When I was an industrial design student first looking to publish an online portfolio, one of the first things I did was try and buy benjamin.com. I was unsurprised to find someone had beat me to the punch - my first name isn't terribly unique. "Oh well," I thought, benjamincorey.com it is. Only this was taken too, this time by a magician with a penchant for the 90s. bencorey.com? The same magician! This time presenting a more buttoned-down side of himself as a corporate entertainer.
Figuring that between the two of us there were enough .com domains to go around, after dialing his number and pressing the option to speak with "the artist or a representative", I was quickly connected with a man who shares my exact full name. Not knowing exactly what to say, I introduced myself.
"Hi, this is Benjamin Corey," I said to Benjamin Corey.
I explained that I was calling to see if he was using both domains with our full name or if perhaps I could borrow one. His business, I learned, depends on both, and he recommended an alternate TLD.
So I settled for a .net, which has a charm of its own.
There's something extremely surreal about visiting a webpage plastered with your full name, peppered with breathless testimonials about your skill at entertaining a crowd, something you can do passably at best. I often think about this video.
If you have any entertainment needs, you know who to call. Tell him I sent you.