couldn't click through onto any content. Maybe just me.

sugarboarder
01-12-2007, 05:57 PM
What an idiot to put his name on the domain reg.!! I would have gone with "Default User" or something similar.

Or at least pay an extra $5 for a true private reg.....

Again, regardless of the translation, I refer to my sig...perfect example!

sugarboarder
01-12-2007, 05:58 PM
...but it appears the website was yanked.

I couldn't click through onto any content. Maybe just me.

I just get a white page here, but I saw the content before (yesterday).