Hello Local Guides
Connect’s Birthday is a special occasion that we celebrate globally. During this time, you not only see colorful posts on Connect but also have a unique and beautiful way to celebrate by hosting and attending meetups.
Connect’s 8th birthday was celebrated worldwide, and similarly, in Pakistan, local guides in Karachi celebrated it with great enthusiasm and excitement.
In this regard, July 28th was chosen, which was a Sunday, and I was confident that most people would be free on that day, especially in the evening. Even if they were busy, I believed they could make time for this important occasion, where local guides from Karachi and nearby areas would not only meet each other but also, for some, it would be the first time they were introduced to one another.
North Nazimabad Gymkhana in Karachi is a place located in the central district of the city, making it easily accessible for everyone, and providing a peaceful setting to sit and enjoy.
So, I announced the event for July 28th, 2024, at North Nazimabad Gymkhana through Connect, and received an overwhelming response. Additionally, friends living outside Pakistan were also invited to this event virtually via Google Meet, so they could also share in this joyous occasion.
Although the event was scheduled for 8 PM on July 28th, Rizwan
@ DrFoodieOfficial , @ Swalay , and I arrived earlier to finalize the arrangements. However
@ KhurramKSK was already there, and he had already organized separate seating arrangements, which made things much easier for us
After the scheduled time for the meetup, our local guide friends started arriving, which was very exciting for me. I was meeting some of them in person for the first time, while with others, it had been quite a while since we last met. Some friends had even come from the other side of the city, which meant a drive of at least an hour and a half, and I made sure to express my gratitude to them for making the effort.
We had already set up the virtual meeting, with the help of @NareshDarji , who was moderating the virtual side and friends from other countries had joined online on the laptop. Then our endless conversations began, and I didn’t even realize that some friends had joined who couldn’t understand Urdu or Hindi. I felt really embarrassed about this. Afterward, I made sure to talk to those friends as well, like
@ JaneBurunina from Italy , @ indahnuria And
@ RahmatHarmanP from Indonesia, @ SwetaDhondoo from Mauritius and
@ EugeGallardo (Maria) from Argentina, @ Zuhralc from Kenya and @ MariaTVP from Mexico, @ravindus from Srilanka and many other friends . I’m deeply grateful to all of you guys 
A special thanks to my lovely friends from India
@ Tushar_Suradkar Bhai,
@ Globe_trotter_Ish , @ Anil6969 Bhai, @ TravellerG , @ RosyKohli jee, @ Tejal , @ RaviSharma111 , @ShubhamWaman ,@ Shrut19 , @Shubhu1 Sagar, @Gurukrishnapriya , @MrAdityaKumar
And from different cities of Pakistan @Sarbland Bhai, Ali Khan, Abbas Ali, Zubair, Sitara Jabeen, Naeem Ur Rehman, and many more friends
After everyone had gathered, we finally had the cake-cutting ceremony. We all cut the cake together and sang birthday songs. These moments were truly amazing, but unfortunately, we couldn’t capture proper photos of them. However, these moments were saved in the virtual meeting’s screenshots.
After the cake, we bid farewell to our virtual friends and then started our conversation. The main focus of our discussion was how to make the Local Guides community in Pakistan more active. We also discussed ways to eliminate spams on Google Maps and highlighted the benefits of adding small businesses to Google Maps.
The meetup concluded with dinner, which consisted of burgers, fries, and soft drinks. All attendees contributed to cover the costs, which wasn’t much, just around $2.5 per person.
Whenever I host meetups, I try my best to ensure that no one is disappointed, whether they attend in person or virtually. My goal is for everyone who takes out their precious time to join the meetup to have a good time. However, if there were any shortcomings, I sincerely apologize. I hope we continue to meet like this, sharing our conversations and laughter.
Again, thank you for joining us.
l Great work। Mr 
