We’re excited to continue our Ask a Googler series with our guest, Mara Chomsky, Director of Community, Google Maps.
Many of you reached out with some great questions for Mara. Before we dive into those, we asked her a few questions we thought you’d be interested in to get to know her a bit more. As we shared in our previous post, Mara works on the Local Guides program.
Read on to learn more about her.
Are you a Local Guide? Why or why not?
Am I a Local Guide!!! OF COURSE!!! I am level 6; the pandemic and little kids have slowed down my exploration ability. I am a reviewer at heart. I read reviews, and I love to write them. I feel they are a super powerful tool to describe my experiences at places, and support my favorite small businesses who are tirelessly supporting themselves and their communities.
What’s your favorite type of information to contribute on Google Maps?
Oh my goodness, I answered this in the question above. Reviews, hands down.
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I have had Santorini in Greece on my bucket list for many years. I had planned to go there on a milestone birthday, but the pandemic foiled those plans. I will someday get to those incredible crystal waters and enjoy a cocktail from a cliffside white villa. 
What’s the one question your friends and family always ask you about working at Google/on Google Maps?
Can you help me fix my gmail issue? I kid you not it happens all the time! Google tech support might be my 20% project.
Local Guides Q&A with Mara
Editor’s Note: Some questions submitted by Local Guides below have been edited for length and/or clarity.
@SaifIS from Bangladesh asked: What do you currently not have in the Local Guides program that you would like to see implemented?
Answer: Our Local Guides are incredibly passionate users. One area I want to continue to push on is being able to connect you, our Local Guides, with one another. There is so much power in online and offline connections. We can do more to harness that energy and passion!
@LaloPadilla, a Connect Moderator and Guiding Star from Mexico, asked: Did you imagine that there would be more than 150 million Local Guides?
Answer: I truly believe in the power of community and while I never had a number in mind, it continues to amaze me that so many of you want to be a part of this community. I am so proud to lead this team! We continue to see growth in the number of contributors on Google Maps, and that is important to ensure we have a healthy ecosystem in Google Maps. The world is ever changing, people’s perspectives evolve and the more diversity we have coming into our products, the better we can reflect the real world more accurately.
@Amiran from Iran asked: What do you think of the atmosphere within the community (on Connect, through the activities we host, etc.)? For me as a user who has been around for several years, I consider the community as a family and I’m really happy when communicating with other members of the community. What about you?
Answer: A few words come to mind: Inspired, Passionate and Humbled. You are all incredible!
@FalguniP, a Guiding Star from India, asked: How does it feel to build such an amazing community? What has been your experience to see the community grow?
Answer: It feels incredible; the team and I are super proud of this community. Your perspectives are powering Google Maps and it’s just been simply amazing to see what passionate people like yourselves can do both on Google Maps and off within your communities.
@davidhyno from Italy asked: What surprised you the most or what you would never have imagined from the launch of the Local Guides program to date? Something that has always intrigued me: is there any reason for choosing the color orange as an identifier for the Local Guide program or was it a random choice?
**Answer:**I am continually surprised by the passion of this community. Throughout all these years that has never waned, if anything it has gotten stronger. I am trying to dig back on the color choice on orange. There are marketers and designers at Google who are much better equipped to answer that question. We love it though!
@AdamGT, a Connect Moderator from Australia, asked: How did you come up with the name June for your new gorgeous dog?
Answer: She came as ‘Juniper’ and so it kinda stuck, we felt that a version of it “June” really fit her. And thank you!
Stay tuned to hear more about the next Googler in our series soon! Want to see other posts in our Ask a Googler series? Read previous posts below:
