You can hear the podcast under podcasts on Relay-Radio.com. Length: 1.5 hours — Part 1.
Jay and Mohamed’s journey in the chat world began with MSN, with Jay running the "Toronto and the Surrounding Area" chatroom in the Canadian section, while Mohamed was running rooms in the French section along with Antoni and Joachim. In 2003, MSN made a major announcement that it would transition from a free service to a paid one in 2004, charging $20 a year. At that time, MSN operated in 28 countries, and the decision to shift to a paid model was a significant change for users. By 2006, MSN decided to shut down its chat service entirely, citing issues with spam and risks associated with child pornography. MSN closed its doors on August 31, 2006.
Jay left MSN around 2003–2004 to create his own chat service, and humorously recalls that MSN made a public announcement encouraging users to join NSM after the MSN shutdown. Mohamed also left MSN in 2004 to co-found NSM with Antoni and Joachim. Mohamed modified the OCX software to work with NSM, although early technical issues arose.
An unfortunate incident occurred when Mohamed shared the code with a "friend" who then stole it and created Paper IRC. This caused frustration and led to rapid proliferation of chat services. Eventually, Mohamed and Jay communicated directly and worked out an arrangement.
Jay offered a stable platform with minimal downtime and helped grow the user base. Mohamed initially had three French chat rooms, but growth accelerated once Jay took on leadership responsibilities. In 2004, they became official partners.
Remko later joined to assist with web design and server management, bringing Dutch chatters and helping merge MCN and NSM. Jay coined the name "Buzzen" and the slogan "What's the Buzz at Buzzen." The service officially launched on September 7, 2004.
Starting with only nine servers in a basement, Buzzen expanded rapidly. Jay built a centralized directory system allowing servers to scale efficiently, eventually supporting thousands of users.
Jay later tested Flash IRC software, which significantly reduced infrastructure requirements. Although he attempted to commission a new chat platform similar to MSN, the proposal was declined, leading to adoption of Flash IRC.
Despite internal challenges, Jay and Mohamed remained aligned. Donations helped keep servers running, and Buzzen expanded further with new partnerships in 2012.
Mohamed expressed gratitude toward past and present staff, noting that each contributed to shaping Buzzen’s legacy.
Jay and Karen (fiestybaby) met on MSN chat and formed the Dark Alliance. Karen became a Sysop in 2005 and returned to staff duties in 2023 after a health hiatus.
Enya – a guide promoted to Sysop in 2005 who served until around 2019.
Mike / err0r – DT Mike stepped down from staff while continuing website design and maintenance.
Other key contributors include Wes, Warrior / Porl, and Charles / Sysop Levi.
Every staff member, named or unnamed, has been vital to Buzzen’s success.
Jay and Mohamed envisioned multimedia chat solutions while keeping the platform accessible and free for users.
Wes manages servers, finances, and operations, ensuring stability and continuity.
err0r built the foundation of Buzzen’s modern platform, developing tools, systems, and infrastructure that continue to support the community.
We see him.
We appreciate him.
And we’re incredibly grateful for everything he’s done and continues to do.