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Waiting By the Phone

A2 is starting to worry that Google isn’t calling as often as it used to. Pretty soon it’s going to start showing up late for dates with lame excuses about how Austin or Charlottesville is really going through some bad times now and needed someone to talk tax incentives with. If only Council had read the best-seller “That Company’s Not That Into You,” it would know that passing resolutions about how eager you are to attract a company is just a desperation move, and that A2 should let down its hair, go out with pals like Ypsi and Saline and wait for the companies to start lining up.

11 Responses to “Waiting By the Phone”


  1. Definitely. If Ann Arbor had treated local business better, Google would know Ann Arbor knew how to take care of its business community and would be calling every night. Instead, Google senses A2 is still worried what the neighborhoods will think and doesn’t want to get involved with a city that will play games with its suitors.

    posted by Dale on September 6th, 2006 at 12:55 pm

  2. Council wants somebody to shove.

    posted by Dave on September 6th, 2006 at 2:09 pm

  3. But they also want somebody to shove them. It’s a very complex situation.

    posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 6th, 2006 at 2:16 pm

  4. See Dale, I think that A2’s coquettish games were what attracted Google in the first place. But now that the city’s not playing so hard to get, the thrill of the chase has worn off. It’s time for them to tell Google that “the neighborhoods” are getting apprehensive, and take it from there.

    posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 6th, 2006 at 2:19 pm

  5. Hmm. Maybe Google just likes how it feels to be gossiped about with Ann Arbor.

    After the rumor floated a year or so ago, the two were often spotted together in business publications and economic development tabloids (often with their mutual friend, the University of Michigan). Then, the big engagement announcement set off a flurry of press around the state and country and since that’s subsided, maybe Google is questioning whether it wouldn’t really be better if the two just “stayed friends” while the company saw other communities. I bet there’s a lot of family pressure on both ends, though.

    posted by Dale on September 6th, 2006 at 2:52 pm

  6. Clearly somebody’s been attending one of Bush’s pesky abstinence-only health education classes. What ever happened to the good ol’ days, when people had sex on the first date?

    posted by Heidi on September 6th, 2006 at 3:21 pm

  7. Or the opposite… Ann Arbor’s pregnant with Google’s love child, but Google isn’t ready to settle down. I wonder what Ann will name the baby. Suri?

    posted by Dave on September 6th, 2006 at 4:24 pm

  8. I think Google’s just looking for a good time.

    posted by Michael McC. on September 7th, 2006 at 9:12 am

  9. See Mom there really are no nice companies out there. They always wine and dine me and by the end of the night I always give them a tax break. They tell me they’ll call the next day and never do. Will I ever meet the right one?!?

    posted by Stephen Haas on September 7th, 2006 at 2:46 pm

  10. Google’s plainly going the “don’t call us, we’ll call you…” they couldn’t fool us that they were actually locating a high tech op here…just a green college grad ad sales shop paying section 8 salaries…once that became clear, I think the air went out of the balloon…though they could get the Pfizer space real cheap after fizzer goes wheels up back to Brooklyn–within six months, I predict….

    posted by Clyde on September 8th, 2006 at 5:13 pm

  11. Well, they ARE moving to downtown. Yesterday’s AA Snooze said they will be at 110-112 S. Main, in the 2 floors above Vinology, for a time. As they grow, I hope they will stay downtown.

    posted by justme on September 19th, 2006 at 7:20 am

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