I was almost part of the “Wild Wild Web”
Earlier tonight, I recalled a job offer that I turned down and decided to write about it.
Back in 1998, I felt I was being underpaid for what I was doing at The Monster Board / TMP Worldwide (soon to become Monster.com) and had started looking for other job opportunities. A former Monster Board co-worker, Jess Barron, had left to work for a company making content supporting a syndicated TV show called Wild Wild Web produced by a company called OneZero Media, Inc.
There’s hardly any information out there about Wild Wild Web. Clips on YouTube are from another show with the same name. Most mentions of OneZero Media are related to Medium’s OneZero. The show is at least listed on IMDb which confirms my memory and that it wasn’t some fever dream. I’ve also found articles about it in The Los Angeles Times and New England Film.
I recall going to the job interview with OneZero Media in mid-1998. I went to their office in an old thread factory at 67 Chapel Street in Newton, Massachusetts. I was impressed by the studio which showcased the bricks of the building as part of the set. I recall they had a lot of cool broadcast TV equipment and nice wood floors. Knowing what I know now, I have to wonder how well the brick and wood worked for acoustics. They probably had some acoustic panels which I don’t recall.
The interview went well and I was excited about the prospect of working there. Unlike The Monster Board, which had just moved to Maynard, Massachusetts and was a 45 minute commute, I could get to the OneZero Media studio in about 5 minutes since I was living on Washington Street in Newtonville at the time. The fact my former co-worker had put in a good word for me undoubtedly helped and I’m still grateful to Jess for doing so.
When the job offer came in, they had offered me the exact same salary that I had told them I was making at The Monster Board. I was surprised and was hoping for more. I had decided to turn down their offer since I already felt underpaid at Monster and the shorter commute wasn’t going to help pay the bills. I remember calling them to decline the offer because I was visiting my friend Lizz in Richmond, Virginia at the time and had called from there. Although I was polite, I recall the guy I spoke to was genuinely upset that I had turned them down. He didn’t counter with a higher offer. (It wouldn’t have taken much.) However, just seeing his reaction made me really glad I wasn’t going to be working with him.
That fall, OneZero media was acquired by GT Interactive for $15 million in stock. A year or two later, the show was cancelled and the company shut down. By April 1999, I had left Monster.com (for the first time) and went to work at RivalWorks. …and therein lies another tale.