What a fun and entertaining post! How fun and entertaining will it be when/if Rancho Cucamonga or another city wins - particularly if Baltimore does nothing by way of publicity to differentiate itself? Baltimore has an inferiority complex which is why it won't do anything fun or creative to get Google's attention. Winning the Google project will require both a strong proposal and creative outreach. We lack the later.

You forgot about Supergoogleman saving the greater Lansing area from slow internet speeds!

Don -- with all due respect, this Baltimore 'inferiority complex' talk has got to stop and we're stopping it NOW.

What we're doing is strong, smart, and substantive. And a little fun, too. But no, we didn't change the name of the city.

We are winning this bid on the merits, and strong response. You want to get involved? Go to http://bmorefiber.com, and join in on Facebook. http://facebook.com/bmorefiber

Google has said outright they are not looking for stunts or for stupid stunts -- they are looking for a strong logical case based on the merits and on the data. And you have no idea of the level of REAL creativity -- again not stupid PR stunts -- which is being brought to bear.

Do you believe in Baltimore, or are you set on perpetuating this idiotic inferiority complex?

Like button for Dave Troy's comment.

I'm not often a fan of dumping on people, but get with it Don. When considering the vibrant music scene, the huge technology community (which still isn't widely recognized) and the more recent surge of entrepreneurs, Baltimore is rapidly shedding this old viewpoint. We'd love to have you join the movement!

I believe in Baltimore's bid, and love that it's content-driven (it totally makes sense to have fiber cables here!), but seeing the stunts in this light, illustrated with the graphics, actually makes me think of the fun things that Google does to its search page for holidays and the like. A little fun is actually in line with Google's approach.

And that poor Mayor from Duluth wasn't even original (been there Don (Schaefer) that!) LOL. It's great to see us presenting such a united and professional proposal.

Dave - You've done a great job leading the charge on bringing Google fiber to Baltimore.

If what these other cities are doing to garner publicity is truly "stupid" then why are you, the Sun, et al paying attention to them?

Rather than focusing on what's great about our city - and the great campaign and proposals we're working on - you and the Sun have resorted to ridiculing other cities and their creative PR efforts. If that doesn't smack of "inferiority" I don't know what does.

I truly hope Baltimore wins, but let's not be naive in thinking that it's all based on merits and data, regardless of what Google says.

If you really want to impress Google, stop chattering about why Baltimore is the perfect place for Google fiber - and why other cities aren't - and start talking about how the implementation is going to be used to help the people of Baltimore and the rest of the world.

Hi Guys, I've worked in B2B IT for a long time and Google was one of my clients. Despite the whimsy you see via the search site and other small aspects of their community outreach the company is VERY serious and thoughtful in their business planning and strategic partnerships. These decisions are extremely serious for them which is why they've survivied and grown so quickly beyond the other search engines who's names we can hardly recall now. So PLEASE don't fool yourself into believing that these stunts will even be weighed in considering the winner of this project...there's too much riding on it for that.

Don, Baltimore (of which I am a PROUD native) is not acting out of an inferiority complex but out of good, solid, plain-old common sense and the FACTS that we have to justify us as the right choice.

GREAT JOB GUYS!!!

It would be funny if one of these towns' names got stuck as Google? Like if they mis-wrote the proclamation or something?

I wasn't saying that whimsy would win the game, but that it's in line with the Google image and could help us to boost an already strong bid. Also, I don't know the specifics of the other bids, but I've seen ours reduced to "online petitions," so I wouldn't be surprised if the representations of these bids are just scratch the surface of some of these proposals. Branding seems important to Google... and, thankfully, the Google brand has solid business practice bound with a fun brand.

That said, I'm not at all negative about our chances! I think we have great people working on this, and a wonderful approach. I was just trying to push for a little fun in there, as well.

I think Mr. Hancock and others may be missing the point and taking a somewhat naive and provincial view of other communities interested in partnering with Google. The assumption that a community like Rancho Cucamonga has to nothing to offer Google but a "dumb" publicity stunt presumes that Rancho Cucamonga is not presenting a serious, well supported, and substantive proposal in addition to demonstrating a mature self-deprecating sense of humor.

Dave,

Your response to Don's comments were not only 100% on track but really make me wonder who we are really up against.

I have not seen any other city take a move like you and the Bmorefiber team have done. You are truly making a difference for me, our community and all of those whose voices can not be heard.

Kudos to you my friend!!! Let's do this!!!

-Jeremy

Baltimore Population: 651154
Topeka Population: 122377

Baltimore Facebook Fans: 6,170
Topeka Facebook Fans: 15,555

I think there is something to be said about "dumb publicity stunts" more for mobilizing one's community in support of Google's offer then trying to "get" Google's attention.

I think the biggest thing that Bmore has going against it is that they are above Google's stated upper limit in population.

Ross - you are spot on.

Publicity stunts won't win the Google project. They will, however, help move some proposals to the top of the pile.

My future home of Eden Prairie, MN, (in 3 weeks--yahoo!!!!!) is also in the running for this.

I double-checked the rules, and Baltimore City does, in fact, exceed the population limit Google is interested in. The competition criteria is clearly explained.

I think that Eden Prairie stands a good chance, because the Minneapolis area started to institute free wifi in certain neighborhoods, with the intent of implementing free wifi city-wide. When has Baltimore attempted something like this, or even a similarly forward-thinking tech policy?

Baltimore can't rely on the charity of winning contests/waiting for friendly federal or state funding. Usually Google helps those who help themselves, in my experience with the company.

Hey I did not know this information related to Google fiber..That Bmorefiber name is quite funny and cute and this map is really interesting..

Why Baltimore? Google, contrary to the founders' liberal tendencies, is out to make money. They're not socialists. They are the oligarchs of the Internet. If there's is no money in Baltimore, there is no Google. Sarasota could be interesting due to it's proximity to Tampa and is already teh home of a few software companies. MN, KS & MO are central hubs for the country - (it's shocking Lincoln Nebraska didn't try). Rancho Cucamonga - aside from having a really cool minor league team, the Quakes, is likely the best location. It's closest to their 'home' and can pump up a challenged area quite quickly. Baltimore? What's to say the current infrastructure will remain in place or be stolen following public safety cuts, etc. And also, how will unions try to muscle their way in? Oligarchs avoid organized/legalized crime whenever possible.

We think it's great that so many communities are showcasing their enthusiasm for the Google Fiber project through creative stunts!

To make Google's decision easier, we launched a fun city-selection tool that lets you rank your top 5 choices for Google Fiber. Go to vote at http://zoomprospector.com/googlefiber. While this quiz is for fun and selects communities that have performed some of the funniest promotions, the data is all real.

If you have any questions, please contact us at:
marketing@gisplanning.com, GIS Planning Inc.