G-Sync – Standing On The Edge of Greatness

"Wow, they crucified your event last week on the news," said a co-worker earlier this week as I stumbled into the office with my Monday morning (and trademark) wet hair.

And on the surface if you read or saw reports on the turnout of the Google Fiber for Grand Rapids event last Friday, the mainstream media's assessment was correct.  The event didn't come close to filling Calder Plaza with people.  And like the old adage: "Don't believe your own publicity," we can add "Don't believe your Facebook figures."

But in the grand tradition of journalism, there are at least two sides to any  story, and what was missing from last Friday's accounts was something a whole lot more difficult to quantify than a crowd count.

We wrote last week that win, lose or draw in the Google competition, metro Grand Rapids will come out a winner precisely because we are gaining experience in using social media for community organizing.

Nobody gains experience by doing things that always work, every time, exactly as expected. And we just learned that the real limits of social media may be only 1 percent of your Facebook fans will show up at an event.

But because the rally drew only a few hundred people doesn't mean the grass roots effort to bring Google here is a failure. Far from it.

How many people do you know personally who say it is cool that Grand Rapids is at least TRYING to snag Google as its test market for its uber-speed Internet project?

During the past three weeks, talk around coffee pots and kitchen tables in metro Grand Rapids has been buzzing with the fact that our city at least is in the running for the Google project.  And those mentions were often made with a bit of community pride, I might add.

I can tell you this. People elsewhere think Grand Rapids is a worthy competitor in the cool city quotient, thanks in part to the Google efforts.

For fun, google the keywords "Grand Rapids" and "Google fiber." What you will find is that Grand Rapids is listed in an Associated Press story that ran in media outlets across the country, was mentioned in National Public Radio report and in blogs such as the one operated by The Baltimore Sun newspaper -- a city that is a major contender for the Google project.  Interestingly, that Baltimore blog had an entry that says: "We need a Facebook group similar to "Google fiber for Grand Rapids..."  


Here' s something else to consider. The local effort is spontaneous, homegrown and a real model for cooperation between citizen groups and city government. By its nature, it's messy, disorganized and full of vitality. There's no government funding, no wealthy benefactor, no well heeled organization behind it.

Frankly, it's just a bunch of local people who think it would be a great idea to have Google here.

And it is exactly this kind of ad hoc action that will keep the city moving forward, even when its stressed for parks funding or hit by some unforseen calamity.

As a member of the steering committee of Google Fiber for GR effort, I am heartened by the support of the tried-and-true who regularly sacrifice their time and resources, but also by the new faces who became engaged in the community through this Google effort.

The headline last week on our story about the Google project "Click Into Action" should have had a question mark after it. But I'm not embarrassed by the thin turnout of a well-publicized event.

However, I would be redfaced with shame if someone had asked me about what Grand Rapids was doing to win Google's favor, and I responded: "Nothing."

The Future Grand Rapids Needs All of Us (To Nominate Our City)

Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
          with Matt Gryczan, Managing Editor

Email:  [email protected]
Twitter Feed: @TommyGSync

Click here to continue to this week's G-Sync events.
To nominate Grand Rapids for Google Fiber visit here.

Photo provide by Laura Caprara, of Grand Rapids Social Diary


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