About Us

Welcome to Grommr, the next generation in social networking for guys into gaining, encouraging and all things belly.

This is a site for guys of a similar mindset—that bigger is, most often, better.

It's a site for all the guys who spent their childhoods stuffing pillows under their shirts or staring a little too long at big-bellied men in the supermarket. And for guys who always thought infomercials got the "before" and "after" pictures in the wrong order.

This is a site for those of us who watched with an unexplained fascination The Santa Clause, Raging Bull or any other movie or TV show featuring men with expanding waistlines. And it's for the guys who always thought they were alone in their desires until the day they discovered Bellybuilders, Gainrweb or the Frat.

This is a site for doctors, lawyers, waiters, students, businessmen, truckers, dog-walkers, Oscar-nominees and everyone in between. And it's for guys of every size—from skinny to bellied to massively huge.

But ultimately, this site is for anyone who feels they belong here. Welcome home.

THE SITE

Grommr is part social network, part personals. We've blended the best of both worlds—allowing users to connect with their friends and the community at large and also seek out the kinds of guys they like for dates, romances, hook-ups or friendships.

The site has been designed with a particular emphasis on the emerging needs of our ever-maturing community—including easier ways to meet face-to-face and set up group events; strong search functions to find local guys who share your interests; and customized features for tracking gains and progress.

THE SPECS

Grommr is powered by a dedicated, enterprise-level HP server, using the latest hardware featuring 2x 6-core Intel Xeon CPUs with Hyper-threading (totaling 24 logical cores of computing power), 24 gigabytes of memory, and redundant storage featuring ultra-fast 15,000 rpm SAS hot-swappable drives. In addition, we use a nice mesh of cloud-based services that serve the purpose of content delivery, geocoding, mapping, and more.

What does all that mean in English? Our servers are fast. That means less time spent waiting for pages to load and more time spent enjoying the site.

What's more, we've invested in infrastructure to make sure we stay up and running through any problem short of an alien attack. Grommr's server is located in state-of-the-art datacenter, featuring a wide range of security, power management, cooling and network access equipment, including biometric sensors, security cameras, power regulation systems, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, diesel generators and air conditioning systems. The server connects to the Internet through multiple black fibers that get into the datacenter's telco rooms through diverse entry points. The data center and network operations are operated and monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. And did we mention it's in a cave in Sweden? (that last part may be a lie).

THE NAME

So you might be wondering, what on earth is a "grommr"?

Grommr is actually a contraction of two words: growth and community. It's a name that subtly conveys the idea of this site as a welcoming place for all guys into growth—whether that be belly, muscle, fat all over—but also takes on a new meaning all its own.

"Grommr" has some meaning for our community, but it's also a name that you could feel comfortable saying out loud in a bar or having your roommate (or boyfriend) see in the browser history without knowing exactly what it meant. Having shared computers at one time or another in our lives, that's something that resonated with the Grommr team.

PREMIUM COSTS

In order to be self-sustaining, Grommr will begin to offer a premium feature starting in July 2011. By paying a small monthly fee (as low as $5 per month), premium members will have access to special features, unlimited photo viewing and uploading and unlimited e-note use.

But it's also important to the Grommr team that non-paying members can actively engage in the site as well. That's why regular members will still have access to basic features (including updating their profiles, posting wall and photo comments, e-noting and more). Regular members will also be able to view a limited number of photos each day.

To learn more about the difference between paying an non-paying members, visit our membership chart here.

THE GROMMR TEAM

The Grommr team hails from all over—San Francisco, DC, Montreal, and Detroit.

The Techie

Yan (RoundGut77) hails from Montréal—a Canadian to his core, his veins run thick with maple syrup and poutine gravy. As a tech enthusiast, entrepreneur and all-around geek, Yan realized he could put his technical know-how to good use by designing a more functional and easy-to-use site for the gainer community. Early in his career, Yan worked for Big Blue, which sent him across Canada and Jamaica to train technology professionals to use Microsoft products better.

The Ambassador

A D.C. native who recently settled in New York City, Trey (TreyBien) has lived on three continents and has been lucky enough to meet gainerfolk from around the world. A social butterfly to his core, Trey is responsible for all of Grommr's member relations, which basically means making sure you all enjoy the site and stay involved in new and fulfilling ways. Questions, comments or concerns about Grommr? Trey's your man.

The Ad Man

Jed (SFBaydude02) is a San Franciscan by birth, but now calls The Big Apple home. After organizing regular meet-ups for gainerfolk in New York and during his travels, Jed realized that the previous batch of gainer-oriented sites were ill-equipped to the modern-day needs of most in the community, especially those looking to connect with others locally. Jed leads the site's marketing and communications work, which includes writing all the copy you see on the site (including this very text).

The Illustrator

Aaron (Beefyblimps) drawing from his roots in blubber-friendly Michigan, developed a fascination with beefy muscles and ballooning bellies from an early age. His passion can be seen all over Grommr, from the welcome image you see before logging on, to our beefy "mascots" peppered around the site. Aaron is thrilled to provide his striking—and downright sexy—illustrations to be the face of Grommr. Learn more about him and his work on www.beefyblimps.com.