I am answering the prompt for my Connect Live 2020 application of “What does the Local Guides program mean to you?” - so here we go.
They say “a picture is worth a thousand words” and I say “a panorama (especially if linked) is worth a thousand pictures” so it is a real delight for me to be able to use, as a Google Trusted Pro, the new technology for 360 degree photography to add to the huge worldwide portfolio of Google Street View and Trekker.
But all that would be meaningless if I was not also able to add new places, add photos/panos etc to them and correct those misplaced as a Google Local Guide, and I will give an example below of Homer.
So with all that said, I will go on to briefly explain my “other” area (besides my home area in Australia on the Great Barrier Reef) of operation which is The Greek Islands. Of the 38 Islands I have explored so far (via Google) there is extensive coverage by the Google Street View Car and also a small number of Trekker Routes (the 26 kg backpack camera) on beaches and hiking trails, both having commenced as far back as 2011. I have documented that at https://greekislandtouring.com/ (“Greek Islands Googling”) which combines trunks of amazing features of Google Maps (including My Maps) and Google Earth.
So I prefer to operate on the (few) Islands which have yet to be visited at all by Google so as to do my part in enhancing the panoramic record, while of course simultaneously doing all those Local Guide additions/corrections. And the Island I use as an example for this application is Ios (pronounced ee-os and just North of the well known Santorini) which is (perhaps wrongly?) promoted as just a “party island” but has a whole lot more to offer.
In September 2019 I added some 550 linked panoramas to Google Maps to start the ball rolling (200 being for Ios) and (Corona Virus permitting) plan to add substantially to that in June 2020, with an emphasis on the magnificent Blue Flag Beaches.
So this Google Location List https://goo.gl/maps/75s4KvZzvPo1F5dT7 is a great example for my Google Maps list for my Connect Live 2020 application. Please view my map (and be sure to click on “Pegman” to see the “Linked Blue Dot Panoramas” I Published) to see my choice of beaches, hotels, restaurants, boat trips, car hire and, not to be forgotten, the Monument to Homer perhaps the most famous “Ancient Greek”, who also has his Tomb on Ios.
And this is the example I mention above where there was no mention at all of Homer’s Monument on Google Maps, and while I had some panoramas (day and night) to share, there was no place to display them. But as a Google Local Guide I applied to add this location and Google immediately approved the addition to which I uploaded the panoramas and in a very short time Homer was given his rightful exposure via this combination of Google Technologies and Services in his “Home Town”, for all the world to see.
Here is a photo of this great man that lived and wrote almost 3,000 years ago (and the bakery on the right is a dream).
But the present Greeks were fascinated by this “Google Guide with a 360 degree camera on his head” and were keen to get a selfie, like this one in Milos.
That is what the Local Guides program means to me and it would be great to be selected for Connect Live 2020 and get to share experiences and methods with like minded folk.
Finally I might add that although at 75 years old I might be typecast as a “digital dinosaur” I am an engineer (retired) who worked at the very leading edge of digital technology 40 years ago with UTC in America, back when we had to change channels on a TV with a knob (it had to start somewhere!). Thankfully I am still physically (my iphone tells me I walked 100 km in Greece) and mentally active and still full of new ideas.
And I like to think all that is due to the fact that exactly 50 years ago I sat and paid homage at the Right Toe of the Big Daddy of all Gods, Zeus, on my first ever overseas trip starting in Athens.
I should also add that when I started the website on the Greek Islands my sole reason was to do VIRTUAL Tours to remind myself of my youth but 3 months later when I had not even completed it the pull was too great and I booked a flight. That’s the POWER of Google Goodies.