Website Of The Week – Dome 2000
Very few people, at this late stage in the century, will allow us to forget that the new millenium is approaching. We can consider ourselves well into the eve of the dawn of the year 2000 – already we can see numerous pop stars preparing to cash in on the turn of the century with aptly named tracks which will no doubt make a killing in royalties – Pulp with ‘Year 2000’, Robbie Williams with the equally obvious ‘Millennium’, and Prince with ‘1999’, to name but a few. Adverts constantly refer to time post-2000, as does the movie industry.
Of course, what better than to encompass this growing mass of hype that is ‘the dawn of a new era’ than the Millennium Dome itself, currently under construction at its spot in Greenwich, growing every day like a coccooned insect, ready for its metamorphosis in December 1999. The project is being overseen by the New Millenium Experience Company (NMEC). It is a public sector company with a government minister as sole shareholder, currently the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Peter Mandelson. Subject to this week’s website review is the website run by NMEC, Dome 2000.
Considering the ridiculous volume of cash that the country is fuelling into the Millenium Dome, its various offshoots and the ‘Millenium Experience’ in general (£758 million according to the site), the website is surprisingly basic and unexceptional. Staged entirely against a white background, apart from its homepage, the site is informative rather than spectacular, functional rather than grand, and conservative rather than cutting edge. Since the entire site is based on something which itself describes ‘as the most visited, the most exciting, the most life-transforming event marking the start of the third millennium’ , I expected something a little more ground-breaking or at least sensational than I got.
The site gives a history of how the millenium experience came to be situated in Greenwich, and also gives an entire historical account of Greenwich itself, and how it came to have such significance. Although an important part of history, I couldn’t help thinking that the whole section was just a bit of a space filler, put there to pad out the site a little.
What first caught my attention about this site was its promise that it would allow browsers to see the Millennium Dome in 3D, but alas all my attempts to ‘virtually’ roam the Dome failed. Instead therefore, I had to settle for a noticeably dull although informative narrative coupled with poor design and a total lack of innovation. The site also features the usual corporate propaganda, information on the official sponsors and about NMEC itself, and a press office (which hasn’t released anything since mid-August, I might add.)
I would urge NMEC to fuel a little more of its cash reserves into the millennium website project if it is to make its investment worthwhile, as the site in its present state does little to generate enthusiasm for what will be ‘quite simply, the largest, most exciting millennial event anywhere in the world‘.
If you’re anything like me however, you’ll know that New Year’s Eve is always a depressing disappointment and anti-climax, and I shouldn’t think the case should be any different simply because the Government has invested millions and millions of pounds on the event. At the end of the day, everyone is going to get too drunk, too soon, and either end up in bed, a fight, the hospital or the bottom of a bridge! Happy New Year? Bah Humbug!
Reviewer: Deborah Bonello