Sunday, July 21, 2013

Party Weekend

Yesterday was one of those rare days for me where a family party during the day was followed by a professional party at night. Luca's 5th birthday party was joyful, as we gathered in an El Cerrito park on a sunny, breezy afternoon. The little blond birthday boy never seemed to stop smiling during the hours we were there, running around, playing with his cousins and friends, hugging everybody and making announcements from time to time, such as "Cake time, everybody!"

He was very gracious when he opened his presents, thanking the person who gave each one to him, and often hugging them as well. What a loving little boy he is!

***

At night I went down to Pier 17 and the TCHO chocolate factory for the 20th reunion party for Wired and HotWired. My move to that company in 1995 was fateful. It was the beginning of the web, the beginning of the dot.com revolution, and we were at the bleeding edge of it all.

I left an executive position at KQED, the local public broadcasting company, in September 1995, helped launch Salon.com in November 1995, and became an online producer at HotWired in December 1995.

In January 1996 we launched the first daily political news site on the web. By mid-year 1996, I was the VP of content for the company that would eventually be renamed Wired Digital.

Last night, I was able to catch up with a dozen old friends from that era, people I only rarely get to see any longer. It was nice, very nice. Since we worked together, the entire world has embraced the technologies we were experimenting with in the mid-90s.

***

Today, I am relaxing, watching the Giants game on TV, and getting ready for the kids to come over tonight. It's kind of nice to have a non-news day for a change.

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