Posted by: wifiguy14k on 10/03/2004 23:34:19
Among the smartest things I did on The Wi-Fi Guy tour … Savannah, Georgia. Or perhaps it was more luck. To be honest, I didn’t know that much about Savannah ahead of time. It seemed like a logical place to stop before I headed to the beaches of Florida. But Savannah was one of those cities where a Wi-Fi delegation came out to meet me … promoting the city and inviting The Wi-fi Guy to take a closer look. Accordingly, I spent most of my time visiting with these ambassadors and enjoying their municipal Wi-Fi project, rather than exploring randomly. No complaints!
I soon learned Savannah has a history of sending out a delegation.
“… Savannah’s role in it (Civil War) was a story that seemed to say a great deal about the city. At the outbreak of the fighting, Savannah was the world’s leading cotton port. General William Tecumseh Sherman selected it as the climax for his triumphant march to the sea, bringing seventy thousand troops against Savannah’s ten thousand. Unlike their counterparts in Atlanta and Charleston, Savannah’s civic leaders were practical businessmen, and their secessionist passions were tempered by a sobering awareness of the devastation that was about to befall them. When Sherman drew near, the mayor of Savannah led a delegation out to meet him. They offered to surrender the city without a shot if Sherman promised not to burn it. Sherman accepted the offer and sent President Lincoln a famous telegram: ‘I beg to present to you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.’ Sherman stayed a month and then marched to Columbia, South Carolina, and burned it to the ground.”
“Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil”
— John Berendt
During my stay in Savannah, several people recounted the Civil War story … and actually, several other stories from the book and/or Savannah lore. It was almost as if everyone had gone through chamber of commerce training, and they took turns mixing in the city’s core values into conversation. It was not a negative thing … just interesting and cool. I admire the rich history and the fact that the people were all such ambassadors for the city.
An official ambassador of sorts, Mark Dana, first contacted me about Savannah. He manages two hotels in the city, which have Wi-Fi. The first, The Mulberry Inn, is home to two access points. The Mulberry is somewhat nondescript on the exterior, but once inside, it has an open, comfortable yet luxurious warm glow in the lobby. I arrived late in the evening, just as the music was starting. Among cozy couches and highback armchairs, was a group of musicians — piano, cello (if memory serves), vocalist — performing in an almost living room atmosphere. Very cool.
I used Mulberry’s Wi-Fi several times during the evening and after an extraordinary breakfast buffet. The Wi-Fi connection was F2 — flawless and free. The Mulberry in Savannah gets 6 body piercings on The Wi-Fi Guy rating system. It is a cool, older property with lots of character … Oh and I absolutely love this after so many miles … a roomy parking garage with 6-7 height clearance, right across the street. (Note: I learned early on that the bright orange C I Hostmobile is about 6-5, when there is air in the tires …)
Garage or no garage, the Mulberry was in the running for a perfect score 7 of 7 … but the garbage truck put me in a foul mood. What had first been an awesome hotel room, in a quiet corner of the hotel was nonstrategically placed too near the dumpsters … Thank goodness the garbage truck was equipped with loud alarms, so I would know the truck was backing up … at 5:30 a.m. Oh well, it helped me get an early start on the day. And some hotels only provide wakeup calls … LOL … The Mulberry Inn gets a bright-and-early 6 body piercings of the possible 7.
Dana is also a founding board member and acting chairman of Savannah’s Wi-Fi effort … Spanish Moss. See: http://www.savannahspanishmoss.com/
Spanish Moss is an extremely forward thinking, aggressive group that “showcases Savannah as a technologically savvy community in order to assist in attracting technology based businesses to the region. The purpose of this group is to implement a free-to-the-user Wi-Fi hot zone in selected areas of the landmark Historic District to demonstrate Savannah’s commitment to technology and to showcase the technology base that exists in the Savannah area.” So, simply put, these guys are using Wi-Fi as one of the tools to attract business to Savannah, much the same way locally owned retailers across the country use Wi-Fi to take on the corporate giants. That’s my kind of progressive leadership! (“Beauty and brains” is the way the locals describe the city …) Before I go any further. Spanish Moss gets 7 low-hanging body piercings on the scale of 7 possibilities. So cool … so unexpected in (what I certainly consider) the Deep South.
Dana’s other property, The Hampton Inn, a few blocks away is part of the “foundation” for the Spanish Moss project. Some of the Wi-Fi access points are mounted on the top of the hotel, strategically turned to address nearby Reynolds Square. I hope my notes are correct and it was Reynolds Square … but there is room for error. As several people (and Berendt’s book) pointed out, there are no less than 21 squares spread around the beautiful city. I used the Wi-Fi with ease in Reynolds Square … no issues, no problems … only one thing puzzled me. Why is the statue of founding Methodist John Wesley, the prolific songwriter, in Reynolds Square? (Editor’s note: My bad. John was the preacher. His little brother, “Chuck” was the songwriter. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley)
It seems the local media also are part of the Wi-Fi craze. Both Charles Gray of WTOC-TV and newspaper journalist Alison Zielenbach
of The Savannah Morning News did Wi-Fi Guy interviews (photos as well) as I opened up the laptop, sniffing around Reynolds Square. Gray has a neat high-tech beat, and his own site. He moved to Savannah on a whim, after a visit turned into residency … much like the writer in “Midnight In The Garden” fell in love with the place and relocated … (I am told.) The Spanish Moss free hotspot was everything you could want, with a quaint little park as a backdrop. Very cool.
I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised that Savannah is so cool. I remember a while back that diplomatic leaders from around the world spent some of their time in Savannah and on nearby Sea Island during the G8 Conference. See http://www.g8usa.gov/home.html
Once again, the Savannah “delegation” were quick to give me impressive statistics from that event … Most impressive, the event brought some 3,500 journalists from around the world who used the Wi-Fi to varying degrees. And the mayor had also made official proclamations of Spanish Moss Day in recent months, to celebrate Savannah’s embrace with Wi-Fi.
Is it readily apparent the place is so-ooo Wi-Fi friendly?
Here’s what some others have to say …
T- Mobile’s Connection Manager lists pretty much Kinkos and Starbucks. JiWire lists the state courthouse, UPS store, Starbucks, Planter’s Inn, Thunderbolt Marina and more. Wi-Fi FreeSpots pretty much concurrs. Both JiWire and FreeSpots list Bits, Bytes and Coffee. Lots of Boingo in the market.
I too concur … LOL Bits, Bytes and Beverage came highly recommended by the Savannah Wi-Fi crowd. In fact, it was suggested as the perfect venue for my meeting with one of the most interesting people on my trip so far. More on him in a bit. … Savannah’s resident technology guru/frontman.
Bits, Bytes and Coffee on Broughton has a hip feel … mod easy chairs near the windows, funky abstract art, a good chai tea and good, free Wi-Fi signal. It seemed to be the place where all the Wi-Fi regulars conducted business. So, networking can also figure into the rating … BB&C gets 5 body piercings on the scale-o -7.
Speaking of networking, Dana of Spanish Moss set up a meeting between me and Chris Miller, a one-time MindSpring (EarthLink) VP with a few zeros in front of his employee badge number. Seems he was able to check out of that venture when “the getting was good,” and then dropped anchor in Savannah after several successful years in Atlanta. His business card proclaims “Chief Technology Evangelist,” for Creative Coast. I think he could make a believer out of just about anyone — spouting statistics on Savannah’s 30,000 miles of fiber optic cable; 37,000 students at several schools (universities and a graphics design school); and a relatively small population weighing in around 130,000 people ….. See: http://www.creativecoast.org
I would be remiss if I didn’t describe Miller’s gig. In addition to his responsibilities as CTE — whatever those may be — he sports a GQ-quality ponytail, sailor’s tan … dresses “business cazh” (which includes sandals) and he scoots around town on a moped. Miller makes no bones about the fact he lives on a sailing vessel of some sort and that he handpicked Savannah to be his port of call. He said there was however stiff competition for Savannah, but only from is other favorite, Tuscany. (You know how some people are so enlightened, they make you feel about as unworthy as Wayne and Garth …) Miller is one of those. Nice guy. Sharp! His claim to fame was doing the architecture for MindSpring’s call centers …
I wonder how well Miller’s moped maneuvers on the steep ramps on and around River Street. The shops and parking lots are paved with a few million round stones, once ballast of visiting schooners. An enterprising immigrant first told the city he would haul the stones away and then later engineered a way to sell them back as paving materials. (I think that entrepreneurial story is in everyone’s spiel and the book as well …) All I know is ballast stones aren’t much for a smooth ride in an SUV, albeit they are loaded with character. I never tried mountain bike vs ballast stones …
Along the Savannah River are several blocks of rejuvenated cotton warehouses, now home to dozens of restaurants, pubs, night spots, hotels, shops, galleries, and boutiques. I spent some time over near the river, watching the huge cargo ships pass through, while a steady flow of tourists doted on pirate t-shirts from the dozens of shops along the way. I sniffed around with the PCTEL Wi-Fi Seeker, but didn’t find much.
One of the best finds of the entire stay … a great deal (or so I thought) on a Bob Marley CD, downtown in an African import store. I opened up the jewel case and found out the artwork was a high-quality, color photo copy and the disc wasn’t marked in any fashion … kind of a homemade job I think … Oh well it plays well … “Got to have kaya, now, for the rain is falling …” I digress.
Off to Florida! No wait, final word on Savannah. Truly in the top five places of the entire trip so far. The greatest people … enthusiastic media and to keep the old corporate sponsor happy … EXCELLENT community involvement and promotion of Wi-Fi … I am going to have to buy that “Midnight In The Garden …” book everyone is talking about to see what else I have missed regarding Savannah. Savannah scores 6 …no scratch that … they were really working it … a perfect 7 body piercings on the Wi-Fi Guy piercometer.
Stay tuned!
