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March 11, 2010 - Grand Rapids, Michigan The "Google Buzz" So, if you have been around Grand Rapids over the last few weeks, you have probably heard the Google Buzz (sorry for the pun; go ahead, Google it). On February 10, Google announced that they would "build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States." Since that declaration, Grand Rapids has joined the many cities vying for the opportunity to welcome Google to our city. I have to say, at first I was confused. I have laptops and a smart phone, I have no problem getting on the internet -- so what's the big deal? Wednesday at noon a handful of local citizens organized a press conference to talk about the Google Fiber experiment and what it could mean for Grand Rapids. At about the same time Governor Granholm was, apparently, in California meeting with Google execs to discuss bringing their research project to a Michigan city. I figured I should get myself up to speed. So, I started doing a little reading, this 'new' internet claims to be 10 times faster than our current internet options. Wow, I could handle getting up to those speeds. Everything we do these days relies on the interwebs, it would be awesome if it was 10 times faster. And, not just for my visits to iTunes and GR Social Diary, but for the health care workers and researchers and designers who transfer, review, and manipulate huge files multiple times every day in this city. (I guess it would be nice to download my mp3s and GRSD photos and video files at lightning fast speeds, too.) Curiosity kept me searching. I found that there are currently 248 groups created on Facebook with "Google Fiber" in their title; but as I looked through them all (yes, I looked at every one of them in the list), I found they had between 1 (Savannah, GA) and 5,788 (Huntsville, AL) members; then there was Topeka, KS, they have 14,606 members. But in our fair city, the fine folks of Grand Rapids have stepped up and joined together to get behind the fiber experiment -- 23,037 fans in Grand Rapids. A little more searching found multiple websites and events focused on this experimental project that Google hopes to launch, and that our community hopes to receive. There is no guarantee that just because we have the most fans or the fanciest websites that Google will choose Grand Rapids as its testing grounds, but this is another example of the residents of Grand Rapids banding together and supporting our community. Google does not list its selection criteria or what factors they will use to choose the city or cities for their fiber experiment. So, we can't be sure what the citizens of Grand Rapids should do to win them over; but, as I've seen time and time again in this city, we will give it our all. And Google, if you are reading this, know one thing - people working together, setting aside differences, overcoming objections, and running toward something that is good for this community... that is Grand Rapids... that is what we are all about. So set aside our websites and our fancy fan pages and know Grand Rapids doesn't need you to survive -- we'll keep going with or without you -- but we would love to have you join us! Some Clicks:
To Nominate the City w/ Google GoogGR on the web -- www.goog616.com Chris Koens is the Creative Marketing Manager at Business Strategy, Inc. in Grand Rapids, MI. Chris lives near downtown and has cable internet at home - which he would give up in a second if Google came to town (shameless plug). He searches with Google and has a Google Wave account -- but doesn't really know how to use it; he has also had 3 Google Voice phone numbers and his latest Google Voice number is (559) 4-cKoens (vanity number?). Chris has lived for short spells in Spain, Japan, and Mississippi; he has also visited destinations such as Egypt, Malta, France, Switzerland & the UK, but Chris loves calling Michigan "home." You can often find Chris at a coffee shop with one of his laptops surfing the web. Follow @chriskoens on Twitter. Are you in? "Google Fiber for Grand Rapids - Press Conference" ~ photography by Michael Buck
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