14 DAY TRIAL // Google has sent a bunch of its people, who work on Google+, to Hawaii. The excuse is that this is all work-related, but it seems that is more like a 'job well done (so far)' thank you from Google rather than anything else.
The thing is not exactly public, but when so many people are flown half-way across the Pacific, things leak out. TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington got wind of the trip, but others have heard of it as well.
Of course, it's hard not to notice the stream of photos from Hawaii on Google+ from Google employees.
Google has confirmed that it's sent part of the Google+ team to Hawaii, but hasn't said more. Apparently, it's not the first time it did this, after the initial, rather successful launch, part of the team went to Hawaii, on Google's dime, as well.
Perhaps now, the ones that didn't get to go the first time around got their chance as well.
Google has put a lot on Google+ and was adamant in getting it right. In fact, Google promised all employees, even those not working on Google+, a 25 percent hike to bonuses provided its social efforts were successful.
At the time, Google+ hadn't been announced and founder Larry Page was just getting started in his second stint as CEO. Of course, if Google's social ambitions failed to provide a successful product, all employees would have gotten 25 percent less in bonuses. It's probably safe to say this won't happen.
Google+ is growing nicely and should be getting close to 50 million users by now. Of course, the key number is how many of those actually visit the site on a regular basis.
While the initial hype has died down, more mainstream users are only now starting to adopt the site. It's too early to tell though it they'll stick around for long.