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Mayor doesn't fool around in bid for high-speed Web: Hub not gaga for GoogleApr 20, 2010 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Boston's legendary urban mechanic won't stoop to stupid pol tricks to win free ultra-high-speed Internet from Google even as lesser mayors have jumped into freezing lakes, renamed their cities and otherwise debased themselves to win the Web giant's favor. Mayor Thomas M. Menino recently told the Herald he wants to keep Boston's bid "serious" -- and an aide said the city doesn't want to engage in any crazy antics that will feed Google's "publicity stunt." Google's most infamous suitor Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten, whose city of 125,000 in Kansas renamed itself "Google" for the month of March, playfully needled Menino. "Tell him to have fun," said Bunten. "He's too wound up." Bunten conceded some of the more high-profile stunts to attract attention probably won't matter much to Google. "They're not going to make a business decision on where to spend millions of dollars based on a Midwestern effort at humor," he said. Win or lose, Bunten said the attention Topeka got from its Google pitch was worth it. "At least they know who we are," said Bunten, noting that Google changed its Web site name to "Topeka" on April Fool's Day. After Google announced earlier this year it was accepting applications for its "Google Fiber for Communities" program, there has been no shortage of civic showmanship by mayors and other politicians across the nation to try to land the lucrative Google cyber-prize. The mayor of a Minnesota city jumped into the icy cold winter waters of Lake Superior, in his literal attempt to make a splash for his community. A New York pol has even vowed to dive into a "toxic" polluted river to grab attention. And the high-profile marketing stunts have kept on coming -- except in Boston. The Hub has produced a straight-forward, no-frills video, complete with city and community leaders wearing their proper business attire, pitching Boston as an "innovative" city with diverse neighborhoods, prestigious research centers and a top-notch Internet infrastructure. The city's video, and accompanying Facebook page, contains no pie-in-the-face antics by Menino and others. It just vows that Google won't regret rolling out its experimental one-gigabit-per-second network in Boston. Evangelia Souris, a Boston-based image consultant, said Menino's buttoned-down marketing approach reflects the city. "That's what we are," said Souris of Boston's proper ways. City Councilor Mike Ross agreed. "For something like this, I'd rather have integrity behind it, not the fluff," said Ross, who nevertheless added that Boston could do more in the long term to make itself more hip and attractive for high-tech workers looking for a place to live. The good news for the Hub: Google says the city's staid, Proper Bostonian tactics are just fine. "There's definitely some very exciting (pitches)," said Dan Martin, a Google spokesman, whose company is now sifting through 1,100 applications before making a decision by the end of this year. "But ultimately we're not going to be looking at those type of (high-profile) initiatives," he said. "We're going to be looking at how (communities) responded to our requests for proposals." Google has said it wants to wire 50,000 to 500,000 homes, in one or more communities. [email protected] To see more of the Boston Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bostonherald.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Boston Herald Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |