We’ve partnered with Lisa Sabin-Wilson, celebrity blogger and author of “WordPress for Dummies”, to offer free premium blog templates, valued at $1,200 each, designed exclusively for PEER 1 and ServerBeach.

With an estimated 133 million blogs worldwide and growing, social networking and blogging has become the fourth most popular activity on the Internet, surpassing even e-mail.* For those looking to join the fast-growing blogging community, or just wanting to spice up current blogs, PEER 1 is offering five free custom-designed WordPress themes as a download to anyone who visits the PEER 1 or ServerBeach Web site.

The templates won’t be around for long, available for download only until June 30. To view the different designs and download a favorite, visit the PEER 1 Web site http://www.peer1.com/resources/wordpress_themes.php or the ServerBeach Web site http://www.serverbeach.com/resources/wordpress_themes.php.

rapidshare full downloads

To view the full press release, please visit http://www.peer1.com/aboutus/news.php?id=118

A few months back I began a fun little project – exposing our customers and posted about it on our ServerBeach Blog. The goal of this project is to give your business some added exposure. It’s called “You’re on My Shirt”.

Every week I will post a picture of me wearing a client’s branded T-shirt along with a description of your business and a friendly link to your site or blog.

So what’s the catch, you ask? Nothing really. To be featured, all you have to do is be a current PEER 1 client and mail or courier me a T-shirt with your company name on the front and/or back… and that’s it! BTW, size MEDIUM please.

The PEER 1 Blog has a loyal following and is viewed daily by many online users. This new feature is a way for us to extend some love to our clients and get you some more free exposure.

You can view some of the ServerBeach “You’re On My Shirt” pictures and blog posts here: http://serverbeach.wordpress.com/?s=you%27re+on+my+shirt.

To get on my shirt, fire off an e-mail to me and I’ll reply back right away with some details and questions about your business, as well as an address to send me your T-shirt.

Be the first one to get featured!

Charnell Pugsley
Community Evangelist
cpugsley@peer1.com

PEER 1 announced today the official opening of its European headquarters in Southampton UK and the naming of industry veteran Dominic Monkhouse as managing director. There are many reasons why we have expanded to the UK including favorable exchange rates, falling real estate prices, a UK market growth of 25 percent, and the fact we currently have 500 UK and European-based customers. The opening will allow us to further support these customers while attracting new customers in the region.

The opening also includes the launch of our first UK data center, which will offer managed hosting through the PEER 1 brand and dedicated hosting through ServerBeach. As with all of our other data centers, it will be connected to our company-owned SuperNetwork which offers highly scalable and available content delivery to customers through Fast-Ethernet and Gigabit-Ethernet access over 13,000 miles of fibre connectivity.

PEER 1 will be exhibiting this week at the Internet World Expo April 28-30 at Earl’s Court, London. If you have an opportunity, please drop by for a visit. Drinks are on us! Just ask for Dom.

Official press release: http://www.peer1.com/aboutus/news.php?id=111

For more info, visit http://www.peer1.com/uk

Rajan Sodhi, VP Marketing for PEER 1 and ServerBeach

The title says it all. Rajan Sodhi, VP of Marketing and Communications for PEER 1 and ServerBeach was recently recognized for “Thinking Outside the Box“. Rajan has been called an “Everyday Customer Champion“. He spends so much time doing what he does best – being creative … and it works. Much of the creativity is humorous as you can see from the videos that he’s directed – for example “Growing Pains“. But even while it was humorous, it really hit home with many of our customers and the general public which says that he clearly understands the growing pains that many people face in business. You can find Rajan making his way in the social media scene, listening, communicating, and connecting onthe following:

Twitter – @rsodhi
LinkedIn – rajansodhi
Ning -http://peerone.ning.com/

FaceBook, and several other places around the Internet. So if you haven’t already, be sure to follow him on Twitter and while you’re at it check out his blog too “BIG Marketing for Small Business”.

Read more

We are honored to be listed on The 5 Best Vancouver Business Blogs . PEER 1 has been mentioned as having the ability to come off as personal on our blog, focusing on community-sided topics and contests as well as keeping the balance right between company announcements and posts that are just for fun.

At PEER 1 we’re always striving to continue this balance. It’s very important to us to maintain not only a professional atmosphere to show people how PEER 1 is the smart choice for business solutions, but to also include a personal presence and allow everyone to see that we are real people too.

This past weekend ServerBeach – our dedicated division, exhibited at the Interactive Festival at South by SouthWest in Austin, Texas and were listed as one of the Top 10 Companies Most Discussed on Twitter. Be sure to take a look at the pictures on Flickr that were taken at this event and follow us on Twitter for news and upcoming contests:

PEER 1 on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peer1

PEER 1 on Twitter: @PEER1

HI! I’m new here – thought I’d drop in and make myself comfortable..knock around a little – kick the tires and see how things run here at the PEER1 blog. Let me introduce myself – Let me introduce myself: I am Lisa Sabin-Wilson and I am the author of WordPress For Dummies, and the creative director of E.Webscapes Design Studio. I’m really excited to announce that ServerBeach and I are joining forces this weekend at the SXSW Interactive Festival and bringing you some really COOL schwag at the ServerBeach/PEER1 exhibit booth!

What kind of schwag, you ask?  Well, if you’re a fan of the WordPress blogging platform like I am (and I KNOW ServerBeach and PEER1 are) – you’re in for a treat if you drop by the ServerBeach booth. I will be hanging out with these great folks and spending some quality time at the booth making sure you have access to the following WordPress goodies:

1. WordPress For Dummies: ServerBeach will be giving away free copies of WordPress For Dummies at their booth, and as a bonus – I will be present at the times stated at the bottom of this post, to do book signings. So stop by the ServerBeach booth and pick up your FREE autographed copy of WordPress For Dummies. Already have a copy? No problem – stop by the booth to say hi … I love to meet my readers, and I’ll sign your copy!
2. WordPress Q&A: During the times I will be at the ServerBeach booth, I am also available to do a quickie WordPress Q&A if you have any specific questions on how to use WordPress on your site or blog. I’ll have my laptop ready with a clean install of WordPress open, ready for your questions.
3. Premium themes, anyone?? I do a lot of custom design work for WordPress users over at E.Webscapes – - for SXSW I am doing 5 free themes for WordPress users – available ONLY to SXSW attendees who stop by the ServerBeach exhibit booth on March 14-16, 2009. Here’s what you do: stop by the booth and ask for the super secret link to Lisa’s WordPress themes they are giving away. That’s it! (the themes are free and completely GPL). (ServerBeach just might give these themes away to the general public after SXSW is over – that is totally up to them, but for now, they’re available from the ServerBeach exhibit booth at SXSW exclusively.)

Let’s see…. today is Wednesday. That means I have exactly TWO days left before I head out to Austin. I’m looking foward to visiting the great state of Texas – I’m originally from Texas (born in Houston). Plus, I’m really looking forward to getting away from this artic Wisconsin weather.

I’ve been hard at work developing the exclusive ServerBeach WordPress themes and I’m almost done! I’ve been working night an day making sure you have some really fantastic WordPress themes to take home with you from SXSW – - a little token to remember us by. I like it here so much on the PEER1 blog, I just don’t wanna leave! So, I’ll stick around a little bit longer and give you a special sneak peek at a few of the great WordPress themes ServerBeach and I will be handing out at the ServerBeach booth at SXSW in Austin this weekend:

Want to see more? Well, you’ll just have to stop by the ServerBeach booth at the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin Texas this weekend and you’ll get the whole package of 5!

I am appearing at the ServerBeach booth on Saturday, March 14 from 1-4pm, Sunday, March 15 from 1-4pm and Monday, March 16 from 1-3pm. I’m really looking forward to seeing my good friends from ServerBeach again, after the fun we had hanging out at the BlogWorld Expo event in Vegas last November!

If you’re attending SXSW and have your profile set up at my.sxsw.com – you can add me here. Otherwise, follow me on Twitter – @LisaSabinWilson – I’m sure I’ll be all a twitter about it!

As part of our newly launched “Million Hits” campaign, I want to highlight our customer, TokBox.com who is doing great things and experiencing significant growth. PEER 1 has provided TokBox with a scalable IT hosting solution that meets their growing online demands.

TokBox provides FREE video call and video mail services, and the folks there know firsthand the impact of rapid growth. Launching its original service in October 2007, TokBox continues to attract users from all over the world who want to enrich their everyday conversations with a very simple video call and mail service delivered through the Web. Last fall, TokBox experienced more than 50 percent growth in just a few weeks. Now millions of people are using their service.

We’re very excited to have TokBox as a customer. Have you experienced sudden online growth in a day, week or month? Tell us about your experience and we’ll share it here.

Today, PEER 1 officially launched FirstCall Support™, a guarantee to address customer questions and resolve issues within their first call to PEER 1. The company soft launched FirstCall Support™ back in November 2008 for our Managed Hosting customers. The goal is is getting any technical issues resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible for customers, so that they can focus on what’s most important, running their business.

Also, you may have noticed that PEER 1 recently updated its web site look and feel. The new layout is designed to be more user-friendly and to clearly distinguish between all three lines of PEER 1’s IT hosting solutions: Managed Hosting, Dedicated Hosting (through SeverBeach), and Co-location. It also integrates more closely with the ServerBeach web site, including tabbed browsing between the two. The ServerBeach site is also currently going through a re-design, so you’ll be seeing a new look there very shortly.

Click here to read the official PEER 1 annoucement.

As many of you know, PEER 1 participated in the 24 Hours of Lemons endurance race in Kershaw, South Carolina last year. We will be participating in this event again this year at the No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose Louisiana, June 6 to 7. This year, PEER 1 is planning something a little different. This year, we are challenging all hosting providers in the state of Texas. Yes, you read correctly: WE WANT YOU! Are you up to the challenge? Do you have what it takes to participate against PEER 1 in the 24 Hours of Lemons race?

Join us June 5th and 6th at the No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana and let’s find out! So what is 24 Hours of Lemons?

Nasty. Brutish. Not Short Enough.

The crowd. The spectacle. The pall of blue smoke and roasted clutch discs. In all motorsport, no event captures the universal human need to whale on old crapcans and hoover down greasy barbecue like the 24 Hours of LeMons.

Each LeMons race is for cars purchased, fixed up, and track-prepped for a total of 500 dollars or less. But before reaching the grid, you’ll have to survive trials like the Personal-Injury-Lawyer Anti-Slalom, the Marxist-Valet Parking Challenge, and the Wide Open Throttle Rodthrowapalooza. Twelve hours into the race, the car voted People’s Choice is called in and awarded a cash prize; simultaneously, the car voted People’s Curse is called in and summarily destroyed. At the end of 24 hours, a gala awards ceremony plies the survivors with trophies, plaques, and four-figure purses in canvas bags full of nickels. What’s not to like? — 24 Hours of Lemons Website

For requirements, rules, and fees, visit http://www.24hoursoflemons.com. For track information and location, please visit http://www.noproblemraceway.com

For more information on the PEER 1 race challenge, please contact:

Charnell Pugsley
PEER 1 Community Evangelist
cpugsley@peer1.com
210-798-4413

On behalf of PEER 1 and ServerBeach, we’d like to remind you to be good throughout the year or else…

(A big thanks to Travis, one of our developers for PEER1 and owner/operator of Dark Design Pictures. !)