The story of us – mid-2000s

 

As a distraction from more news about “you know what,” we’re continuing our journey down memory lane. The mid-2000s brought about big changes in how the world socialized from a distance (but it had nothing to do with “that”).

In 2004, with the number of internet users approaching one billion, we saw the launch of Facebook. Followed in 2005, by YouTube, and Twitter in 2006. All became popular fairly quickly, and the advertising value of these platforms became the debate of the century.

Two other significant events again changed the internet technology landscape. In 2005, the launch of Joomla found the sweet spot between templated and custom-built websites. Up to that point, the Internet Advertising team had tested some templates, but found that it was faster, and produced a better result, to hand code. (In fact, it wasn’t until 2008, that Andrew convinced Mike to try Joomla.)

Joanne happened to be working downstairs for the office’s building owner. After a recommendation from him, Mike hired Joanne to develop a presentation about the business. That was in 2004, making her now the third longest-serving member of the team.

Still a musician in London, Paul had his first child in 2005. His interest in websites was just beginning and he took a course in Dreamweaver.

The office was a busy place and starting to focus on the travel industry. In addition to marketing for the local Ambassador Travel company, Mike brought in Air North as a new client. Three years post-9/11, people were traveling again, and Mike’s combination of advertising strategies was paying off big time for his clients. So much so, that when the owners of Ambassador mentioned that they wanted to retire soon, Mike offered to buy the business. In Angela’s words, “I remember we went into this with so much optimism, and it turned out to be the worst decision we have ever made.” Sometimes, you get too good at what you do. That story next time.

Continued:
The Story of Us 1980s
The Story of Us 1991-1995
The Story of Us 1996-1999
The Story of Us 2000
The Story of Us Early 2000s
The Story of Us – More on the Early 2000s
The story of Us – mid-2000s
The Story of Us – The Interlude
The Story of Us – 2007-2015
The Story of Us – The last five years
The Story of Us – 2045