Tips and Tricks for T-shirt Entrepreneurs

Searching for (and Finding) Google - My Visit to the Google Campus

Posted on October 13th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Showcased Posts, Google.

I thought I’d say a little more about my Google visit.

So there we were, on the freeway to visit my friend who works at Google. We were, of course, following directions I had printed from Google Maps. Aha, Mission Blvd, exit there it says. So I did. My passenger, Mary, had lived in the area many years ago and said she thought we should veer right after exiting.

Many minutes later we realized something was not right.

How could this have happened? Google maps had steered me right so far on our trip. After some aimless driving I decided to pull over into a church parking lot and get my laptop out of the trunk and hook it up to my Treo phone for internet access to look for a map of the area. This should prove a few things to you: 1. I am female 2. I am quite geeky.

I brought up our desitination on the map - Google headquarters. Looking back I realize I could’ve figured out the exact address of the church we were at but I think with the concern of being late for my appointment I didn’t think about it. So, I had to wait while the map slowly filled in (my particular data plan gives me slightly faster than dial-up speed) as I zoomed around the map trying to find our location.

A guy in a service truck pulled into a parking space near us. I sent Mary over to ask him for directions. When she came back with his conversation the mystery was solved, we had exited too early. We were indeed supposed to exit Mission Blvd… just not that Mission Blvd. There are two Mission Blvd exits, right after each other.

We ended up continuing on without incident but I couldn’t help but think, the directions should’ve told us there were two exits with the same name. Sure, it had the distance we were supposed to travel on the freeway before exiting, but, I don’t know about you, but I can’t gauge things as precisely as Google can when I’m driving and the exits are as close together as they were.

Our tardiness aside, we did eventually see a multicolored sign that announced we were entering the Google “campus”. As we rushed in the direction of a sign that declared “Lobby 4135″ I saw another pointing to another lobby. So far the buildings looked like nice but fairly regular office buildings, not so cookie cutter as to be completely square but still not that unusual from the outside except for a nicer turnabout for the cars and the presence of a bike racks near the lobby entrance.

I still got excited as we entered. There was a clean counter inside and about 8 people waiting on red cushioned chairs in the small lobby area. A transparent monitor hung from the ceiling near the receptionist desk and showed glowing words scrolling on by. These were live searches being performed on Google. I saw a search string which I think said, “the divine one only the divine one no one else” It was a reminder that I was at the one company who might be able to answer the question, “What does humankind want in this world?”

I didn’t get an answer to that question but I did see plenty of evidence that Google was interested in answering the question, “What do our employees want in a work place?”. My friend took us on what he called, “The 10 cent tour” which included a short drive (yes, the “campus” is that big… 29 buildings!) and a fast paced walking tour which ended in lunch. As we pulled into the parking lot for the main buildings which housed the working spaces for many of the engineers, my friend flashed his badge and asked if we wanted to get a haircut, today was free haircut day and Google had stylists come and offer them. Mary told me that she also noticed a sign saying you could get your car “detailed”. Once we got out of the car, we came into the lobby and I immediately noticed a large server rack. My friend explained it was one of the original ones, cork was layered underneath each board, to help prevent from rising and super heating the top boards on the over 6 feet tall rack. Dispite this he says they had one catch fire. They didn’t lose any data he assured me. I’m sorry I didn’t take a picture of it but I was aware that we had arrived quite late and didn’t want to delay my friend too much, not knowing how much more we were going to see.

After the server viewing we made a quick right and found ourselves in a relatively small room facing a rather boring white wall.. however along the wall to my left was a row of washer/dryers, a few of them with spinning clothes. This was a Google laundry room, my friend explained and proceeded to tell a story about using one of the scooters on campus and not realizing he had trailed a line of dirt from the kick back on his pants. He grabbed some shorts from the lost and found pile, took out his laptop and sat and worked in the laundry room while his pants washed and dried.

We continued on the bottom floor tour and saw a very cool display, the one I mobile blog posted about. It showed google searches by showing a rotating 3D globe with searches shooting off into space from the city of origin as brightly colored firework streams color coded by search language. It was mesmerizing. On a smaller level, projected about mid level on a white wall were company picnic and other Google life pictures. My friend said when were you in a certain meeting room it was distracting to see it.

Next up we went up a white railed staircase where we could look down on the floor below, the building layout was quite open, the predominant color was white but there were liberal uses of bright color everywhere. Some areas were permanently set up for listening to guest speakers with chairs in primary colors facing a lectern on a small stage. In general the building we were in looked more like a place for entertainment or lectures than business meetings. There some actual busineess meeting rooms as well, these were named after cities in the world and one of them, painted a bright red/orange on the most of it’s outside walls, was the closest to Sergey, Larry and Eric so that was where big decisions had gone down. While we were up there I looked out one of the windows and saw brightly colored umbrellas and a stage, it looked like a party was going on but I later found out that was just the outdoor seating area for the main campus cafeteria. Back on first floor level we passed one of the “Neverending pools” on campus and my friend pointed out the Google lifeguard. We also passed a sand volley ball court. Earlier we had passed the exit of one of 3 gyms on campus as well. Between those amenities the stairs in the place and the bikes and razor scooters on campus I could see getting a work out was quite possible at Google. We also saw an employee walking his dog, dogs are allowed apparently, though on lease.
Our tour ended at the main cafeteria. You could have American, Italian, Indian, Chinese and other Asian foods, plus various specials. Drinks and desserts were also available of course. My friend told me that the biggest mistake beginners made was to be shy. I was skeptical but dutifully filled up my plate. At this point my friend learned he’d had some meetings cancelled so we were able to have a leisurely lunch. I did a lot of people watching. I’d noticed through out tour that many folks had google apparel on. T-shirts, jackets, etc. There were a few people in suits but I had a feeling they were also visitors. The mood in general was casual, folks were walking about and I couldn’t tell if they were there because they were just using going to work out in the company gym or they were there working. There was a constant flow of folks walking. I had a funny feeling that I could have passed Sergey and not noticed it because those around him would not be acting any differently than if their other co-workers had passed by.

Lunch conversation was fun as well, mostly personal catch up stuff but I also learned a bit more about Google history. My friend had been employee number 1500 or so and in the past 3 years Google was now at over 9000. Google engineer offices were all around the main campus part on purpose so that it would be easier to get ideas bouncing around and for social purposes. I also got the secret to search engine optimization. OK I’m just kidding, just look at my PR for this blog, it’s zero so how could I have the secret? Right? I must say that Google’s world domination plan was pretty brilliant though.

Eventually our lunch did have to end so I grabbed a last picture of my friend and I in front of the main building but from the inside quad side. My friend opted to walk back to his building and Mary and I went back to my rental car. As I pulled out of the parking lot I reflected on the state of business life. Google with all it’s amenities does have them to try to keep their employees at work so they can work more. But… my friend was very happy, I could tell from his enthusiasm there, he wasn’t acting like a mindless drudge. He was rushed at first but once his meetings were cancelled we had a very long lunch and he seemed not at all worried a “boss” might be looking for him. Other people we met on the “campus” seemed to exude energy to me, not “stress”. And some, as I mentioned before, I couldn’t tell if they were there just working out, or there to go to work. I’m sure there were plenty of people slaving away at their desks as well, but if the general feeling is of a high energy college campus, Google can’t be too far astray from their “Do no Evil” business plan.

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