The sun was shining brightly in the white-washed rooms and the funky red and gold
vintage couch and chair added a burst of color. The next room had deep cerulean blue
walls and a green carpet. Then, a slim man with a thick shock of black hair and retro
black-plastic framed glasses jumped up from his chair. Tony Long of Mouse
Marketing was just making some last minute touches in his office as guests filtered in
for his company's winter reception and fourth year celebration. He and his talented
team (mostly culled from the WWWAC list) were gracious hosts and hostesses
including programmer Ramin Pavlovic and designers Amber Siegel and Sheldon
Bryan. At one point the Mac Amp 1.6 Beta (MP3 player) crashed the computer so
the music died for a moment, but the spirits didn't. Lydia Sugarman, looking quite nice
in a black pleated skirt ensemble, greeted me warmly and introduced me to Chuck
Windsor of Young & Rubicam's Army Group, who I actually knew from my short
tenure there. He introduced me to Gary Bishop, the web-administrator-jack-of-all-trades for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. Fred Newman, president of WinTel Communications, omni-present WWWAC list-mom Jen Runne, and Druce Vertes also came to show their support early in the evening.
We watched the bright red sun set as yachts cruised up the Hudson and Druce told us
how over 60 people showed up at his company's seminar on "Investment Research on
the Internet" done in conjunction with Verity, a provider of knowledge retrieval
technology. This free seminar was Tuesday, February 10th at the Millennium Hotel.
Tony spent some time telling me how four years ago he moved into this current space
at 95 Morton Street and skated around in it. Now, with four people plus clients and
friends who just stop by to enjoy the company, his business and services have
expanded. Their most recent offering is the Web Audit, where they help big financial
firms reevaluate their Web sites. Nothing to squeak about with Mouse Marketing, they
have a right to roar how great they are!
