LOOKS LIKE GOOGLE, which seems intent on mapping every square inch of the world, has forgotten where the Upper Peninsula is.
It’s not the first time a major company or organization has omitted the UP from its map of Michigan, but there is some irony here because, gosh, Google knows everything.
The omission comes in the latest report on Google’s expansion of both its Detroit and Ann Arbor offices. Seventeen million dollars worth of expansion, to be completed in Detroit in 2020, and in Ann Arbor in 2021.
An unspecified number of jobs to be added, a further boost to the tech economy in Michigan.
But…but what about the UP? It’s not even on your cute, little map! And what about Marquette which is seeking to become a tech player? Hello!!
Keith Glendon, an IBM strategist who helped lead the charge to establish a Cybersecurity Institute at NMU this year, is calling on Google to rectify its faux pas.
“Join us in our exciting tech economy revolution,” he writes in Facebook. “Land some of your best and brightest here to join us. Let us help you succeed in Michigan and the world by helping you build an awesome innovation outpost here in Marquette!”
In other words, send some of that Google money and expansion up our way. We’ll show you a great place to work and live, and you’ll help jump-start a tech economy that’s still in its infancy.
Is this a tongue-in-cheek campaign designed to draw some attention? Yeah, sure. But it’s also serious.
Is Google listening? Does it read social media? Will it at least fix its dadgum map?