"We wanted to get on the map, and we said 'Why don't we just try to get on the map?'" (Kopelman) Traditionally the citizens of Hallfway, Oregon are used to a gold-rush mentality. The little town was founded in the 1800s at a spot near the Idaho line midway between the towns Cornucopia and Sparta, hence Halfway's name. In this time the town was known as a way station for travelers to water their horses between the two nearby gold-rush towns. Today the town (pop. 345), is a picturesque community located 40 miles southwest of Hells Canyon in Eastern Oregon. Consisting of hard- working, self-sufficient folks, the town is tight-knit community, full of tradition and camaraderie. Located in scenic Pine Valley, visitors will find a variety of outdoor activities in any season, including backpacking, llama excursions, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, fishing, hunting, wild river rafting, and more. Surrounded by snow-covered mountains and streams, Halfway might seem like paradise. But the boom-and-bust cycles of Western industry have ravaged Halfway's economy. The town relies heavily on tourism for its business. These days, it's mostly a destination for outdoor enthusiasts. City Planner Patti Huff sums up the situation: "Logging's gone, dairy and mining's gone, ranching's gone. It's hurt us." The idea to ask Halfway to change its name came in the midst of a brainstorming session among half.com's marketing staff. "It's a great opportunity for both sides," said Joshua Kopelman, CEO of half.com, a Philadelphia-based internet company which is providing a person-to-person e-commerce site on the net. "We want to boost their tourism (and) we get a level of attention and publicity and recognition as 'out-of-the-box' thinkers." "We wanted to get on the map, and we said 'Why don't we just try to get on the map?'" Kopelman said. "We went on the Web and looked up every town with the word 'Half' in it." After brief searches on Yahoo and Mapquest.com, the team whittled off towns unlikely to participate, such as Half Moon Bay, California, and eventually settled on Halfway, Oregon. Halfway seemed a perfect match for Half.com, Kopelman said, given its rural landscape and small population (360). "It's the folksy, warm nature there," he said. "They have llama rides." To add to the kismet, Halfway's global positioning fit perfectly into Half.com's marketing scheme. "They're within four miles of the 45th parallel which makes it halfway between the equator and the North Pole," Kopelman said, excitedly. With an economic history marked by booms and busts in logging, mining, and ranching, Halfway was ready for a new, forward-looking gig when Half.com came along. "They were looking for a way to avoid being left behind," Kopelman said. So when Joshua Kopelman, the 28-year-old Philadelphia entrepreneur, rang up, the town listened. Mr. Kopelman, describing his venture Đ half.com Đ as an alternative to online auctions, saw the name change as a way to get his web site on the map. In exchange, half.com would help bolster the town's economy, possibly subsidizing Internet access for citizens. In early December 1999, a representative of the half.com marketing team paid a visit to Halfway, Oregon to ask Mayor Dick Crow if the town would consider changing its name to Half.com, Oregon. Although skeptical at first, Mayor Crow conducted in some preliminary discussions with half.com and decided to direct the matter to the City Council for further consideration. At the next scheduled City Council meeting, half.com proposed a tentative agreement that would provide financial support for civic endeavors. The City Council voted to proceed in discussions with half.com after the 1999 holiday season. Shortly after this vote, the media learned of the proceedings and national press exploded. CNN, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Good Morning America, NY Times, and dozens of other news outlets carried the story of how Half.com, Oregon, might become the first dot com city in the world. In January 2000, the Oregon marketing team returned to Halfway to gather feedback from the citizens of the town and determine how a partnership could work best. After talking with dozens of town residents, half.com proposed to donate 20 computers to the city for use in the computer lab at Halfway Elementary School; a prize to be raffled at the County Fair; and funds to be used in civic improvement efforts. In exchange, the town agreed to issue a proclamation changing its name to HALF.COM, Oregon. At the last council meeting 95 residents were in favour of the change with only three opposed. Those against the idea believe it creates the impression that the town is struggling to survive when the opposite is true. "To justify the plan, people have been saying we're a dying town, which is not the case," said David Baker, the book-keeper at the local Hells Canyon Journal. Now, in an effort to cash in on the 1990s' gold rush, the town became America's first dot-com city. For the year 2000, Halfway is reborn under a new name: Half.com. On Wednesday, January 19th, NBC's Today Show was broadcast live from Half.com, Oregon, and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, corporate headquarters of half.com, Inc. as the company launched its web site. Millions of viewers and Internet users throughout the country and the world experienced the proclamation of the World's First Dot Com City and the new person-to-person business model presented by half.com. "The agreement is a real win-win as we really believe our affiliation with Halfway will positively impact the community's economy," said company founder Joshua Kopelman. For the price of $75000 and 22 computers the town is renamed to Half.com for the duration of the year 2000. The startup company, which bills itself as a one-on-one Internet auction site, hopes the one-year stunt will generate publicity worth much more. The new name won't show up on any map, but the company wants to post a sign on the main road into town that would read: "Welcome to the first dot-com city in America, Half.com - aka Halfway, Oregon." Halfway isn't the first town to take on an unusual namesake in the hopes of generating economic and tourist buzz. In 1993, the town of Ismay, Montana (pop. 22) briefly changed its name to Joe, Montana, in honor of the NFL quarterback. In 1950, Hot Springs, New Mexico voted to change its name to Truth or Consequences; the famed radio program of the same name had offered to host an annual celebration and a nationwide broadcast from any town that offered to change its name. Since then, the town has voted at least twice to keep the name.