Caption: A photo of the screen during the opening session of Connect Live 2019 featuring a collage of Local Guides in attendance.
Continuing the energy from Tuesday’s welcome reception, we officially kicked off Connect Live 2019 on Wednesday at Google’s MP7 Event Center in Sunnyvale, California.
On this first day of full programming, we celebrated Local Guides’ accomplishments and the impact of their contributions on Google Maps.
Caption: Mara Chomsky kicking off the day with her welcome speech.
The day opened with a welcome speech from Mara Chomsky, head of the Google Local Guides program. She spoke about our community mission: to help. We are focused on helping people make the best decisions about the businesses worth visiting, the places worth seeing, the food worth eating, the experiences worth having, and the things worth doing.
“Your passion, your commitment to being a Local Guide, to being a member of the community, and to representing your local city and your local town is invaluable,” she said to the crowd of nearly 200 eager Local Guides. “It’s really what powers Google Maps.”
Mara then introduced the day’s keynote speaker, Jen Fitzpatrick, SVP of Google Maps.
Caption: Jen Fitzpatrick addressing the audience in her keynote speech.
“This event is one of the highlights of my year because it’s a chance to really connect with all of you and really get a firsthand chance to spend time with a small set of the community that powers so much of what we do within Google Maps,” Jen said.
Jen and Mara were followed by a plethora of other Googlers and Local Guides who shared their own personal and professional stories to further inspire the crowd.
Caption: Google Product Marketing Manager Tiffany Herklots in conversation with Sam Shah and Lauren Burns, owners of Voyager Craft Coffee.
In the afternoon, we transitioned to breakout sessions on topics including “Consuming Inspiring Content,” “Using Connect to Connect,” and “Taking Map Editing to the Next Level.” Each breakout session offered insight and inspiration from the Google team, but also allowed Local Guides’ voices to be heard. Participants were able to contribute ideas on how to strengthen different aspects of Google Maps, the Local Guides program, and our forum right here on Connect.
Caption: Local Guides creating chalk art on our “What We Do Together” board during the evening reception.
The day closed out with an elegant evening reception, complete with interactive spaces throughout including photo opportunities, an interactive cloud room, an inspiring chalk board design activity, and other uplifting vignettes throughout the space.
Caption: Local Guides posing in the photo booth in our interactive cloud room.
We’re back tomorrow for even more excitement! Stay tuned to see more here on Connect throughout the week, and be sure to follow #localguidesconnect on your favorite social media channels for a closer look at Connect Live 2019.
