Google on Main, but better

By Cindy Landrum  

MARCH 14, 2011 2:13 p.m. (1)

The effort, designed to woo Google into picking the city as one of the company’s ultra-high speed Internet initiative, put the Greenville in the pages of “Newsweek” magazine.

The organizer of the event is planning something bigger and better for this year.

“Hopefully, it will make Google on Main look like a warm-up,” said Aaron von Frank.

Google was supposed to announce the chosen cities by the end of 2010, but postponed the decision because of what company spokesman Dan Martin called an overwhelming response.

The company received bids from almost 1,100 cities and towns across the U.S. for its “Google Fiber,” an internet connection the company said is more than 100 times faster than what’s available on the market now.

Many of the cities, like Greenville, held big events to try to catch Google’s attention. Topeka, Kansas, “changed” its name to Google which led the company to briefly change its name to Topeka on its search engine site.

Martin said the decision would be made “early this year,” although no firm date has been set.

Google is planning a precursor to “Google Fiber for Communities.” It announced last fall it would install a fiber network at Stanford University, located in the company’s former home of Palo Alto, Calif., that would bring ultra-high speed Internet access to about 850 faculty homes on Stanford’s campus.

The event von Frank plans for Greenville this year required Federal Aviation Administration approval because lasers are used.

Xperience will be held March 18 at the Wyche Pavilion and the Peace Center amphitheater. Registration starts at 6:30 p.m. and Xperience starts at 7:30 p.m.

“Xperience is not about Google,” the event’s Web site said. “It’s about you – the community of Greenville.”

Xperience is a high-energy immersive event. Tickets are available in advance for $15 and include a glow stick and 3-D glasses. Ticket holders are encouraged to use glow-in-the-dark body paint and bring extra toys and trinkets that glow in the dark or emit cool light, the Web site said.

“Every now and then, we need to get together to celebrate who we are and what we care about,” organizers wrote on the Web site. “We also need to take a step back and experience those elements that make this place – and the people here – so extraordinary. Xperience is a chance to do just that.”

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John M. Hoyt  - I am so Xcited, I can hardly contain myself   |2011-03-15 07:53:53 For everyone who has not bought their ticket yet, believe me, you need to! This is really going to be something BIG! Reply

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