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Where's Sanford Wallace Now?
capt.Hij writes "There is a story at Fosters about Sanford Wallace who is described as once being the 'King of Spam.' The story describes how he made lots of money in the early days of the internet but got tired of fighting the spam fighters. He is now the owner of a night club in New Hampshire. Here is how he describes his life now: 'Back in the day, I used to make lots of money surrounded by computers. Now, I make lots of money surrounded by beautiful women.'" If "Sanford Wallace" doesn't ring a bell, you need to read some old stories.
Sounds cool. But AFAIK the average lifespan of nightclub owners is pretty short. Also, it's like working in a PC shop. Eventually the nice bodywork all looks the same.
Sigh. I should be so unlucky.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
He went from from silicon to silicone :)
"I didn't think there was anything wrong with what I was doing. It wasn't as annoying as telemarketing, because with e-mail, I wasn't interrupting anyone's dinner," Wallace said.
To me, this is one of the biggest problem. These people don't realise that what they are doing is wrong, or they flat out don't care. When it comes to telemarketing I can always tell them to f**k off and never call me again, har to do with a spam mail which return adress is a fake.
Who gives a shit?
he used to send mails about hot girls
...
now he pays others to send spam for him ?
no, jokes aside, i wonder if an ex spammer WOULD use spam to promote his own new shiny bussiness
Spam king switches tune: Net ad guru finds new life running nightclub
By NATE PARDUE
Staff Writer
Sanford Wallace, the owner of Plum Crazy nightclub on Route 11 in Rochester, poses at the DJ station where he spends the majority of his time. (Mark Avery/staff photo)
ROCHESTER -- He may be known as "DJ MasterWeb" now to his nightclub regulars at Plum Crazy, but Sanford Wallace once ruled the Internet as the king of spam.
By his own account, Wallace, who owns the hopping night spot Plum Crazy on Route 11, was, at one time, responsible for about 80 percent of direct Internet mailings sent to in-boxes around the globe.
The mailings are popularly known as "spam" in the Web world and are virtually impossible to avoid, despite constant efforts to do away with them.
But in the early 1990s, not many people had even heard of the Internet, never mind Internet spam.
"It was junk mail. I have no problem using the term," said the 35-year-old Wallace.
Wallace first learned the craft of computer programming in 1990 from the Chubb Institute, a couple of years before the Internet boom of 1993 and 1994.
Prior to that, the Internet was mainly used by the government and military -- certainly not widely available to the passive computer owner.
When the Web became accessible to the general public, Wallace's entrepreneurial mind began churning.
Much like the junk mail that came through his old-fashioned mailbox every day, Wallace thought there must be a way to transfer that method to the rapidly growing cyberworld.
Wallace found ways to collect a massive list of personal e-mail addresses. He then contacted businesses big and small and asked if -- for a fee -- they would be interested in getting their names out to hundreds, if not millions of people.
In turn, the companies would send their information to Wallace, who formed a Philadelphia, Pa.-based company under the name Cyber Promotions in 1994. He would create advertisements, and send them off into the World Wide Web.
Over the next three years, Wallace sent as many as 30 million e-mails a day to consumers from 10,000 clients, and made millions of dollars in the process.
"I didn't think there was anything wrong with what I was doing. It wasn't as annoying as telemarketing, because with e-mail, I wasn't interrupting anyone's dinner," Wallace said.
But some heavy hitters with very deep pockets didn't quite see it that way.
From 1995 until 1997, Cyber Promotions was involved in 16 separate lawsuits, with companies like America Online and CompuServe.
The basis of many of the lawsuits was that unlike phone lines, computers were considered private property, and Wallace was accused of violating that privacy.
"People were essentially lining up at my virtual door," Wallace said. "I made a lot of lawyers very rich."
Wallace also attracted the ire of Internet enthusiasts -- or computer geeks, as he classifies them -- who strongly voiced their disapproval and outright loathing of Wallace on message boards throughout the Web.
The distaste infamously earned him the nickname "Spamford" in online circles around the country.
The negative reactions and relentless lawsuits started to take their toll, and Wallace decided to get out of the business in 1997.
"I was getting tired of the controversy. My goal was never to bother people," Wallace said.
Wallace took another stab at Internet spamming with SmartBot, a permission-based system where marketers and consumers would agree to be sent spam e-mail, similar to the check boxes found on most online registration pages.
The business lasted for a few more years until the dot-com crash of 2000, when hundreds of self-made millionaires lost their shirts on investments that peaked and fell in just a couple of years.
That was it for Wallace's life as "Spamford."
"A lot of people lost a lot of money. I did too, but there were people out there who got it a lot worse,"
Sure, he made a lot of money on spam. And now he's surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous women.
I also understand that he's incredibly handsome, hung like a horse, rescues puppies, and can cure leprosy with a mere laying-on of hands. He's on the Pope's short-list, can beat Kasparov in any chess match, and walks on water. Further, he is the inventor of a working perpetual motion machine, has single-handedly saved a small third-world nation from disaster, and loves his mother.
He is not, of course, a habitual liar.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
And if you think Sanford Wallace was the original "Spam King", you need to read some even older stories.
Went from one thing he didn't really understand to another.
"Now, I make lots of money surrounded by beautiful women...
who find me repulsive.
Shameless plug: the O'Reilley book "Stopping Spam" has a good history of Sanford Wallace, the so-called "Spam King".
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
Condolences from all of us who wish him well in his new life. I hope this worked out ok.
Check out the club's webpage at
http://www.clubplumcrazy.com/
(Which amusingly has a free vip signup via email...)
Or just wish him well via email. it lists an address of:
masterwebfanclub@aol.com
(I guess he did not want to deal with spam on his own domain, thus the aol account.)
Finally, there is a newsgroup if you wish to find out more about the club itself:
http://pub89.ezboard.com/bclubplumcrazy
Lets be mature about this and not abuse these points of contact.
Have you read the Moderator Guidelines yet?
And guess what - you DON'T NEED TO WEAR A BULLET PROOF VEST... (quoted from Fosters about an event at the competition, 360 nightclub, Saturday Oct 11)... "a gun had been fired on the property" ... "He fired one round" ... You don't need to worry about gun fights at Plum Crazy! People come to Plum to dance and have fun, not to get involved in attempted first degree assault and gun shootings!
Damn, I'm always seeking out the hot "first degree assault and gun shootings" scene...
This club is almost as tired as all the spam email chubby used to send out. I think you'd be "Plum Crazy" to spend your time driving out to that spot in the sticks. I can tell you that his DJ skills are terribly lacking, and if it weren't for UNH (located a mere 15 miles from this club) he'd still be interested in turning a buck by sending out that garbage.
-A.M.
Pimpin' all the Karma Hoes!
Whenever I see that headline, I keep hoping the answer is "In hell, sharing hot lava enemas with Canter and Seigel".
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
Rt. 11
Rochester, New Hampshire
Summary:
Price: Low
Cover Charge: Always
Patron Age: College Age
Description:
Plum Crazy is a Bar/Pub that has 2 bars with 15+ beers on tap. It also has pool tables and a dance floor. There is street parking available.
Review:
Great bars if your into drunken reprobates, and women with teeth you could count on one hand. Dance floor wreaks of fromunda cheese (fresh nightly). Overall, an experience I can only rank up with alien abduction, or a visit to the local church for "confession" with a priest.
So Sanford can't run a good club, either.
I can understand why he is surrounded by beautiful women.. his penis must be enormous! I'm sure he wouldn't have sent out those member enlargement emails if he didn't test the product first!
Plum Crazy nightclub on Route 11 in Rochester NY burned to ground in an overnight fire. The structure was a total loss. A statement form Rochester Fire Chief, Floyd Madison, "We have ruled this fire suspicious in nature. Perhaps the most bizarre thing is the number of charred cans of spam we found".
"The last thing I want to do is deal with a bunch of people who want something."
Major Major
...what are the police going to do when he winds of face down in a river? Narrowing down a field of a couple hundred million suspects who all have a motive could be a lot of work.
The man who never alters his opinion is like the stagnant water and breeds Reptiles of the Mind -- William Blake
A recent thread about it on GeekVillage is at:
http://geekvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?s=3a
Read down a ways to see where he comes into the thread - he actually posts defending his site.
...setting missile coordinates..
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
dude, it's the wrong one. he's in new hampshire...
He just needs to book "Great White" at his club. They can take care of the rest...
I don't know how many of you know any nightclub owners personally, but I've had the dubious "pleasure" of knowing several - and they all seem to fit a common profile.
Usually, they're "has beens" or "wanna-be" rich and famous individuals who came into some money in the past (often via questionable means), and thought owning a nightclub was a great next step to take in their lives.
The average nightclub only turns a decent profit for the first 6 months to a year it operates. Once it's not "new" anymore (and you've collected cover charges for all the "first tme" visitors who just wanted to check the place out), it's really tough to keep it hyped up and popular. Having a really creative niche helps immensely -- but even then, a niche is just that; catering to a small segment of the population who shares a love of whatever you're offering.
There are many things more likely to make you decent money than owning a nightclub. So why do people throw their money at it? Simple.... They're fairly lazy and don't want to actually work at a job that makes them get up early each morning, and they yearn to be "cool". (If you aren't attractive enough to have a good-looking woman of your own, at least you can brag about all the ones surrounding you each night who really don't care if you live or you die.)
Actually, Wired News did this story two weeks ago.