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news Eric Lyon changes departments at NamePros

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I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone for all their contributions to NamePros over the years. It's been a rollercoaster ride with a lot of ups and downs, and I’ve really enjoyed it. If it wasn't for all of you, NamePros wouldn't be what it is today.

Since 2009, it has been a wonderful experience assisting all of you and shaking some of your hands in person at events/conferences/meetups. I hope to continue doing that as I travel around the United States with my family on the adventure of a lifetime.

However, in August 2017, my family experienced a tragedy of losing our house, cars, and worldly belongings to the Hurricane Harvey floods. Since then, my time has been more limited/restricted, and I haven't been able to dedicate as much time to NamePros as I used to. Fortunately, due to the great moderation team that we have in place, things have kept operating smoothly and most members haven’t noticed how much less I’ve been working. We have a great team of moderators who have stepped up over the past few months and kept this ship full-steam ahead and growing.

In addition to my time availability, I have received death threats from scammers we’ve caught over the years, and I’ve had people show up unannounced at my residence (even as late as 11 PM) recently. This may not have been as big of a concern when I was single; however, I have a wife and toddler now that do not need to be subjected to this type of safety hazard.

The majority of people that I’ve met online are professional, kind, and respectful. Unfortunately, it only takes a few crazy people (it only takes one, really) that get set off or caught trying to scam someone, and they could seek (and have sought) to harm me or my family.

It’s sad and unfortunate that I have to be concerned for my family’s safety based on previous experiences with troublemakers threatening, stalking, coming to my residence, using my family in their unfounded slanderous attacks, etc., but now that we are going to be traveling more in a motorhome, security is an even bigger concern for my family’s safety, especially since we are all in a smaller, confined area without as much protection (no concrete walls to safeguard us).

While I take it day by day in keeping my family safe and building/adapting to a new lifestyle for us, I feel that I should move from community administration to another department with a more flexible time schedule. This will allow my family and me to focus more on getting everything situated that we need to on our new life journey.

A change in atmosphere and departments will be good for me, and I'll be officially transferring from “Community Admin” to “Member Services” on March 23, 2018, to better reflect my current role and time spent working on NamePros. Fortunately, members won’t notice much of a difference thanks to our incredible team, and I'll still be here to help you and answer questions. I love NamePros, and I am not leaving you; I am just moving to another department that fits better with my hectic schedule, new lifestyle adjustments, and safety concerns.

With the above said, NamePros has decided to eliminate the single-person admin roll. For admin-specific matters, please use the Contact NamePros section, and for all other matters, our member services and moderator team (me included) will look forward to assisting you.

Thanks for understanding,

Eric Lyon
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Thanks for your contributions, Eric!
 
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Thank you, Eric, for helping make NamePros as great as it is and therefore helping my investments.

Sorry to hear about the crazies. I can't imagine.

Stay locked and loaded to protect your family, but be sure to know the carry laws of each state as you travel.
 
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Thank you, Eric, for helping make NamePros as great as it is and therefore helping my investments.

Sorry to hear about the crazies. I can't imagine.

Stay locked and loaded to protect your family, but be sure to know the carry laws of each state as you travel.
It seemed pretty straightforward that a legal carry from one state can cross through other states legally as long as you abide by the storage/safekeeping laws while in transit.

There are a lot more states to research, but we'll be sure to do that as we go. :) ;)
 
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Thanks Eric , good luck . Stay safe
 
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The USA is not the best place to leave in.
I would suggest for the admin to be from the other continents and more exactly a smaller non english speaking country. Europe would be the best choice IMO. Smaller countries don't have such problems so threats would not be taken in consideration.
 
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Thank you Eric. Best wishes to you and your family.
 
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Thanks for never giving up Eric. Enjoy the journey with your family :)
 
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Happy trails, Eric. And thank you.
 
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I have received death threats from scammers we’ve caught over the years, and I’ve had people show up unannounced at my residence (even as late as 11 PM) recently.

And people wonder why there is a thin veil of anonymity among NP members, using avatars and pseudonyms.

Terrible.

Sorry to hear you have gone through this Eric. Thank you for all of your work and assistance over the years, you are going to be terribly missed.
 
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I run two internet forums (as admin and owner) in the top 100000 of Alexa rankings for traffic for the U.S. My actual identity is cloaked on those forums except to paid clients, and I don't post the forums' actual URLs anywhere (including here) where someone could figure out who I am. And if you don't know what I mean by all that, Don't ask! I won't tell.

Before even starting the forums I thought about all the issues on the 'net and made certain I did things in the way I did.
 
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Just to echo everyones sentiments on here; thanks for everything Eric, and all the best in your new role. I've only been on here a couple of years, but from the interactions I've seen between you and other members, the grace and fairness with which you've handled situations is admirable.

Even though you're living mobile, a extra layer of security to consider might be motion-sensor floodlights. Fairly inexpensive, and a good deterrent for shadowy characters.

See you around the forum, keep safe brother.
 
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Nothing is perfect in life and for every 10 people that you make happy, there will be one that is never satisfied. However, in addition to this department move, we (My family and I) have been researching additional security measures to add to our existing travel safety protocols. Unfortunately, I am unable to release all the different security measures currently in place or being researched at this time for obvious reasons.

Once we get things situated better, I'll be able to share a little more about those.

Thanks for understanding,

Like others have said, hard to imagine people being that mad. I imagine a lot of spammers/scammers are not even in this country, much less the same state. So they were mad enough to take trains, planes or automobiles to your residence? What are the details on something like that?

They just went up and knocked on your door, you answered and then........?

They said something, you replied and they just left? No physical altercations? Were the police involved? Did you know which NP members they were?
 
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Like others have said, hard to imagine people being that mad. I imagine a lot of spammers/scammers are not even in this country, much less the same state. So they were mad enough to take trains, planes or automobiles to your residence? What are the details on something like that?

They just went up and knocked on your door, you answered and then........?

They said something, you replied and they just left? No physical altercations? Were the police involved? Did you know which NP members they were?
This screenshot shared by DomainGang gives a little more perspective to where the majority of NamePros member base is:
np1.png

As you can see, The United States is at the top of the list. As far as providing details of the ongoing investigation into my personal situation locally, I'm afraid I m unable to share that information at this time publicly, which I'm sure you can undrstand. We've also decided to stop publishing where we are parked until we leave a location for an added layer of security.

Great questions though. Some of which, I would like to know the motivational factors of as well and possibly their psychological make-up. It's hard to know who or what might set some people off and cause them to go out of their way to harm others.

Why do bullies beat up the computer tech kids in high school? Why do people mail bombs randomly to others (That was the Austin news lately)? Why do people engage in road rage?

All tough questions to answer and even harder to prevent when you are on the receiving end sometimes.
 
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I thought you switched to member services position today. Why is your namepros title underneath your name not updated to reflect new position?
 
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I thought you switched to member services position today. Why is your namepros title underneath your name not updated to reflect new position?
Awaiting the Management team to switch everything out. It should be by the end of the day ;)

Update: It's been completed.
 
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praying for you and yours...
(I'd like to see some name them/shame them into the future)
 
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Thank you for everything you and @Amanda do for the forum, your positive attitude and resolve during the toughest adversity is an inspiration.

Green means GO! : wink :

Slightly cringy version, the song is good though

The PG version
 
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I'm sorry to hear this, Eric :( I hope everything is okay with you guys. Best wishes. <3
 
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I have to believe that the death threats are due to Lyon's outspoken political views
on NP's Official USA Political Thread. I never thought that thread was a good idea.
It should be removed as it has nothing to do with domain names and creates
hostility between Namepro's members.
 
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have to believe that the death threats are due to Lyon's outspoken political views
on NP's Official USA Political Thread. I never thought that thread was a good idea.
It should be removed as it has nothing to do with domain names and creates
hostility between Namepro's members.

I'm pretty sure you have Eric Lyon confused with JB Lions regarding this? I spend a lot of time on that thread the past year and haven't seen Eric there at all?

A lot of Lions look alike in the wild, especially the wilds of the political thread, so your confusion is understandable! ;)
 
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I have to believe that the death threats are due to Lyon's outspoken political views
on NP's Official USA Political Thread. I never thought that thread was a good idea.
It should be removed as it has nothing to do with domain names and creates
hostility between Namepro's members.
I don't think I've really participated in the political thread. Could you provide a link to a post in that thread where I commented on a political topic to refresh my memory?

Thanks :)
 
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Having met Eric in person at NamesCon, along with his wife and child, I'm appalled by the threats he faced.

Eric, you're an outstanding guy and a true industry professional. Good luck my friend, family comes first.
 
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You mean all lions aren't the same?
Well, maybe like me, people thought they were the same person.
 
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Eric,

I appreciate you and Amanda so much, and I am thankful for your help, honesty and fairness!

It is unbelievable to me that people can be that ignorant and unprofessional, absolutely unreal!

Thank you for taking all that crap for so long, for the purpose of keeping our stomping grounds safe for us. It’s time you think about you and yours, totally understandable and well deserved!

I truly hope you are happy in your new role, and I pray for your success and safety.

God Bless,
Peace and ❤️ always!!!
 
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