To engage with the city where it now employs more than 1,000 people, Google is giving away prizes from a giant gumball machine its bringing to downtown Chicago.
From Friday, Sept. 27 to Sunday, Sept. 29, Google is hosting its first Wonderful Weekends festival at Maggie Daley Park.
The interactive gumball machine is 35 feet tall and will sit at the center of the festival grounds. To claim a prize, attendees will be given Google coins that give them a series of prompts before a gumball comes sliding down with a gift inside, said Google spokesperson Kayla Conti. More than 10,000 prizes will be given away throughout the weekend, she said.
Google won’t be handing out its own products as prizes, but has instead partnered with local restaurants, sporting teams and other businesses to provide free gifts to attendees. Google is working with more than 50 local businesses, which include the Art Institute of Chicago, Girl & the Goat and Lou Malnati’s, to hand out gift cards, and event and museum tickets.
The festival, which is open each day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., will also feature free food and live entertainment from the Second City and Blue Water Kings.
“It’s meant to be a family-friendly festival,” Conti said. “It’s a good chance to get outside and have a good time.”
Last year, Google opened a hardware pop-up store in Bucktown, where it allowed customers hands-on opportunities to try Google's new smartphones, smart speakers and other technology.
“This year we just wanted to find another touch point to have with the local community,” Conti said.
In addition to its community events, Google employs more than 1,000 people at its Chicago headquarters. Earlier this year, the tech giant announced that it was expanding its Chicago footprint, adding more than 100,000 square feet of space at its Fulton Market office and adding hundreds of jobs in Chicago as it launches a finance team in the Windy City.
Google first came to Chicago in 2000, but didn’t open its Fulton Market office until 2015. In Google’s most recent economic impact report, the tech company reported providing $17.7 billion worth of economic activity in Illinois, benefitting 48,000 states businesses.
“Chicago is really engrained into Google and we take great pride in being able to call Chicago home,” Conti said.
