Escalate Media

How Escalate Media was Born

It came to pass in the summer of 2006 that Lee Dodd sat in session at the Affiliate Summit conference working on his laptop rather than listening to the panel of speakers.  While working that day he stopped by one of his latest successes in the forum world, EarnersForum.com.  As he browsed through the community he came upon a thread discussing what these web entreprenuers did with the money they made in terms of giving back to society.  He saw a user, XboxUndone, posting about how he always gives the first part of his income to his local church.  The aroused Lee’s curiousity that day enough to reach out to this user and thus the relationship between Lee Dodd and David Adams was born.

Over the following months these two guys communicated about their work and further strengthened a friendship that would blossom into much more, but that time had not yet come.  Finally, in December of 2006 the Elite Retreat Conference was born which was led by Lee Dodd and Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker.  David Adams was one of the 20 or so attendees at that conference and this was the first occassion where the Dodd and Adams families got to meet in person.  The fellowship was good and the friendship further strengthened.

Within the next 4-6 months the affiliate marketing business really began to grow for David Adams.  That was his specialty and concentration for Adams Media LLC.  Lee Dodd’s forum empire was also growing and things were going well for both parties.  It was then, in the early summer of 2007, that David Adams approached Lee Dodd with the idea of a partnership and the merger of their two companies, Adams Media and Zydeca Media Group.  At first glance, it was very interesting to both sides.  Combining the powers of a high level affiliate marketer and a high level community builder could really work.  Combining the two companies web site holdings under one umbrella would create a powerful network.  Over the following 2-3 months the two of them met in person and spent much time in planning and discussion.  The end result was that both Lee and David felt that it really made sense.  Their families, desires, goals, beliefs, and lifestyles were so inline that the process was smooth and easy.

The most difficult brainstorming took place when the two of them were attempting to come up with the new company’s name.  The final list of possible names included (and you wonder why the final decision was so tough):

• Orange Cone Media
• Twin Giants Media (they both stand 6′5″ tall)
• Escalate Media

After plenty of meetings with CPAs and attorneys, the relationship officially became a partnership on September 1, 2007.  That was the birthday of Escalate Media LP and the beginning of what has been an extremely fun and fast-paced ride!

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