The Google Dance

I'm back in Mountain View this week, and just when I thought things at Google were ho-hum, along comes the Google Dance out of nowhere.

The Google Dance isn't really a dance; it's just a big party that is named after a phenomenon known to search ranking experts by that name. The party is scheduled to coincide with a Search Strategies conference that is held in the area. Everyone at the conference (and there are thousands) is invited to the Dance. Also, many of Google's Mountain View employees attend. So it's a really, really enormous party. I mean, it is huge even by Google standards.

The first clue that something big was going on was that preparations began yesterday. First, they cleared away all of the outdoor tables early in the day; after dinner, they cleared out all of the tables in the main cafe (Charlie's) as well. They had dozens of technicians and stevedore-types putting up lights, speakers, big-screen TVs, awnings, etc. There were electrical cords as thick as your wrists snaking everywhere. Towards the end of the day they brought in a row of porta-potties, which was a clue that the event, whatever it was, was going to include non-googlers. (After all, our bathrooms might contain trade secrets. :-) ) I left at 10pm last night and they still had crews there working.

Today they started filling Charlie's cafe usual eating space with video games a la Dave & Buster's. They also closed Charlie's and No-Name for lunch. Presumably all of the chefs in both cafes were consumed with prepping for the party the entire day. They put in a row of candy bins like a candy store.

Outside, they put row upon row of tables loaded down with chafing dishes under the awnings. There were several pool tables, couches, and big-screen TVs in the center of the courtyard. There was a dunk tank ("dunk the google guy"), multiple beer stations, a karaoke tent (with video so that your embarrassment can be archived for the ages), even a station with nothing but milk shakes and root beer floats. Kirk and I did a quick calculation and decided that they had about 500 gallons of root beer in 2-liter bottles stacked up out there.

At 6pm, people began lining up for t-shirts. The lines was hundreds of yards long but moved with the typical google efficiency -- I'd say I spent only 5 minutes in line. Food didn't start serving until 7pm. I was starving so I raided a mini-kitchen for a salad. When the food finally showed up, it wasn't anything special -- hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork (which was super salty), corn-on-the-cob (which was mushy), strawberry shortcake. I guess it's the best you can do when you're cooking for 5-10,000 people. Luckily there was no shortage of milk shakes.

Anyway, I left fairly early because I had to head over to Tushar's house to pick up my bike. Tomorrow morning I intend to do the Alpine Loop again. But at least I can say I've been to the Google Dance!

Here are some links to prior years' Dances. It should be obvious from the link names how to find this year's, once it gets put online.

2006
2005