Buzzdome.com
Buzzdome.com is an Internet company depicted in "Sappy Anniversary." Buzzdome hires Jake Morgendorffer for a brief period but then fires when he blows an important presentation—and then rehires him as a consultant, giving him back his old job.
Buzzdome in Canon
What Buzzdome.com did was not clear and this vagueness was integral to the subplot. Sameer, when asked by Jake, responded, "We help other dot coms maximize their potential, and expand the virtual marketplace." Upon a quizzical look from Jake, responded more candidly. "Look, I make big money, to sit around and daydream. I'm not about to rock the boat." The company's unclear mission and stereotypical employees/co-owners parodied the dot com craze.
Buzzdome presented a variety of interesting characters that have been little used in Daria fanfic: the 24-year-old ultra-rich president, Noah Barkman; redheaded Nora the information architect; Zhengdong the interactive strategist; Sameer, the "brain trust"; and the maladjusted consumer-service rep, Jackleene.
The correct spelling of Sameer and Zhengdong's names was in dispute until Anne D. Bernstein revealed them in an email to Kara Wild.
Buzzdome in Fanfic
Buzzdome.com doesn't often appear in Daria fanfic. One example is The Angst Guy's "A Knight to Remember," which postulates that the company was swept away in the so-called dot-com crash in 2000, and offers possible reasons for that; Zhengdong is given the main role and shipped with Monique. Noah Barkman is the organizer of the "Cannonball Run" race featured in DJW's story, The Dammitall Run.
Fanfics may spell Sameer as Zameer and Zhengdong as Xiangdong.
Buzzdome Employees
Noah Barkman
President of Buzzdome, a dot-com millionaire who hires Jake Morgendorffer in the episode "Sappy Anniversary." Noah is voiced by Kiki Barrera a.k.a "Sydney Perez" in the credits of Sappy Anniversary.
Nora
The information architect for Buzzdome, part of Jake's "work node." Redheaded Nora wears braces on both arms around her wrists from carpal tunnel syndrome, and she cannot shake hands as a result. Nora is voiced by Ashley Albert a.k.a "Echo/ Petunia" who also voices Tiffany Blum- Deckler, And Janet Barch
Sameer
The "brain trust" of Buzzdome. Sameer, whose name might be spelled Zameer, appears to be Indian or Pakistani. A very affable young man, Sameer tells Jake in secret that he doesn't know what he's doing at the company but plays along that he does to get paid.
Zhengdong
The interactive strategist for Buzzdome. Zhengdong appears to be of Chinese ancestry from his face and his name. He was interested in buying an authentic Batmobile with his earnings from Buzzdome when he met Jake. Zhengdong was voiced by Scott Williams, who also voiced Wind Lane, Bing, and Cupid.
Trivia
Buzzdome.com is also the name and address of Anne D. Bernstein's website. Bernstein wrote "Sappy Anniversary".
External Links
- "The Daria Temporal Analysis Project" by Richard Lobinske, which places "Sappy Anniversary" before the dot-com crash.
- January 2006 interview with Anne D. Bernstein on DVDaria that discusses Buzzdome from her viewpoint as the episode's screenwriter.
- The url buzzdome.com redirects you to Anne D. Bernstein's homepage.
- "A Knight to Remember"