Hear me! For I have been to the mountaintop…
Tuesday night's SES mixer in San Jose was highly anticipated by most attendees. It was, after all, the Google Dance -being held at the Googleplex no less. At roughly 6:30, the tour busses started to line up outside the main convention center to begin shuttling attendees to the land of the giant. Needless to say, I think everyone went.
When my bus turned off the main road and started making it's way back to the Googleplex, there was apparently some confusion on the driver's part and we spent a few minutes in what appeared to be a closed outdoor concert venue. When the bus initially pulled into this deserted, out of the way spot and parked, it briefly occurred to me that perhaps the entire event was a ruse. Perhaps it was some clever deception designed to round up all of the pesky search engine people and be rid of them in some Machiavellian bid to clear the way for their ascent to power. Fortunately, the driver quickly realized his navigational faux pas and we were soon on the road again.
Once we safely arrived and disembarked, I braced myself for the inevitable stream of bad, (open bar bad) jokes about search engines, IPOs and the ever amusing prefixing of common words with a ‘Google' (Google-grub, Google-drinks,
etc…). Then, as I stood in line to be checked in, I noticed something. It was almost imperceptible at first, but as I looked around became more and more obvious. Soon, there was no doubting it. The Googleplex itself was speaking to me.
Even as I reeled in stark disbelief of my own faculties the message became louder and undeniable. The Googleplex was indeed communicating with me on a level that even now I struggle to understand. It was waving to me with its signature colors projected onto its stylized architecture. It was saying ‘hello' on the faces of all the Google staff in the form of the wide grins it had tattooed onto their faces. Truly I was dumbfounded.
As I made my way across the grounds through the throngs of revelers I saw video games, air hockey, a regulation sand volleyball court and the voice became deafening. "Do you see?" the Googleplex boomed, "Cast aside your doubt my friend. The bubble that once was burst has been re-forged". Needless to say, I was suitably awestruck.
The Googleplex had chosen your friend and humble narrator as a vessel for its message. I was simultaneously honored and more than a little afraid. I am but a small, bald man aimlessly wandering the expanse of a strange land full of hope and promise. How would I find my way without my tech-sector cynicism to guide me? The Googleplex quickly assuaged my fears and comforted me saying; "Fear not my friend. Be at ease. You cannot be lost here. We are Google, after all. We can find most anything in about 0.18 seconds. It's what we do." Of course, I was immediately relieved and a bit embarrassed for not realizing that myself. So, after a few more minutes of exchanging pleasantries, the Googleplex provided me with a cold drink and we sat down for an impromptu Q & A session.