Every month DreamHost customers have had the opportunity to submit their site for voting on their account control panel, and other DreamHosters can then vote on them for a chance to be named a DHSOTM (DreamHost Site of the Month)!

DreamHost Sites of the Month –  February

The winner in the CONTENT category is:  Caffeinated Toothpaste
“Caffeinated Toothpaste is Josh Bauman’s daily diary strip.”

The winner in the DESIGN category is:  John Kavanagh
“The portfolio of John Kavanagh – a freelance web developer from Manchester in the UK. Here’s some of his recent work and a showcase of his technical skills.”

The winner in the STRUCTURE category is:  World Recoded UK
“A personal website for blogging, personal programming and development work. Running a very customized phpbb core.”

The winner in the ORIGINALITY and OVERALL categories is:  Checkiday.com
“Check here daily to see what holidays are happening. It’s interesting and fun! (Currently mostly US holidays.)”

Every month DreamHost customers have had the opportunity to submit their site for voting on their account control panel, and other DreamHosters can then vote on them for a chance to be named a DHSOTM (DreamHost Site of the Month)!

DreamHost Sites of the Month –  January

The winner in the CONTENT and STRUCTURE categories is:  RMI Expeditions

“A website for RMI Expeditions, which leads guided trips on the worlds tallest mountains, including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Vinson Massif, Mt. Everest and Mt. McKinley.”

The winner in the DESIGN category is:  Arbiters of Light – SWTOR Guild
“Arbiters of Light is a guild based in the upcoming MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. The guild site was created in mid-December and is still very much a work in progress.”

The winner in the ORIGINALITY category is:  iPap
“iPap is a celebrity spotting website. Whenever you see a celebrity out and about, you can use the website (or your iPhone) to iPap them and let the world know where they are and what they’re up to.”

The winner in the OVERALL category is:  FacingAsia – Explorative Photos & Thoughts
“An exploration of Southeast Asia in photos & thoughts…”

We’re counting down the final days of 2011 with our top sites of the month for 2011!

Every month DreamHost customers have had the opportunity to submit their site for voting on their account control panel, and other DreamHosters can then vote on them for a chance to be named a DHSOTM (DreamHost Site of the Month)!

Sites can win awards across 5 categories, so there’s always more than 1 winner each month!

Awards are given for best-in-class sites in the following categories:
• Content
• Design
• Structure/Navigation/Technical Strength
• Originality
• Overall

Site of the month winners are announced in our monthly newsletter, which in turn helps to drive more awareness to their awesome sites!

So join us over the next 12 days as we countdown to 2012 and revisit 2011′s Sites of the Month!

If you’re a current customer don’t forget to submit your site next year and try to earn a spot as the DHSOTM!

Today we’re spotlighting DreamHost customer Kenny Kim Photography. It was a great pleasure to get the opportunity to interview such a talented photographer. Read all about him below, and let us know what you think!

Where can we find your site?
Kenny: kennykim.com

Tell me a bit about Kenny Kim Photography?
Kenny: I specialize in photographing the essence of your wedding day – capturing people in love. My work has been featured in numerous wedding magazines and I am the author of two books that specialize in wedding photography. I am also sponsored by Kodak and Wiley as an approved speaker.

How did you get started in Photography?
Kenny: I got tired of the 9-5 corporate life and started doing freelance web design. I was doing some work at a tennis facility and the coach knew I had a passion for photography, so he asked me to take some pictures of the team. After that, I started getting asked to take pictures of different sports at the University of Illinois. Also, I started taking pictures at friends weddings and, instead of a gift, I would give them a disk with the pictures I had taken. Everyone loved this idea and from this spawned many opportunities which lead me to where i am today.

What’s your favorite place that you ever shot?
Kenny: I would have to say Italy. I was fortunate enough to shoot weddings and other events there. I also founded Kenny Kim Photo Venture, which is a group of photographers that go to Italy together and get inspired to shoot and learn from each other. We usually go once or twice a year. The next trip is scheduled for January and another in March. Click here to learn more about Kenny Kim Photo Venture.

Where is Kenny Kim Photography off to next?
Kenny: Next up is Aruba for a wedding. Its sort of the last hoorah to the final wedding of 2011.

What kind of camera do you use?
Kenny:  Most photographers are using a Canon or Nikon. I started with Canon, so I just kept with it. I am currently using the Canon 1D Mark IV series.

How do you get your clients?
Kenny: Mostly referrals. I keep event volumes low and only do about 15-20 events a year. I build trust and develop relationships with my clients. This is especially important to be able to shoot the best candid shots possible.

When did you start hosting with DreamHost?
Kenny: I started with DreamHost in 1997. I think I found you in search and have been a loyal fan ever since. DreamHost is easy to use and very comprehensive.

Where can we find more from Kenny Kim Photography?
Kenny: My website Kennykim.com and, I also share a lot of photos via Instgram: @kenny_kim and twitter is @kennykim.

Where can we find your site?
Daniel: Maxparr.com

What is Maxparr.com?
Daniel: The site functions as Max Parr’s portfolio for his film and photography work.

Did you design Maxparr?
Daniel: I did. Max and I went to high school together, and soon after graduating, he approached me, asking me to to design and build a website for him and his film work.

How did you get involved in designing websites?
Daniel: Early on, I taught myself to use Photoshop and that started my passion for graphic design. Coming across well designed sites spiked my curious, and my goal then became studying how websites are made, and to create one myself. I discovered a ridiculous amount of potential in websites, so I kept at it. As well, I went to an art driven high school – The Etobicoke School of the Arts – so I was highly influenced by art and design there.

How did you find DreamHost:
Daniel: Well, I was shopping around for a host and when I came upon DreamHost, you guys were having a Halloween sale for something close to $10 for the first year, so that hooked me.

What DreamHost services do you use?
Daniel: I am currently signed up for Shared Hosting. It offers more than enough, and I host several sites on my DreamHost account.

Congrats on being the DreamHost Site of the Month!
Daniel: Thanks, after the DreamHost newsletter came out saying our site won, we had a giant spike of visitors to our site. Something like that is always exciting to see.

That’s great! How did you hear of the DreamHost Site of the Month contest?
Daniel: I was playing around in the web panel and came upon the contest in the left sidebar. I then submitted the site.

Do you use any tools In panel:
Daniel: I found Textpattern, a modest and often unrecognized CMS that I regularly use, in your One-Click Installs section. Having Textpattern install automatically within 10 minutes is truly handy.

Is there any suggestions for DreamHost? Anything you would like to see, use, etc?
Daniel: I noticed that the DreamHost main site was refined recently and found the neatness pleasing. To have that same – or similar – design carry over to the panel would be fantastic, as it needs a bit of a touch up. That includes the Site of the Month section, as it in its current state is hard to navigate. Other than that, keep up the great customer service, and keep sending those amusing newsletters!

Tell me about your organization: 
Katie: BackYard Nature Center was founded in 2007 by Daniel Kielson. Our main purpose is to connect children and adults, such as boy scouts, garden clubs, rotary clubs, and schools, with nature sites in the New Trier Township, such as the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and various village park districts, by means of service and educational activities. We have 6 hard-working board members, all volunteers, and 1 paid part-time staff member. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County has been a wonderful partner, enabling BYNC to direct various stewardship groups to the Skokie Lagoons Preserve.

Recently, BYNC assisted a Boy Scout earn his Eagle Scout status by developing and supervising a summer leadership program that advanced the habitat of the 13-acre Sedge Meadow. BYNC also just completed a Science Curricula in Nature Program with New Trier High School, whereby teachers and ecologists developed biology laboratory experiences that took place in the adjacent forest preserves. Over 600 students participated in the first year of the program.

What Kind of Web Traffic Does BYNC see?
Katie: We usually have around 500 Unique Visitors per month. It’s funny, we actually had a spike in August when we were nominated for DHSOTM, which was really exciting! It was a unique moment on Google Analytics. I went on and wondered what this spike was all about, and then I noticed we were voted DreamHost Site Of The Month.

Where did you come up with the Design of the Site?
Katie: We had the agency, Atlas Software Technologies design it.  I really like the design of the site, it is clean and simple.

Why did you choose DreamHost?
Katie: We needed to host the site somewhere. I am an information tech person by trade, so I added some hosting software to my private server and hosted the site out of my apartment for a while. The problem was, my private server wasn’t fast enough. The site was just too slow, especially with large documents publicly available on the site. I was glad when a friend recommended DreamHost to me since you do free domain hosting for Non-Profit Organizations.  In January, I moved over to DreamHost and was so glad I did, because your customer service is excellent and always reliable.

People are going to think I just added DreamHost has excellent customer service. Can you tell me a time that DH customer service was helpful?
Katie: Sure! Our site was victim to a hacker attack this past summer. They used SQL injection to hack into the site and steal our database passwords. I emailed DH at 3am and within 1 hour I got instructions on what files to check, how to make the site more secure and what to look for in the future.

What Pages Get the Most Traffic?
Katie: Either the Home Page or Outdoor Play. Outdoor play gets a lot of hits because it contains great information on outdoor family-friendly activities in the area.

How Do You Promote Your Site?
Katie: We send out a semi-annual newsletter and various e-blasts. Also, we are in constant contact with teachers, ecologists, and various youth organizations.

What suggestions do you have to make DreamHost better?
Katie: It would be great if you could merge all log-in IDs and passwords into 1 super password. Right now, I think I have a different password for the panel, SSH & FTP, site stats, etc.

That’s a great idea! We’re always looking for ways to make things easier.

Any Last Words?
Katie: Do you have any promotions coming up? I really liked the wooden back panel “JackBacks” you gave away for the iPhone!

I keep hearing around the DreamHost office, “Did you see that site we host, Take This Lollipop.com?”

Then, I get a Facebook post with a graphic of a blue lollipop (with a razorblade inside it), and the words “I Dare You.” I want to see what the buzz is about but I am hesitant, as I want to protect what little privacy I still have left. You see, to experience Take This Lollipop, you have to allow access to your Facebook account to enhance and personalize your experience. I got the chance to speak to the creator of Take This Lollipop, director Jason Zada, and asked him just that.

So, I am sure you get this a lot, but does it do anything with my Facebook information?

Jason: It doesn’t do anything bad. It was important to be scary, but not cross the line. The information needed is very isolated to only your experience. Take This Lollipop does not store or share the data and it’s only used once for the video. It picks your information randomly, so if you go in and do it again, depending on how many pictures you have; it shouldn’t use the same info twice.

Since I was reassured, I decided to try it out, and I wont ruin the spookiness for you, but let’s just say I may be having a few nightmares tonight, tomorrow night, and the night after. Needless to say, I am sending to all my friends as we speak, its really scary! Okay, so back to the interview…

How did you come up with the idea of Take This Lollipop?
Jason: We wanted something scary and fun that shook people up for the holidays. I have always loved Halloween and scaring people is super fun. We came up with this idea and its been so exciting to see the world embrace it. The site has sort of been groundbreaking and it just feels really nice. We don’t have a product or big company behind it or anything, we just did it for fun and it’s amazing to see that it has got this popular, just from word of mouth.

Can you give me an idea of how popular it has been so far?
Jason: Well, in the first 24 hours of the site being open to the public, more than 300,000 people have given access to their Facebook accounts and we are almost at 3 million Facebook likes in less in just two weeks, not to mention we have had over 10 million site hits.

Wow! Did you know it would take off like this?
Jason: I knew it might be successful but nothing like this. I’ve done this before but never thought it would this popular. When I did Elf Yourself, the personalized dancing elf greeting card, we actually brought the system we used to a complete halt, so I am familiar with what could happen but you never know what to expect. This has all been so fast and so quick. We have no brand beyond it, nothing supporting it, just the Internet and people talking and I am actually getting calls from top newspapers all over the world. It’s been amazing. I have even seen kids taping themselves and others watching Take This Lollipop. I love watching reactions to it.

What is the best reaction you have seen?
Jason: My one friend has his dog as his profile picture, so when the video came after his dog, he was yelling, “Nooooo Dude, not my dog man!”

Did you do this yourself?
Jason: No, I couldn’t have done this myself. Developer Jason Nickel is the guy that figured out how to do all this.

How long did it take you?
Jason: Took us 3.5 weeks, from me writing the script, to Jason making it live. That is all in between shooting schedules.

Why did you decide to host on DreamHost?
Jason: Oh, I have been using DreamHost for years and years. I always loved it. A friend got me to switch to DreamHost a while back. Take This Lollipop has had massive volume and DreamHost has worked perfectly. I haven’t had issues, its always easy to use and DreamHost has been great with service. Since the early 90’s I have been coming up with these stupid little ideas and then find a domain name for them on DreamHost.

Thanks so much for your time Jason, is there anything else we should know?
Jason: Well on Halloween itself, we may do something sneaky, but you just have to wait to find out…

If you would like to be the star of your very own horror film, go ahead and try it…I dare you!

Our customers recently voted “One Long House” as a DreamHost “Site of the Month”. I recently reached out to One Long House to do a little Q&A and learn a little more about why they do what they do!

Congratulations on being chosen for the DreamHost Site of the Month! Can you tell me a little about yourselves?

Alan: Onelonghouse.com is a Creative Coop, which is a network of creatives from around the world. We are not a hard brick and mortar agency. We now have a coop of 11 people on 4 different continents. We do anything from graphic design, logos, websites to even documentaries. We are able to take on projects other agencies couldn’t, because we have the ability to pick from creative network from around the world.  We also have the ability to find the right person for the job at any time, not just who’s geographically convenient or on salary. This can be hugely helpful in a place like Los Angeles where the development skill is lacking severely.

How did you start the creative network?

Alan: This whole thing started when the economy crashed. Most of us worked together at Green Team, in New York. Unfortunately they had to do layoffs and I was one of those people that got let go. We realized we had great talent, so we got together and started this company. We have been very fortunate because since day one we had a lot of work and haven’t had to chase it.  We have been able to write our own rules, and this really empowers the creative network to take on projects that interest them. We get compensated like most companies, but we also take equity in companies, so we become more involved, more passionate, and [the projects] become your own.

Another part of our business that sets us apart is that we try and get our company to a 50/50 plan. That means 50% client work and 50% incubator work. We love doing client work, but the limit of how far a project can go is very evident. With an incubator project, the sky is the limit… and we hope to ramp these up in the near future. Currently, each year we pick 1 big project and a few little ones that spark our own interests.

That’s cool, how do you decide what those projects are?

Alan: We brainstorm and come up with what projects will work. We do the projects together, so we can choose the best people for the job. Also, anyone can contact us with an outside project. If we like it, we can do it.  Womensvoicesnow.org is a great example. We all signed on to help this non-profit create a film festival that benefited women in the muslim world. Also, we are currently working on a full brand identity & packaging for Jessica Alba’s new mom / baby line, The Honest Company.

So, I am curious, what’s the next big project?

Alan: We are going with a E-commerce site branded toward men. To do this type of project, you need a lot of money and resources to make it happen. The way we are structured, we have the man and brain power to just try things without raising lots of money. We also have a few apps in the making. Some will fail, for sure, but we have the ability to fail cheaply and fail quickly… then move on.

What services do you have with DreamHost?

Alan: We put all our sites and client sites on DreamHost. We use both Dedicated and VPS servers.

How did you learn about the DHSOTM (DreamHost Site Of The Month) contest?

Alan: I found it in the panel. When we were chosen for the DreamHost Site of the Month, not only did we see a spike in our website activity, we actually had 2 or 3 designers contact us to become part of our network. I am happy to say we have chosen one of those designers to be a part of our network.

How did you hear about DreamHost?

Alan: Actually, a programmer in Beijing recommended DreamHost. We were with 1&1 for a while. We didn’t like dealing with them because they felt very big. Also, they outsourced their customer service. It made the whole experience feel not so personal. Once we got to DreamHost, we loved the small company mentality. It was like we weren’t dealing with this giant behemoth company anymore. Also, your live chat really works for us. We host another site called dangerousminds.net and it kept crashing since we have a lot of visitors in a day. We are amateurs to hosting, so with your suggestion, we moved over to a dedicated server and we love it! Your team has been taking the time to help us learn along the way, so we are big fans of DreamHost.

Do you use any of the tools that we offer?

Alan: Yes, we use WordPress and have used a few other 1-click install tools for small projects. For instance, if we have a small campaign, we will use a preexisting theme. We also use ChartBeat, and I think the guys at dangerousminds.net are addicted to it. We have it running on all our computers all day and are constantly checking it. Dangerousminds.net is a site we designed, coded, and now manage… all on DreamHost.  It’s a huge sub-culture blog with about 40k-80k visitors/day… running very smoothly now on your dedicated servers.

Anything you would like to see from DreamHost?

Alan: Yes, it would be cool to have thumbnail images of the sites that are up for DreamHost Site of the Month. Also, it would be cool to have a showcase of all the cool sites hosted by DreamHost.