Tuesday, February 27, 2001

Kickstart Redux

Back down in Battery City Park, KickStart officially opened their Wall Street location. Covered originally in the Downtown Alliance's Bits, Byte and Bar, I saw many of the same people, but got to check out more of the space. Near the copy machine/pantry area (this evening's makeshift bar) Kickstart's Jessica Handy looked smashing in her silk rose blouse and silvery eye makeup. It went quite well with her martini, and she introduced me to Connectivity Services' VP/General Manager Kareem El-Heneidi, who in turn introduced me to Kickstart's Matthew Karp, who gave me another tour. CAP Gemini Ernst & Young's Julio Cassels and Michael Lee introduced me to Michael DeMartinis. Shop.com's Alexander Jacobson and I caught up. He told me that are good - he's still in business, which in these times is a good sign! This time around, I got to spy through a window into the Ssrver room, where clients can put their own equipment. In addition to this expanded rack space, KickStart's Wall Street space differs from its Midtown space in the larger spaces for clients and secretarial services. The frosted walls and doors created a cool atmosphere, and all the youngsters and savvy networkers jammed to the final strains of upbeat reggae music before the lights came up and the music went down.