Summary: Basically, the public thinks we did a good job making this a non-event.

To: [removed]
Subject: Merry Y2K
From: [removed]
Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2000 13:49:44 -0500

Apparently, many people feel that the Y2K thing was a lot of hype.
They are saying things would have worked fine even if we hadn't worried
about it.  My feeling is different.  My coworkers and I did a lot of
work, making sure every piece of hardware, firmware, and software was
compliant.  Some of it could not be remediated, so we replaced it.
This was a benefit to the company, because we got rid of obsolete stuff
that we might otherwise have kept, unwisely.

Things worked well -- and will continue to -- not despite our worries,
but because of them.  In my position, the better job I do, the less I'm
noticed.  No one noticed our work this time around, so people think it
was a waste of money.  I disagree.

Surely, we fixed some problems that would have been nonexistent or
minor if we had left them.  And we don't know the extent of that sort
of thing.  But people in many companies went through major efforts to
make the date changeover a non-event.  It wasn't an accident.

Perhaps your positions in the media can promulgate my point.  I would
hate to see lawsuits stemming from this misguided belief, and I don't
appreciate the sentiment, either.

Tom

Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 09:39:33 -0500
Subject: Merry Y2K -Reply

I think you're being overly sensitive.  The CBS Poll we
reported last night shows 63% of Americans believe the time
and effort spent fixing potential problems was worth it.  And a
quick look at the lineups of all three network news
broadcasts last night reflects the same feeling:

 NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH TOM BROKAW FOR
MONDAY, JANUARY 03, 2000 (Brian Williams subs) 
1. Jensen: The stock markets did not have problems,
because of work done to prevent Y2K problems 2:17
2. DC/Hager: The US government declared that it has
squashed the Y2K bug 2:14
................................
 6. Avila: In Depth: American individuals and businesses
may
have spent too much money preparing for Y2K problems.
However, those businesses that prepared for Y2K are now
more efficient 2:48

 ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS
FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2000
1. New York/Stark:  Major Y2K glitches did not occur today
1:50
2. Jamieson: American businesses are happy with the
expenses that they spent on Y2K.  However Italy and
Moscow experienced few glitches, and spent much less than
Americans 2:18

 CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER FOR
MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2000
1. SF/Blackstone: Y2K fears did not materialize and some
wonder if all the preparations and money spent were worth it
1:45
2. NY/Mason: Stock markets around the world opened today
without Y2K problems 1:40
...................
4. Tell: Poll shows most believe it was worth the effort to fix
the Y2K problem :27
5. DC/Martin: Pentagon spent weekend stamping out Y2K
bug that had temporarily shut down spy satellites 1:20
6. Tell: Y2K hit Al Gore's web site; some believe computers
may skip over leap day this year :25

One more thing...it's generally fruitless to expect
appreciation from people outside your own field...imagine
how an athlete feels when, after 6 months or so of hard,
painful physical and mental effort, he's booed by the
hometown fans as he walks off the field because his team
just lost.



From: [removed]
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 10:56:55 EST
Subject: Re: Merry Y2K
To: [removed]

I can see you are frustrated.
I think there are several factors here;
1.  Many companies, like yours, refused to speak to the media to tell them 
what they were doing re: Y2K for fear of affecting stock prices and liability 
issues;  so how can everyone know what hard work went into it if the 
companies refused to disclose?

2. A lot of Y2K computer fears were muddied with insane millennialists who 
thought an apocylpse was  in the offing.

3.  Finally, while I am sure a lot of people did work hard to make sure 
nothing happend, a lot of opportunists got rich off of scaring people;  
Yardeni made millions prophesizing doom ; while many companies invested 
wisely in capital expenditures such as yours, many consultants got rich by 
overstating the case. 

so that is some food for thought