Elizabeth Van Couvering

I met Elizabeth Van Couvering (E) for coffee in London. Elizabeth worked for Webmedia and must have been one of our first emplyees. An American, she was something of a novelty for her attitude and her academic approach.

She turned up in our sub-Cyberian basement at the end of 1994, wondering down from Cbyeria upstairs. For a while after that she remained upstairs, working for Cyberia and, I guess, Easynet. As the chaos of 1994 turned to the mania of 95, we offered her the job of receptionist. She told me yesterday that her first memory was of peering round the corner at the bottom of the stairs to see 'Ivan and Steve, stretched out in deckchairs, in the middle of the day, seemingly oblivous to the world. A strange sight, completely unexpected'.

The deckchairs were inherited, they had been present when we rented the dank basement, and along with a couple of trestles, we made the most of them. Photographers would regularly insist that we be photographed in them, a pair of entrepreneurs reclining. We soon learned to refuse.

E. had arrived in London from the US and come straight to Cyberia. She got a job and was sucked into the heart of the UK internet explosion. It was almost as if she was drawn there, to bring something American to the premises. She told me how, soon after she took a job as waitress in Cyberia, she started to make regular background appearances on TV. 'My friends couldn't believe it. I had left home and travelled half way around the world, seemingly to become an instant media star.' That was the nature of the time and place.

E. became a project manager at Webmedia, at the heart of our growth and decision making. I don't think she ever really learned to put up with the bumbling decision making process, but she sure learned how to take a few drinks. She was home in the US when the company went into liquidation: "Steve called me up. E, I'm closing Webmedia down.' I wasn't surprised. The phones had stopped ringing, the faxes stopped arriving. The end was obviously coming".

She went to Excite and then on to work as a researcher for a year, and then re-emerged into the full frenzy of the bubble at Organic, a late bubble web company. Organic was well funded, but suffered ultimately the same fate as Webmedia. "I noticed that the fax machine had gone quiet. I told my boss 'It's over. We're going to close'
He took me aside. 'Elizabeth', he said. 'We are not Webmedia. We are not going to close.' Six months later, they closed.

I visited her twide at Organic. The first time they were in a huge office on Tottenham Court Road in the centre of London. The office buzzed and we took coffee in the house coffee bar.

The second time I visited, I had to travel to north London, to an obscure tube station. The offices were in a side street. She showed me around. We walked endless empty offices, abandoned workstations, sad in-trays. The lights were low. We found a cluster of staff. It didn't feel like it was going anywhere. Soon after, it closed.

E. is now a PhD student at the LSE, headhunted to do something interesting with the internet and everyday life. Search engines, actually. She will be the most employable person around when she completes.

Comments

[Samir Ruffner]

One's first step in wisdom is to kuesteon everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything.

[Elizabeth Van Couvering]

Hey Ivan,

Thanks for the glowing review! I just stopped by to let you know that I have a new personal home page: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/vancouve/ which has some of my search engine research posted.

E.