For once in my ‘Local Guide lifetime’, I did a purely black background for my Meetup application flyer, some may wonder why, some may not, but I will tell you this for free; you don’t want to be in the dark; right? I guess ‘Yes’, none of us wants to be…
Before I write the recap of our ( @Ddimitra and I) just concluded Meetup, I am making this post because if I combine it with the recap post, it will be too lengthy and I need to share with you some lessons I learnt while preparing for this Meetup before the Recap post becomes ready. So, here you go!
- Be bold, courageous and ready to take risks, but before you do, read the Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions
- Develop a good rapport with other Local Guides, this place is called a forum, a forum is not a forum without discussions, it is called a Community, a Community is not a community without appropriate communication
- Ask questions, make you no go march line (this means; so you do not falter or step out-of-place)
- Seek for assistance
- Enjoy the Program
Happy 5th anniversary!!!
I want to say a very big thank you to the following;
- The Google Team
If I tell you why I am laughing, you will laugh too. After I applied for this meetup, I was freaked out as NOONE has ever had a Meetup to discuss the “Local Guides Rules” or share them with other Local Guides, also, I am very new in the community and the least qualified to even broach such a topic. Usually, my Meetups get approved very quickly, this one was taking quite some time (compared to my other Meetup approval), so I tried to Log in to the platform and this page came up;
I tried severally and same result! This was the day I experienced the pain of what it will feel like to be kicked out of the Local Guides Program unceremoniously; my heart beat so fast as I weighed all my options and I thought; “who do I confide in?” I went to @Sagir
I asked Sagir; “Sagir, how do you know if you have been suspended or that your account has been suspended or removed”? Then, he answered;
- First, your Local Guide’s level and badge will disappear from Google Maps
- Second, you will be unable to log in to Connect
“Ahah!” 
I said to Sagir; “well, it appears I have been suspended and this may be related to the Meetup I have applied to host o”. Sagir asked me to send a screenshot of my Maps page and then, proceeded to log into Connect too and couldn’t. Then, he told me; “Your Maps profile is okay. I am unable to log in to, so I guess it is a general problem”. I kept trying until I GOT this prompt;
Please dear Engineers, please stick to updating the forum at Midnight as you usually do 
(when is midnight? you may be forced to ask, The Earth is a Sphere, Ewaade!)
Oh, my heart! You can’t begin to understand how happy I felt when I checked and discovered that; not only was I able to log in, but also that our Meetup had been approved!
Thank you so much to the Google Team for trusting us, even with this.
- Devi Dimitra Maksum
Next on my list to show appreciation is none other than my amazing co-host; Devi Dimitra Maksum; Level 10 Local Guide and Guiding Star from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Many may not know, but each of my monthly meetups (Virtual or Physical) is carefully planned from conception to execution from as much as 1 month or 2 months prior application. So, I thought of one person to champion this cause with me and the only name that came to mind was; Devi’s!
So, I reached out to her. By the way, Devi has attended all but one Virtual Meetup I have hosted since June, 2020, even when she is going to host a Meetup same day! She always attends.
When I reached out to her! She was shell-shocked! “No way, Ewaade! I am not an authority on such a topic! There are better Local Guides than me and…” she went on and on and on.
After she was done, I told her; “Devi, there may be many who are qualified but you did not only make it to Level 10, but you also became a Guiding Star, I have listened to how you share at every meetup, you can do this!” She accepted and joined the list of the amazing co-hosts I have had since joining the Community and hosting Meetups. Thank you so much, dear “Mom Local Guide”.
- Next, I want to appreciate and say a very big thank you to are; Jan and Morten @JanVanHaver and @MortenCopenhagen . When it comes to Local Guides matters, I am a small, small fry. When I got a kudo and a ‘going’ notification from Jan on the event hosting page on Facebook, I smiled and commented that; “I will be most pleased to have you” but I mean; that was just wishful thinking. How can Jan and Morten attend my Meetup? You will not believe who attended and fielded questions and contributed passionately with no air? Jan and Morten! To say, Devi and I are over-the-moon is to say the least! Thank you for ‘blessing us with your knowledgeable presence’, it was a sweet relief to have you and you both! Thank you so much!
- Next, I want to appreciate is the duo of TG and Naresh @TravellerG and @NareshDarji After I completed application, I created a Google Meet link and added to my post, then I thought; “this topic is a very sensitive topic, what if we are misquoted as saying something we did not say? or what if someone needs to make a reference to something?” Well these two Gentlemen especially TG helped with recording the Meet and admitting all the Attendees to the meeting, we are most grateful.
- Next, I want to appreciate the duo of @PaulPavlinovich and @ErmesT If ever I had to pay any of these two especially Paul, I may declare bankruptcy! They are my Local Guides encyclopedia and more. Standing on their shoulders, confidently, I prepared my slides for the Meetup. Dear Paul, you already know what it is. Dear Ermes, I am most grateful, thank you.
- Next, I want to appreciate is my darling brother @Sagir thanks for calming me down when I could not log in and for fielding many questions too concerning the Local Guides program and for sitting to deliberate with me on the topics as raised and for the other, I appreciate
- Finally, I want to appreciate some Local Guides who have been removed from the program who accepted to talk with me and share with me and provided insight while preparing for this Meetup, you may not see this, but I deeply appreciate
Once again, thanks to the Google Team for giving me the gift of being a Local Guide and gifting me these wonderful people…
Dear Local Guides, thank you so much for joining in, in numbers, what you saw yesterday was a result of adequate and efficient preparation, as we continue to celebrate our 5th year anniversary, I hope these few points will provide insight into preparing for or hosting any difficult Meetup you may want to hold in future. Thank you.
your baby.
with help from Jan, Morten, TG and our wonderful attendees, History has been made, I am so delighted, my heart is full 
I feel the same way and I’m so grateful to the Googlers for that! 
then I saw your message.