2012 Google Model Your Town Competition

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp blog]

Following the success of last year’s Google Model Your Town competition, today we’re launching the second Google Model Your Town Competition. Model Your Town is about geo-modeling – making photo-textured models of real-life buildings that appear in Google Earth. The Model Your Town Competition is also a chance to celebrate your town by adding it to the 3D map. Of course, the USD$25,000 for a local school/district is a nice incentive too.

Barranco, Lima, Peru


The Model Your Town Competition is open to just about everyone, just about everywhere in the world. Form a team, model buildings (using SketchUp or Building Maker) and upload them by the end of February 2012.

You can model as many structures as you like – which types of buildings you choose to include is entirely up to you. The important thing is that your choices say something about the character and history of your town.

If your town wins, a bunch of us from the SketchUp team will visit, throw you a dinner party and do our best to make you feel like the local hero that you truly are. Check out the competition website for details, and start rounding up teammates!

Learn more at Your World in 3D, then get started modeling your town!

The Airport Maps for Bing

Bing announced detailed airport maps as the newest addition to our popular venue maps for Bing Maps. The new airport maps give you everything you need to navigate your way through your travels. Airport maps include information on parking garages, ticket counter location, terminals and gates, baggage claims, currency exchange and more! You’ll also see a sortable directory of airlines, cafes and restaurants.

Finding Airport Maps

They’ve made locating airport maps an easy task from your desktop. There are two ways to do this:

1. Just search for the airport (by name, city, or even code) on Bing Maps, and zoom in using map.

2. Search for your flight status on Bing (for example: CO 1665), and click on the map link besides the airport to see its map.

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Airport Maps from your desktop

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Airport Maps on Bing’s Flight Status

You can also view different levels within your selected venue by clicking the “Level” button at the top of the screen and then selecting the correct level from the provided list.