i am a self taught programmer from chile who founded a few startups and needs nothing but a friendly googler who can vouch for me so i can visit the googleplex. since i was growing up in santiago i used to read about silicon valley in magazines and one of my dreams has always been to visit and see the real atmosphere.<p>i hope a friendly googler read this message and i promise to show up at time, be cool and not cause trouble.
Isn't it just an office block?<p>I'm in radio and people frequently want to visit radio stations - they have this image of a fun, glamorous, star-studded workplace where anything goes.<p>They're usually pretty disappointed when they see the sales office, the programming office, a tatty kitchen and a tiny, basic studio in a broom cupboard.<p>Surely Google is the same - it's acquired a legendary status, but it's just... well, an office, like you go to work in every day. I'm sure there are more interesting places to visit in California.
I'm a Googler and would be glad to show you around one afternoon. Shoot me an e-mail (address is in my profile) and tell me a little more about yourself and we can work out the details.<p>(Edit: También hablo Español si te hace sentir más cómodo.)
Well, you can always apply for a job there, study for your phone interviews, and get invited, plane ticket and all. Heck, you might even get a job out of it ;)
You could always just show up and walk around the outside of the campus, take a picture of the colorful Google bikes and the Android mascots for the various releases.<p>There are usually lots of Google employees getting some sunlight in the surrounding park.<p>I'm not sure what you'd see inside the buildings. I worked as a consultant for the previous owner, Silicon Graphics/SGI, during the first dot-com boom, and they were neat architecture, but still just office buildings.<p>I think if you plan a whole trip out to Silicon Valley for the atmosphere, you might be kind of disappointed.
I had the same expectation that you had. But when I went there, it was an anti-climax. Maybe something cool is happening behind the closed doors there. But just walking around is nothing special.