Sky High Aerial Ad Over Google
March 29th, 2010
Story Updated: Mar 26, 2010 at 7:56 PM CDT
At a party Friday afternoon in Peoria, Mayor Jim Ardis officially send out Peoria’s application to be a site for Google’s new high-speed Internet.
The event — at Kelleher’s Pub — was a culmination of the city’s effort to best dozens of other cities also trying for the High-Speed system.
It’s considered to be a benefit for all sorts of businesses and a way to draw more commerce to the area.
As a final attention-getter, Friday the city and county of Peoria hired an airplane to trail a banner over Google headquarters in Mountain View, California asking if Google will play in Peoria.
“Tim Couliard actually said ‘why don’t we get an airplane to fly over Google Headquarters with a sky banner saying ‘Will Google play in Peoria?’ So he booked the plane. We had tis planned for weeks, so we just couldn’t say anything because we didn’t want anybody to steal the idea,” said Alma Brown with the city of Peoria.
The application sent out Friday includes hundreds of emails and photos –including a video of Mayor Jim Ardis (or someone looking like him) using a Cat tractor to spell out the word “google” on the ground at the Cat proving grounds.
Google Aerial Banner
March 29th, 2010Cities Rush to Woo Google Broadband Before Friday Deadline
By MIGUEL HELFT
Angela J. Cesere/Annarbor.Com, Via Associated Press People sing the “A2 Fiber Anthem” in an effort to persuade Google to build its ultra-high speed network in Ann Arbor, Mich.Update 10:45 p.m. Adding final count of communities expressing interest in the Google Fiber project.
Minutes ago, a small plane flew over the Google campus in Mountain View, Calif., trailing a banner that read “Will Google Play in Peoria, IL?”
It was the latest in a series of stunts by cities across the country to get the attention of Google. The Internet giant is promising to build an ultra-high speed network to serve, free, 50,000 to 500,000 people in one or more communities.
The stunts, which I first wrote about on Monday, accompany more serious applications by cities and communities making the case why Google should pick them. Google says that more than 1,100 communities expressed interest in the Google Fiber project by the Friday deadline.
The stunts included the mayor of Duluth, Minn., jumping into Lake Michigan; the mayor of Sarasota, Fla., swimming with sharks; manatees voting with their snouts; and Senator Al Franken playing his old comedian self. They’ve been joined by the Peoria plane; hundreds of students in Ann Arbor, Mich., singing the “A2 Fiber Anthem”; the waving of a flag on Alaska’s Mount McKinley; a people-powered light display in Greenville, S.C.; and a video by Senator Tom Udall, of New Mexico, poking good-natured fun at Mr. Franken’s clip.
So what comes after all the fun and games? Google said it would begin a rigorous review process and decide where to build its fiber network by the end of the year. “As we narrow down our choices, we’ll be conducting site visits, meeting with local officials and consulting with third-party organizations,” James Kelly, a product manager, wrote on the company’s blog.
State Farm Airplane Banner in St. Louis
July 14th, 2009
Sponsor of the MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby, State Farm utilized an aerial banner for creating awareness downtown and around Busch Stadium festivities in St. Louis, MO this week.
