With a rock climbing wall resembling REI’s glass-enclosed monolith in downtown Seattle, (only this geoglyph is studded with brightly colored plastic letters spelling out ‘G-o-o-g-l-e,’, Google’s Kirkland campus held its ceremonial opening last week.
The Eastside’s “other’ high tech giant, still dwarfed by its crosstown rival, is consolidating around 350 Kirkland employees at the new campus setting on Sixth Street South, The LEED-certified complex, includes three buildings, an employee gym with locker rooms, a massage room, a cafeteria, doctor’s office and the signature recreational and social amenities of a Web 2,0 company.
Google Kirkland’s engineering team, along with the smaller Google Seattle office in Fremont, has brought many of the company’s most prized innovations to market, including Google Maps. In fact, finding your way to the new facilities will be made easier with the use of Google Maps Navigation Beta, a GPS-like system foir the Android phone platform which Kirkland had a hand in developing.
“Tech companies around here can thank Microsoft for almost single-handedly establishing the region as a leader in the high-tech industry,” commented Google’s senior vice president of engineering and research, Alan Eustace.
We’ll be watching for the new campus to show up at eye-leve in Google Maps’ Kirkland Street View sometime soon. [24×7]
NWEN University Takes Entrepreneurship to the NW Degree
Northwest entrepreneurs will head back to school this Thursday when the Northwest Entrepreneur Network rolls out another edition of its Entrepreneur University.
This year’s proceedings get underway with a keynote from Jennifer Clark, the third employee of the Obama for America campaign, and its Deputy COO and Director of HR. Politics aside, attendees will learn about team-building and customer outreach from the most successful campaign in US history.
The closing keynoters are the founders of Bacon Salt-“because everything should taste like bacon!” according to the promo.
Led by expert instructors, the NWEN protégé willl also work within small groups to simulate entrepreneurial decisions, solve real-world problems, and get real-time feedback. Lunchtime will feature a “VC Bistro” where you can sign-up for face-time with one of 10 venture capitalists.
This year’s event also includes an abridged version of an America Idol talent contest. Last year, entrepreneurs were invited to deliver their best business pitch to a panel of media judges n only 60 seconds. This year the elevator pitches get even more succinct. “Tweet Your Business Pitch in 140 Characters or Less” is the proposition. [24×7]
Get more info in the Seattle24x7 blog
