Bring Google to KC

Hello, Kansas City! What a great, sunshiny day.

I recently attended the KCMO Committee meeting over at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and learned more about the regional efforts to bring Google’s new “ultra-high speed” fiber network to the Kansas City metro area.  Google is planning to launch an experiment that will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. They will test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections.

There are a lot of big supporters of this effort, including, but not limited to:

• The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
• The City of Kansas City, MO (Administration and Elected Officials)
• The Kansas City, Missouri School Board
• UMKC
• The Economic Development Corporation
• The Kansas City Area Development Council
• Congressman Emanuel Cleaver

Social media is leading the way in spreading the word about the contest, which makes sense.  The deadline for communities to apply to be a trial site for Google’s ultra-high speed broadband is THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2010.

So, what can you do to lend your support?

• Nominate KC at Google’s Site: Google Kansas City.
• Sign KC’s petition and see who’s supporting the cause, which is found online at Google Kansas City
• Join the Facebook Fan Page – and invite your friends to join the fan page.
• Follow updates on Twitter – Google KC – and retweet the tweets.
• Post a YouTube video telling Google how you would use a one gigabit per second internet connection.
• Include these links in your blog.
• Tell Google Kansas City how this ultra-speed broadband would benefit you, your family, your school, your small business…whatever the case.

Let’s get some positive news going for Kansas City and stop headlining nation-wide with stories about our broken school district and dysfunctional Mayor.