Help us think BIG about a GIG

[Margaret Rosas]

Geeks!

Are you ready for a gigabit? Peter Koht is filing an RFI for the City of Santa Cruz in the Google Gigabit trial. Now it's time for us to step up our community efforts.

Stephanie Ross, Chris Arkenberg and I have started constructing the website and social media setup. This project NEEDS your HELP to build a compelling story of how Santa Cruz is uniquely qualified to host the experiment. We also need your vision on how a Gigabit could impact our daily lives. Here's an initial pass at volunteer positions we need to fill -->

1. Outreach Coordinator for Local High Profile Geeks and Community Members -- Get in touch with local geek heads and community leaders to get testimonials and have them submit a form to Google
   
2. Outreach Coordinator for Organizations -- Spread the word to Santa Cruz businesses and organizations and get logos to show their support
3. Outreach Coordinator for Media -- We'll be using social media to get the word out, but also need to hit the old media outlets to share and spread the story nationwide!
   
4. Wordpress builder & themer -- We have a theme, but need to customize some bits to include logo and general styling and make it bitchin
   
5. Google Maps & Webform geek -- we need a form that allows people to submit their location and put a pin on the map
6. Blog Articles - Each article should talk about how a gigibit would impact the specific area and also have an awesome photo. We need one person to take ownership of each area and research how the GIG will impact these areas
   

• Health Care
• Community
• Public Safety
• Environment
• Economic Recovery
• Education

In order to submit a strong application, we need a lot of help to make this application rock (like AT LEAST a dozen geek volunteers). Santa Cruz makes a compelling case for the trial -- we're small and savvy, have a university, passionate geek community (THAT'S YOU!!!), innovation out the wazoo, and some googlers amongst us. Let's dream and imagine what a gig could do and how it would shape our future.

Thoughts? Feel free to share with the list.

Volunteers? Please email marg...@quiddities.com and join us for an organizational meeting Monday 2pm @ NextSpace in the Slug Room. Please RSVP here: http://santacruzgeeks.com/events/think-big-about-a-gig. The deadline on this is fast approaching (March 26th), so we need to move quickly.

Go GIGABIT!

Margaret, Stephanie & Chris



--
Margaret Rosas
Founder & Chief Strategist
Quiddities - A Creative Web Solutions Agency

http://quiddities.com
831.466.0110

[Peter Chester]

Margaret, thanks for sending this out!

1. What is this form that you speak of "to get testimonials and have
them submit a form to Google"? Does it exist already?
2. Are we competing with any other cities for this specifically? How
do we win this in a definitive way? What's google specifically
looking for?

Thanks!

-p

[Rob Knight]

> 2. Are we competing with any other cities for this specifically?
> How do we win this in a definitive way? What's google specifically
> looking for?

I don't think we're necessarily competing with the Midwest town of
Clinton, but they've got a good start and some press:
http://www.google4clinton.org/

-r

[chris arkenberg]

The Sentinel just reported that the jobless rate in Santa Cruz is at 15% - the highest it's ever been [

  

January's jobless rate in Santa Cruz County at 15 percent - the highest ever [http://bit.ly/9Mqlzf]. I'd like to hear ideas from the community about how a fiber loop might enable more & better business development & university research, more effective community building & sharing of information & services, and how this project might help create greater prosperity for a future Santa Cruz. These are the type of stories that not only help Santa Cruz speak to Google but they also help us better understand the role of the internet in our community.

Thanks for your help,

Chris

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[Margaret Rosas]

Hey Peter,

Thanks for the questions! Replies below -->

1. What is this form that you speak of "to get testimonials and have them submit a form to Google"?  Does it exist already?

The form is located here:
https://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options

And there's an overview here:
https://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/overview

2. Are we competing with any other cities for this specifically?  How do we win this in a definitive way?  What's google specifically looking for?

According to a Business Week article there are a over 70 cities competing at this point. There is a fair amount of speculation about how Google will make their choice. In a webinar today, the folks at Google stressed the importance of sharing your community story and illustrating wide community support. That is the focus of our efforts.

We also see this as an opportunity to educate folks about why fiber is important to our future. There is a tendency to think it's just about downloading movies faster. But (in my not so humble opinion) it has far reaching implications and is vital to our community vibrancy, economy and democracy.

Here are some city sites we've been looking at -->

http://www.biggigaustin.org/
http://www.bmorefiber.com/
http://www.googletwinports.com/
http://boulderfiber.com/
 

Thanks!

-p

[chris arkenberg]

Portland is in the game, too. http://www.portlandfiber.com/ I'm guessing their build-out would cost Google a lot more than Santa Cruz...

Chris

--
chris arkenberg | http://twitter.com/chris23 | http://urbeingrecorded.com

--

[chris arkenberg]

And more...

http://www.zettaphile.com/2010/03/02/list-of-cities-vying-for-googles-gigabit-project/

[Chris]

Margaret,
I am a webform geek - I am the owner of City Data Services at citydataservices.com.  I would love to put up a webform for this project - let me know your thoughts.  I will be at the meeting on Monday- Best, Chris Davidson

--

[Mike Brogan]

Hi,

I'd like to chime in and say that all of us here at Cruzio are stoked about the possibility of Google bringing fiber to Santa Cruz (especially the open access part). We'd love it if everyone had incredible connections to the Internet. Margaret, let us know if you want a testimonial from a successful local ISP that's in favor of the project.

We're also excited about what might come out of the FCC's broadband plan (details here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17broadband.html). A lot of the details are sketchy at best (e.g. how does it foster competition?) but the push to extend broadband to more homes is a good thing.

In light of all of this great discussion, I thought I might share some recent developments that are going on right now in downtown Santa Cruz. Whether or not our community is selected by Google, Cruzio is working on 100 Mbps plus connections to homes and offices all around Santa Cruz County. We will make it happen, and you can be a part of it.

1. Cruzio's involvement with the CCBC

Cruzio has kept a close eye on the broadband stimulus funds that are being made available. We applied during round 1 and didn't get it, and now we're going again in round 2 as part of the Central Coast Broadband Consortium. This group includes local ISPs and government groups like Santa Cruz City, Santa Cruz County, City of Watsonville, and others. Cruzio is applying for a grant that would bring a fiber loop down to Monterey that would connect all of the communities in between. A lot of the stimulus money is being awarded to underserved areas, and while this might not be the most underserved area, we're gonna give it our best shot.

2. Cruzio pulling fiber to our new location in the Sentinel building

Even if the CCBC grant doesn't get funded, we're bringing fiber to our new location at 207 Church St. We'll use this to provide connectivity to our tenants, data center (with colocation), and provide connections over wireless links to other buildings. We can also connect other buildings via fiber. This link should start out at 10-20 Gbps and could increase if we think there's demand. This is happening this September--soon!

In any case we believe that bringing fiber to Santa Cruz can open up all sorts of good things for this community--more jobs, less commuting, and new opportunities.

Over the next several weeks and months, I'll be working on organizing meetings with interested people so I can learn more about the bandwidth needs in the community and give out more information about our plan. If you'd like to be a part, please let me know. 

Thanks,

Mike Brogan

Cruzio Internet

--

[Drew Meyer]

Hi gang-

I work at NETGEAR (you know us from wireless routers). We have large
team that works with ISPs for customer-premises equipment as well as
switching gear for the edges and cores of small business netowrks - in
fact, the Santa Cruz Public Library is one of our success stories.

If there is any market data or industry advice I can help with to
close this please let me know. Mike, I'd like to be a part.

Drew Meyer
andrew...@netgear.com

> On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 3:04 PM, Margaret Rosas <marga...@quiddities.com>wrote:
>
> > Geeks!
>
> > Are you ready for a gigabit? Peter Koht is filing an RFI for the City of
> > Santa Cruz in the Google Gigabit trial. Now it's time for us to step up our
> > community efforts.
>
> > Stephanie Ross, Chris Arkenberg and I have started constructing the
> > website and social media setup. This project NEEDS your HELP to build a
> > compelling story of how Santa Cruz is uniquely qualified to host the
> > experiment. We also need your vision on how a Gigabit could impact our daily
> > lives. Here's an initial pass at volunteer positions we need to fill -->
>

> >    1. *Outreach Coordinator for Local High Profile Geeks and Community
> >    Members* -- Get in touch with local geek heads and community leaders to

> >    get testimonials and have them submit a form to Google

> >    2. *Outreach Coordinator for Organizations* -- Spread the word to Santa

> >    Cruz businesses and organizations and get logos to show their support

> >    3. *Outreach Coordinator for Media* -- We'll be using social media to

> >    get the word out, but also need to hit the old media outlets to share and
> >    spread the story nationwide!

> >    4. *Wordpress builder & themer* -- We have a theme, but need to

> >    customize some bits to include logo and general styling and make it bitchin

> >    5. *Google Maps & Webform geek* -- we need a form that allows people to

> >    submit their location and put a pin on the map

> >    6. *Blog Articles* - Each article should talk about how a gigibit would

> >    impact the specific area and also have an awesome photo. We need one person
> >    to take ownership of each area and research how the GIG will impact these
> >    areas
>

> >    - Health Care
> >    - Community
> >    - Public Safety
> >    - Environment
> >    - Economic Recovery
> >    - Education

>
> > In order to submit a strong application, we need a lot of help to make this

> > application rock (like AT LEAST a *dozen geek volunteers*). Santa Cruz

> > makes a compelling case for the trial -- we're small and savvy, have a
> > university, passionate geek community (THAT'S YOU!!!), innovation out the
> > wazoo, and some googlers amongst us. Let's dream and imagine what a gig
> > could do and how it would shape our future.
>
> > Thoughts? Feel free to share with the list.
>

> > Volunteers? Please email marga...@quiddities.com and join us for an

> > organizational meeting Monday 2pm @ NextSpace in the Slug Room. Please RSVP
> > here:http://santacruzgeeks.com/events/think-big-about-a-gig. The deadline
> > on this is fast approaching (March 26th), so we need to move quickly.
>
> > Go GIGABIT!
>
> > Margaret, Stephanie & Chris
>
> > --
> > Margaret Rosas
> > Founder & Chief Strategist
> > Quiddities - A Creative Web Solutions Agency
>
> >http://quiddities.com
> > 831.466.0110
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > "Santa Cruz Geeks" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to santacr...@googlegroups.com.
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> > santacruzgeek...@googlegroups.com<santacruzgeeks%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>