Let us know if we’ve missed any mentions of the ThinkBigTopeka cause by the media. (We’re in the process of making a hard copy of all the articles, they will all be viewable in the media category, which can be clicked in the top bar of links.)

- Live entertainment by Chris Aytes & the Good Ambition, the Topeka High Drumline and Dennis Rogers
- FREE Nathan’s hotdogs for lunch for the first 300 people, served on site by The Break Room
- Words from Mayor Bunten and a BIG message for Google
- A production crew from the History Channel capturing it all!

At 12:15 we’re planning to send a REALLY BIG message to Google. We’d tell you more, but it’s a surprise – you’ll just have to join us to find out. So dress warmly, bring a friend and head to 9th & Kansas tomorrow!

Special Thanks to our Celebration sponsors:

Celebration partners:

The History Channel will be in Topeka, Tuesday, November 30, to interview and shoot footage for its series, “How the States Got their Shapes.”

“[The History Channel is] coming to talk about how ideas and things that started on the internet have blossomed into real life. Think Big Topeka was a movement purely started on Facebook and through people coming together, it became this huge community sensation,” says Think Big Topeka’s Brendan Jensen.

To celebrate the History Channel’s visit, Think Big Topeka is throwing a Topeka Loves Google Celebration. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. on 9th Street between Kansas and Jackson and will celebrate the efforts to bring the Google Fiber Experiment to Topeka with live music, food and other entertainment.

Think Big Topeka will unveil a message to Google at 12:15 p.m.

[Source..]

Time is running out, as the announcement from Google is expected by the end of the year.

In what may its last big shot at winning over Google, Think Big Topeka is organizing a community event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in the 100 block of S.E. 9th. The event will feature free food and live entertainment.

Production crews from the History Channel, who got wind of Think Big Topeka after the capital city’s temporary name change to “Google” this past March, will be in Topeka that day to shoot footage and conduct interviews for a special series “How the States Got Their Shapes.”

Among those to be interviewed that day will be Think Big Topeka participants, who were the driving force behind the effort to land the Google ultlrafast Internet connection.

“This is probably our last chance to send a message to Google,” said Alissa Sheley, one of several leaders of Think Big Topeka, during a news conference Wednesday morning at the Blue Planet Cafe, 110 S.E. 8th. “There’s going to be a very, very big unveiling at the event.”

How big? Sheley wouldn’t say, only smiling and encouraging everyone who can make it downtown that day to be there when the announcement is made at 12:15 p.m.

In February, a loosely organized group known as Think Big Topeka sprang into existence largely through Facebook and other social network sites. The group’s aim was to get Google to consider locating its ultrafast Internet site in Topeka.

Thanks to efforts by the group, a proclamation by Mayor Bill Bunten changed the name of Topeka to “Google” for the month of March. The effort generated national and worldwide publicity, even resulting in Google renaming itself as “Topeka” on its home page on April 1 as an April Fool’s joke.

Think Big Topeka and local chamber of commerce leaders said Google’s April Fool’s stunt was a publicity windfall for the capital city — one that was seen by millions and continues to garner attention.

Sheley said most of those involved with Think Big Topeka didn’t know each other before meeting on Facebook. Now, she said, “we’re like family.”

As of Wednesday, Think Big Topeka had 17,366 members on Facebook.

Ryan Gigous, another Think Big Topeka participant, said the national and worldwide attention that resulted from Google’s one-day name change “was the only thing that surprised” him since the group’s inception nine months ago. The rest of the publicity was almost to be expected.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Gigous picked up a framed copy of the “Thinking Outside the Box” award presented by the Atlanta-based Southern Economic Development Council.

The award was presented by Doug Kinsinger, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, and Steve Jenkins, senior vice president of economic development for GO Topeka.

The Topeka chamber nominated Think Big Topeka for the award, in the process praising the group for its energy and creativity.

Though Think Big Topeka hasn’t heard anything from Google regarding which way it was leaning on selecting a site for its fiber experiment, some developments are quietly taking place.

Brandon Sheley, of Think Big Topeka, said Google recently installed a test site at 200 houses near Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

Sheley said he wasn’t reading anything into Google locating its test site in the Bay Area. He did say it showed Google was “serious” about developing its ultrafast Internet connection, and that he believed Topeka was still a player in the process.

Sheley also said some of those receiving services at Stanford have posted messages to Think Big Topeka on Facebook, wishing the group well in its endeavors to land Google.

[Source]

At that time we’ll also be announcing the next Think Big Topeka event coming at the end of the month. Stay tuned for more details!

*updated* here is the video from the conference

Since we started distributing the bracelets a few more businesses have offered to sell them.

If you would like to sell these are your business, please email us and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Here is a complete list:

• Blackbird Espresso Bar and Bistro
• PT’s Coffee
• PC911
• Downtown Topeka, Inc. (DTI)
• more coming soon…

In February we announced our plans to build experimental, ultra-high speed broadband networks. Over the past several months, our team’s been hard at work reviewing the nearly 1,100 community responses to our request for information—not to mention the nearly 200,000 responses from individuals across the U.S.

Throughout this process, one message has come through loud and clear: people are hungry for better and faster Internet access. With that in mind, today we’re launching a new site called Google Fiber for Communities, where you can learn more about fiber networks and keep up-to-date on our project. You’ll also be able to advocate for common-sense federal and local policies that would help fiber deployments nationwide.

We also wanted to thank every community and individual that submitted a response, posted a YouTube video, started a website, joined a rally or otherwise let their voice be heard. We were so honored by the grassroots enthusiasm across the country for this project that we put together a short video to say thank you:

As we explained back in March, we plan to name our target community or communities by the end of the year. We still have some work ahead of us before we’re ready to make that announcement, but in the meantime, we hope this site helps to keep the conversation going.

Posted by Minnie Ingersoll, Product Manager

Here is the source from the Google blog.

Please Discuss, ask questions, Thanks!

Which brings me to my point.  I don’t have to leave Topeka to spoil myself. For every fantastic local restaurant I ate at in Little Rock, there’s an equivalent in Topeka. For every beautiful painting, there’s three more here. For every community-supporting-proud-to-meet-ya-lets-have-a-beer Arkansan I spoke to,  there’s ten Kansans just like ‘em. It’s all here, provided you WANT to find it.

The Kansas sun drove us home from the market earlier than usual. As we were leaving I waved at an old co-worker, my wife laughed at my Flint Hills BBQ covered face and my son giggled at all the people. I couldn’t help but think, “I love Topeka.”

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