There was a mass exodus on Thursday, April 16 to get on the World Yacht "The Empress" on Pier 41. Clients, investors and business partners of Exodus (exodus.net) were invited for a special cruise and tour of Exodus' data center in Jersey City. I bumped into Andrew Raisej and Ted Werth of the Digital Club Network and Michael Dorf of the Knitting Factory before I even boarded. Nearby was Ryan Nelson, Jonathan Hirschman, and Jeff Auerbach of splashy Starmedia (starmedia.com). We all walked the plank and were promptly served a glass of champagne. I held off for a bit as I gathered my sea legs. Richard Jones of Fortuncity.com was another guest and client of Exodus'. Donna Loughlin (Dir. of PR, Exodus) was good enough to fill me in on this company, which is steered by the very capable Ellen Hancock (formerly of IBM). Exodus provides internet connectivity, facilities for businesses that need to outsource their servers, and managed services. As I wandered upstairs, to the "Lido Deck," I was recognized by Ray Ochlan (major acct. consultant, Exodus). We had a friend in common, Bill Collins, who is now out in Seattle making big deals left and right with (apparently) another "Bill" out there. The boat took off and I rushed to the bow to see who would first attempt their impression of the famous "Titanic" scene with Leo and Kate face forward, arms wrapped around each other. I guess I got there too late, according to Jamie Levy (Electronic Hollywood) and Chris Starace (of the newly named Sitebridge--you may remember them as Social Science--and heard it hear first!). Jamie had wrapped her limber self around the railings and reenacted the scene. Larry Chase (wdfm.com), David Isenberg (isen.com), and Matt Lederman were also present, bearing the cold, windy, foggy night. After trying to dock the boat three times, we were herded off via van to the impressive, spacious data center. I would write more about it, but was stopped by an employee who warned me this was proprietary information. It didn't matter to him that I crossed out my notes and apologized because it didn't mean I wouldn't remember the information. Hmmm, so why are you taking hundreds of people here to see your facility? While the data center was nice, some people bailed and went home via the Path train, others took advantage of the bartender with a mixer and had Pina Coladas and danced in the rain!
(Appeared originally in @The Scene in the @NY newsletter)
A chronicle of the people and events in technology, internet and media since 1997, mixed in with snapshots of musings and observations.
