Localizing Google Wave to Nashville

We’re having Nashville’s first Wave-Up this Saturday. Come on out if you want to go ice skating or meet some Nashville Google Wave users!

I’ve had fun exploring uses for Google Wave. For instance, you’ll be able to play the next city crossword in Wave. Follow City Crossword on twitter to get updates.

Part of the fun is meeting early adopters and their innovation. Waves tagged with Nashville are starting to pop up, including a wave from the Nashville Scooter Enthusiasts—trendsetters in more. than. one. way.

Read on for strategies on getting an invite, search techniques, and why Wave is different.

Epic Artwork made in a Google Wave wavelet by Christy Frink

1. Need a Google Wave invite?

I don’t have any at the moment, but after you’ve checked with your other geek friends, here’s a local strategy if you’re on twitter.

Monitor who’s tweeting about “wave invite” near Nashville or your city. Some folks will offer invites as Aaron, David, and Phil did this week.

EDIT via Andrew Duthie

It’s more useful to search for “invites” rather than “invite”, like so:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=+wave+invites+near:nashville+within:50mi

Right now the first seven hits are people saying they have invites available. (Whereas “invite” gets all the people asking for an invite.)

2. Google Wave search techniques

You can make a Google Wave public by adding public@a.googlewave.com as a participant.

Google Wave search is already become a resource. Here’s are some of the waves I’ve found using a keyword search for Nashville.

• Nashville Scooter Enthusiasts
• Twenty-Somethings in Nashville
• College media story ideas
• Changing the Music Business
• Sailing
• Harley Davidson Owners
• Vinyl Record Collectors

Keyword Search: “with:public nashville”

Login and search for “with:public nashville” to see who’s mentioning the word Nashville in their wave.

Tag Search: “with:public tag:nashville”

Login and search for “with:public tag:nashville” for a more refined search of waves tagged with Nashville.

Five so far! (After I tagged two or three.) Tag your public waves with relevant content so people can find your discussion or project.

3. Why Google Wave is different

I’m having fun, but I’m biased. The overwhelming response I’ve heard has been “What is this? It’s confusing. I’ll figure it out later.”

If you’re looking for a definition, it’s still kind of fuzzy. You could say Google Wave is a communication method with some characteristics of email and online documents, but with more stuff.

I got an invite last week from Chip Hayner. Thanks Chip! In the first two days I read and wrote over 700 wavelets, and while wielding wavelets, Christy Frink, Morgan Levy, Eric Shuff and I planned a Wave-Up and made polls involving bacon.

It’s like the Wild West ya’ll! Let’s make stuff.

Here are some innovations to notice while waving:

• You can see people typing live.
• You can play back the conversation.
• You can make waves public and plug them into larger projects.
• It’s a communication method that removes the analogy of sending and receiving servers and centralizes things.
• It’s evolving. It’s open and there are people building things for it everyday.

Next Steps

1. Christian Grantham has video on How to use Google Wave gadgets and robots. Check it out!
2. Login to Wave and Follow the Wave-Up Invitation wave to see the 50+ Nashville folks on Wave you may want to connect with.
3. Send me a wave! nathantbaker@googlewave.com

What do you think of Wave?