Out of nostalgia i rewatched the 1999 Times Square ball drop. About five minutes after the clock struck midnight they cut to Sam Donaldson in the government’s Y2K Response Center.
He was amazed to say that nothing was happening. Planes still flew, power plants still worked, bank accounts were fine. But the fact that there was a federal response center showed they took it very seriously.
“When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.”
I was there as well, although at the time working with small systems, but globally it was a model of proactive efforts. Nothing major happened because, not despite efforts.