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#1 Jimmy

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Posted 22 May 2015 - 11:20 AM

From the Dallas Morning News.  Facebook could be building a 750,000 square-foot data center in far North Fort Worth, near Alliance.

 

LINK.



#2 renamerusk

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Posted 22 May 2015 - 11:38 AM

Now read the FWBP and compare DMN PR spin  - "must somehow get in a plug for Dallas" :glare:

 

But seriously, this is very good news.

 

http://www.fwbusines...9c3ff83c0e.html



#3 youngalum

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Posted 22 May 2015 - 11:44 AM

That's all we get over in Fort Worth, big warehouses for things like this and little if any white collar jobs.



#4 renamerusk

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Posted 22 May 2015 - 12:00 PM

That's all we get over in Fort Worth, big warehouses for things like this and little if any white collar jobs.

 

 When is a $1-billion digital operations project a big warehouse....and do you really see this as a logistical operation?



#5 360texas

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Posted 22 May 2015 - 12:27 PM

This 750,000 square-foot data center looks like it would fit in that climate controlled warehouse styled facility. See the Photo in the article.

 

Whats really interesting is data centers have very LARGE HIGH SPEED in/out data cabling connected to the nearby backbone.  Guessing - ALL Fiber optic.    

 

Didn't Verizon install fiber optic in Keller several years ago?


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#6 youngalum

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Posted 22 May 2015 - 02:09 PM

This data center will be mainly computers and little amount of employment.  Glad to have it, but I would rather have Liberty Mutual, State Farm or Toyota corporate buildings.  Fort Worth never gets into bidding for that as it goes to Dallas or north 635 suburbs.

 

Heck, on two of them, the Dallas relators didn't even bring them to Tarrant County to look at land.  How sad.



#7 renamerusk

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Posted 23 May 2015 - 11:15 AM

....Glad to have it, but I would rather have Liberty Mutual, State Farm or Toyota......

 

 Arguably, with the possible exception of Toyota,  and if you were to include it along with Liberty Mutual, State Farm and Facebook; which of the four would you guess has the greatest global brand?

 

High tech companies tend to bundle themselves in "technology ghettos"; and with that thought, would not it be awesome if Fort Worth/Alliance was to become the new high tech corridor in North Texas complimenting or even supplanting the Richardson High Tech Corridor?



#8 NSFW

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Posted 23 May 2015 - 12:13 PM

This data center will be mainly computers and little amount of employment.  Glad to have it, but I would rather have Liberty Mutual, State Farm or Toyota corporate buildings.  Fort Worth never gets into bidding for that as it goes to Dallas or north 635 suburbs.

 

Heck, on two of them, the Dallas relators didn't even bring them to Tarrant County to look at land.  How sad.

 

 

According to the Star Telegram, the facility will employee about 40 people. Of that 40 people, would that include security personnel? Fort Worth NEEDS to be aggressive in attracting corporate relocations such as the Toyota deal in Plano. 


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#9 Austin55

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Posted 23 May 2015 - 01:41 PM

I'm a big fan of these large complexes like data centers, distribution centers warehouses, etc going to Alliance. If we are going to try and pull in big corporate relocations I'd love to see them try to lure those into the urban areas, rather than far north where they will just suck attention away from the center of town. 

That said its pretty clear to me most of these corporations don't want that, they want to be in the suburbs. 



#10 cjyoung

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Posted 25 May 2015 - 08:58 PM

It's not North Dallas/Addison/Richardson/Plano but there are a significant number high-paying "white-collar" IT jobs in North Fort Worth. BC/BS, TD Ameritrade, Amazon, McKesson, etc.



#11 johnfwd

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Posted 26 May 2015 - 11:12 AM

I'm excited by Fort Worth's initiative to diversify beyond defense contracts and energy production.  Some of the above posts suggest this is a zero-sum game.  There's plenty of undeveloped land in Fort Worth and we have the transportation infrastructure to support a variety of industries.   We are gaining a high-tech reputation that will pay dividends in competing with other high-tech regions.  There's an abundance of opportunity to recruit prospective Toyotas, etc., in the future.  And it isn't as if our city is bereft of employee-intensive operations--GE Locomotives, to name one.



#12 Fort Worthology

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Posted 26 May 2015 - 01:30 PM

I'm excited by Fort Worth's initiative to diversify beyond defense contracts and energy production.  

 

I'm all in favor of FW's economy diversifying.  I do wish some of these tech companies were bringing in facilities that would locate in the central city, though, rather than a far-off commute (because our transportation infrastructure is such that it would force one into only one particular mode for such a job).


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#13 Doohickie

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Posted 26 May 2015 - 01:38 PM

I find it kind of weird that people are complaining about what kind of jobs FB might be bringing and where they will be. Most communities would embrace a major employer coming to town (even if it were a relatively small number of employees) and be happy about it.
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#14 youngalum

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Posted 26 May 2015 - 02:54 PM

Heck I am excited.  However, it is an employer with 40 employees and we get excited about that prospect.  While other cities get hundreds/thousands of jobs in the same salary range as the FW location.  The name is world wide known no doubt, but it is hard to get overly enthused about employer that is adding $2,800,000 in salaries to the economy.



#15 cjyoung

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Posted 27 May 2015 - 05:10 PM

Well as a North Fort Worth resident I am very enthused. Could bode well for attracting others to the area. Would love to bring more employers to downtown but so would Dallas. Gotta start somewhere.



#16 Urbndwlr

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Posted 04 June 2015 - 05:22 PM

Those data centers are really land and energy intensive but not employee intensive.  Like distribution centers.  Alliance and other outlying places are good spots for them IMO.

Higher density employers are better in central city. 

 

And, State Farm - as touted as that was as a big "win" to land them, the average salary there is extremely low from what I've read.  I know - more jobs in general, is a step in the right direction for any community, however I understand that particular operation is relatively low wage/ low skill. 

 

Now Toyota, seems to be very impactful for Plano and Frisco.  I'd be interested to know where they looked and how the picked that spot.  Some of those companies only consider very sterile suburban locations and would NEVER look at a downtown location in any city. 



#17 youngalum

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Posted 05 June 2015 - 12:06 PM

Toyota didn't look in FW because the commercial relator crossed off FW as too far to drive and not enough white collar employees as compared to Dallas.



#18 JBB

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Posted 05 June 2015 - 12:16 PM

Too far to drive where?

#19 renamerusk

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Posted 05 June 2015 - 02:15 PM

Toyota didn't look in FW because the commercial relator crossed off FW as too far to drive and not enough white collar employees as compared to Dallas.

 

 Judging from the angry reactions at that time coming from Mayor Rawlings of Dallas and who felt that his city had been blindsided; Toyota didn't look at Dallas either.



#20 youngalum

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Posted 09 June 2015 - 12:18 PM

As having worked in Dallas the last 17 years, I cannot tell you the number of people over there in many levels of business who think driving to Fort Worth is like driving to Houston.  Too far and nothing to see or do when you get there as compared to Dallas.  It is was that mentality that kept FW from even being considered by the commercial realtors as it relates to Toyota relocation.  It also doesn't help that FW has a lack of depth in white collar employees as compared to the Dallas side of the metroplex.



#21 Dismuke

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Posted 09 June 2015 - 09:42 PM

So I guess the question is why should companies choose to locate in Fort Worth verses Dallas or Collin County?   They are certainly not going to locate here simply because we want them to -  and our parochial rivalries are of no concern or interest to them whatsoever.  If they are going to choose to locate here verses someplace else, then there needs to be a reason for them to do so.   If one is really upset that companies are not locating here, then that is the question one must answer.

 

I can think of a number of reasons why a company might choose to locate in Dallas or Collin County verses Fort Worth - some of which have already been mentioned.  So what about the reasons to locate in Fort Worth?  

 

I can think of some reasons - but not every company is going to necessarily agree.  It is not possible to be all things to all people - so it is kind of pointless to try.  So the answer does not have to be some magic thing that is going to appeal to all companies or even most companies.  But if we are to expect companies to choose to locate here, it is necessary to offer compelling reasons for at least some companies to be interested in Fort Worth.   What are those reasons?  What is that we have to offer that Dallas or Collin County does not?   Why should they want to be here?


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#22 RD Milhollin

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Posted 10 June 2015 - 09:43 AM

So I guess the question is why should companies choose to locate in Fort Worth verses Dallas or Collin County? 

 

Good question. There is probably not a single, all-encompassing answer to this but I would guess that one element, one that has been mentioned elsewhere previously, is "critical mass" of other like-or-complementary businesses. Oil and gas drilling operations seem to attract other oil and gas drilling operations as well as down-hole service companies, drilling suppliers, etc. Astute local governments will try to encourage diversification to counter this effect so the entire economy doesn't tank if one part of it dips. Richardson Telecoms attracted more telecoms back during their heyday, and before that insurance companies in downtown attracted other insurance companies. 

 

Look at what businesses are in Fort Worth now and that should be a fairly good indicator of what businesses are likely to start up or relocate here. I would think that special effort would have to be expended to counter this; C of C marketing, economic giveaways, workforce retraining come to mind as ways a community could work to attract different types of industries. If this idea holds true, the first business of a particular industry to locate here should be the hardest sell, but subsequent others should be easier to attract. For this reason I think the Google facility will be a good catch for Fort Worth; if Google thinks this is a good area for them to do business then other tech/marketing companies may take note. Maybe Google was attracted by the efforts Amazon has invested in the area. A further extension of this idea is that I believe strongly that Fort Worth should expend significant effort to attract green-energy companies to locate here, as logical extension of existing trends points to this broad industry as having increasing importance and profitability in the future. Support of zero-emission engineering programs at UTA, development of a green-industry incubator in the city, favorable tax treatment for these sorts of companies based on employment/compensation, etc. would go a long way toward identifying Fort Worth as friendly and supportive of this sort of business.



#23 johnfwd

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Posted 10 June 2015 - 11:07 AM

All good points.  Of course any company judging a potential site location based on transportation infrastructure should conclude that either side of the Metroplex is fine, as being equidistant to DFW International Airport.

 

But here's another perspective.  Different companies have different views of the company-employee relationship and might make re-location decisions on the basis of what's good for the company versus what's good for employees.  The company emphasis focuses on production efficiency and effectiveness.  The employee emphasis focuses on quality of life considerations.

 

Regarding Toyota's decision, the Japanese, it seems to me, preferred company production efficiency and effectiveness over quality of life issues.  Ergo, they preferred a location with the most factors in favor of auto production.  I guess neither FW or Dallas fit the bill.

 

What about the "softer" type businesses like Google, Facebook, etc.  I say "softer" not just because they are more service-oriented rather than production-oriented, but also because they may lean toward employee quality of life more than what's good overall for the company.  To these companies, i would market Fort Worth for quality of life amenities (e.g., Trinity River bike trails) and try to distinguish us from Big D along those lines.   Might work.  Of course I wouldn't leave out other factors such as transportation infrastructure.



#24 renamerusk

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Posted 14 June 2015 - 12:07 AM

So I guess the question is why should companies choose to locate in Fort Worth verses Dallas or Collin County?  ....   Why should they want to be here?

 

I believe a better question is: Why not? 

 

For all practical purposes, these are two cities with the same or very similar infrastructure, political and tax policies, geography, etc. 

 

So I guess I will stick with my theory: Dallas has Notoriety/Buzz. or as it is known in the show business/TMZ world - the "Kardashian Effect". And while one city has it, the other has very little or none of it.   Catch the "KE" and you can have complete and inexplicable momentum. - (Four signature bridges to span a creek?) - go figure?

 

Fort Worth has really bought into the notion of team, while on notable occasions, Dallas has not. This has been a major contributing factor for the tension that lies just below the surface.

 

Fort Worth has built an All-American City and it is by enlarge a wonderful place to call home.  It does need to showcase itself or speak up for itself more often.  City leaders, presumably, hope to maintain a more planned and controlled strategy of development, probably in some case, for their self enrichment.  I will take the All-American city; I would like for it to be acknowledged instead of being folded into a Greater Dallas.

 

 

There's a saying: "Once upon a time, I was sweet and innocent; and then s--- happened!"

 

[There must be a proper thread for this debate] :smwink:



#25 Thurman52

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Posted 23 June 2015 - 05:52 PM

Drove by the land yesterday and crews were putting out silt fences around the plot. Surely they are not starting without official announcement?

#26 John T Roberts

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Posted 23 June 2015 - 08:47 PM

It has happened before.



#27 Austin55

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Posted 06 July 2015 - 04:12 PM

WFAA reporting Abbott will be here tomorrow at the groundbreaking.

#28 Thurman52

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Posted 06 July 2015 - 04:54 PM

Yea drive by today grading in full swing. Construction web cams up. They put up a large tent with HVAC. Figured announcement pending

#29 Big Frog II

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Posted 06 July 2015 - 09:09 PM

Betsy hinted at several more big announcements this month.  She said this would be the best July in Fort Worth History.  Any ideas? 



#30 johnfwd

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Posted 07 July 2015 - 06:32 AM

Betsy hinted at several more big announcements this month.  She said this would be the best July in Fort Worth History.  Any ideas? 

Hmm. Let's see...GE?  XTO Energy's building plans firmed up?  Large hotel, somewhere downtown?  Those charming disneyesque extravaganza promoters back in town?



#31 Austin55

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Posted 07 July 2015 - 01:37 PM

Via the Zuck himself

 

 

We just announced that our fifth data center will be built in Fort Worth, Texas.

Our data centers power Facebook and will help connect billions of people around the world in the coming years.

Fort Worth will be one of the most advanced and energy efficient data centers in the world. It will use 100% renewable energy and it will actually add 200 megawatts of new wind energy to the Texas power grid. It will be built using hardware designed and developed through the Open ComputeProject.

This is just one example of new technologies we’re building to create internet services at planetary scale. We’re grateful to the Fort Worth community for helping to make the world more open and connected, and we’re glad to be a part of that community.

 

11694031_10102226821912831_2618456202508

https://www.facebook.com/zuck?fref=nf



#32 JBB

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Posted 07 July 2015 - 02:39 PM

Pretty nifty to see him write about Fort Worth, especially since I'm fairly certain he writes his own posts. I know this one doesn't bring in a ton of jobs, but it does carry some public relations value that's hard to not enjoy.

#33 renamerusk

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Posted 07 July 2015 - 03:26 PM

 

....Glad to have it, but I would rather have Liberty Mutual, State Farm or Toyota......

 

 Arguably, with the possible exception of Toyota,  and if you were to include it along with Liberty Mutual, State Farm and Facebook; which of the four would you guess has the greatest global brand?

 

 

Pretty nifty to see him write about Fort Worth, especially since I'm fairly certain he writes his own posts. I know this one doesn't bring in a ton of jobs, but it does carry some public relations value that's hard to not enjoy.

 

"We just announced that our fifth data center will be built in Fort Worth, Texas....Fort Worth will be one of the most advanced and energy efficient data centers in the world". - Zuckerman

 

Now, the internet machine will know where Fort Worth is. :P



#34 johnfwd

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Posted 08 July 2015 - 06:20 AM

I'm a bit confused over the number of employees to be hired for the data center.  KRLD radio news reported 1,000 the other day; the Star-Telegram reported 40.  I believe 1,000 is the more likely figure.  Someone might help me clarify this.

 

I know Facebook isn't labor intensive, but judging from the immense size of the building in the art rendering above, I can 't image only 40 people roaming its vast spaces.



#35 mmmdan

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Posted 08 July 2015 - 06:30 AM

The latest article from the Star-Telegram says eventually more than 100.  They are required to have at least 40 employees per the incentive package.

 

If the rendering above is accurate, there is no way they are planning on 1,000 employees based on the size of the parking lot(s).  Pretty sure people won't be commuting to these jobs on public transit.



#36 rriojas71

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Posted 15 July 2015 - 03:24 PM

Not trying to bust anyone's bubble and this is just a personal rant, but this development gives me another eerie sense of Fort Worth dropping the ball and developing for development's sake. I wish they were building this closer to downtown instead of a suburban location... IMO many of the qualified tech workers are not looking to commute that far out or for a life in Suburbia; they all want coffee shops, craft beer, wine bars & exciting restaurants that are inside the urban core. Don't get me wrong; I am excited that Facebook is coming to FW, however I think a data center in uptown could have possibly transformed that area into FW's version of a Tech center/district.

Ok, I am stepping off my soap box now

#37 hannerhan

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Posted 15 July 2015 - 03:50 PM

Data centers don't employ white collar tech employees.



#38 Jimmy

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Posted 15 July 2015 - 04:01 PM

Betsy hinted at several more big announcements this month.  She said this would be the best July in Fort Worth History.  Any ideas? 

 

I bet we hear about a new title sponsor for Colonial fairly soon...



#39 McHand

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Posted 20 July 2015 - 09:35 PM

Isn't it common for these massive data centers to be built outside of central cities? 

I can't think of any place in central FW that would be large enough or cheap enough for FB to want to invest in.


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#40 johnfwd

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Posted 21 July 2015 - 05:47 AM

I know little about data centers.  But it appears from the art rendering that these kinds of operations probably require horizontal rather than vertical structures.  And that requires locating on more land than is available in the city proper.



#41 renamerusk

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Posted 21 July 2015 - 07:46 AM

I know little about data centers.  But it appears from the art rendering that these kinds of operations probably require horizontal rather than vertical structures.  And that requires locating on more land than is available in the city proper.

 

I once read that climate is or has been a major factor when selecting the location of these kinds of centers - computers like super cool room temperatures - and countries in the higher latitudes (Sweden, Canada, Iceland) are usually the recipients of data centers such as this one.

 

This has been quite a coup for Fort Worth and Texas to land this one; not to mention the local HVAC market.



#42 elpingüino

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Posted 23 July 2015 - 08:10 AM

In the Dallas Business Journal's cover story this week, Ross Perot Jr. goes over the details of how Fort Worth and Hillwood landed Facebook. It's fairly long but a worthwhile read, and it speaks highly of the city and Alliance.

 

http://www.bizjourna...s-perot-jr.html



#43 RD Milhollin

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Posted 17 February 2016 - 08:13 AM

Facebook picks up more land adjoining its Billion-Dollar Data Center in the Alliance area:

 

http://www.star-tele...le60446796.html

 

In addition to the idea of building or obtaining wind power for this massive facility I wonder if anyone at Facebook is considering installing modern high-efficiency solar panels on the sprawling roof over their servers and air-conditioning units, and even leasing rooftops of surrounding multi-acre buildings for the same purpose. It seems that this would limit solar radiation from striking the roofing material, thus limiting somewhat the need for so much cooling, putting that space to some economic use while saving operating costs in the process.

 

 

I know little about data centers.  But it appears from the art rendering that these kinds of operations probably require horizontal rather than vertical structures.  And that requires locating on more land than is available in the city proper.

 

Why would this be so? Couldn't vertical buildings be designed to take advantage of prevailing winds to assist in the air-cooling process? It seems on the surface that flat, earth-hugging, spread-out facilities would be more prone to heat-retention during the summer when cooling is most critical. Are there not some cutting-edge, out-of-the-usual-box solutions available to address the need to more efficiently cool these facilities?

 

Maybe this could be a job for the UTA engineering and architecture schools to collaborate on... Got research money?



#44 Austin55

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Posted 05 May 2016 - 06:11 PM

 

 

Construction is moving fast at Fort Worth Data Center! To date, we've invested more than 650,000 hours into the project. We average approximately 650-700 workers on site each day. Thanks for the warm welcome, Fort Worth!

 

13131306_1021768327916903_51559422034579

 

https://www.facebook...021769357916800



#45 JBB

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Posted 17 January 2017 - 07:36 PM

Mark Zuckerberg has been in the area this week and posted from the Fort Worth data center today:

 

https://www.facebook...034669.4&type=3



#46 Doohickie

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Posted 17 January 2017 - 08:13 PM

16114555_10211275334856174_8576047847480


My blog: Doohickie

#47 JBB

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Posted 17 January 2017 - 08:27 PM

Wearing a hoodie to the rodeo is very "Zuckerberg" of him.



#48 johnfwd

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Posted 18 January 2017 - 10:03 AM

Wearing a hoodie to the rodeo is very "Zuckerberg" of him.

You're right about that.  I would add that, in my opinion, he's more admirable for going just as he is rather than pretending to be a Fort Worth cowboy (it's okay for the mayor since she is a Fort Worthian).  Not being a reverse snob about this.  Incidentally, Mr. Zuckerberg visited FW after testifying at an Intellectual Property lawsuit in Dallas, as reported by NBC Channel 5.  http://www.nbcdfw.co...-410939335.html



#49 JBB

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Posted 18 January 2017 - 10:49 AM

I agree.  He's also on a quest to visit all 50 states in 2017 and I read a couple of posts saying that Dallas and Fort Worth were his first visits of that tour.



#50 Now in Denton

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Posted 19 January 2017 - 05:11 AM

 

Wearing a hoodie to the rodeo is very "Zuckerberg" of him.

You're right about that.  I would add that, in my opinion, he's more admirable for going just as he is rather than pretending to be a Fort Worth cowboy (it's okay for the mayor since she is a Fort Worthian).  Not being a reverse snob about this.  Incidentally, Mr. Zuckerberg visited FW after testifying at an Intellectual Property lawsuit in Dallas, as reported by NBC Channel 5.  http://www.nbcdfw.co...-410939335.html

 

 

Eerily similar to when Oprah had to spend time in Texas when she was sued. I was expecting Zuckerberg to come to Fort Worth anyway when his data center opens. Maybe he will come back again to Fort Worth ?







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