Down to the Wire 2001: Living it Up in Amsterdam

Jacob Briars talks about the Internet opened up the world of cocktails to New Zealand.

Down to the Wire 2001: Living it Up in Amsterdam

While the pop of the US tech bubble was still putting a damper on Internet growth, some Kiwis were partying it up in Amsterdam as if our smaller bubble would never end. It did.

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Despite our own '90s tech boom never escalating to anywhere near the heights of the USA, a year into the new millennium the after effects of overseas markets contracting hit home for some local Internet companies. This was particularly the case for those that had grown through offshore expansion.

In April, WebMedia rewarded its 45 employees by flying them to Amsterdam for a knees-up, taking their own DJs and journalists along for the ride. The celebration of their hard work and worldwide recognition, particularly in Europe, was unbeknownst to the them actually their last hurrah as they were forced to close down after payment for a major contract fell through a few months later.