I’ve been in this program before it was called Local Guides. Even back in the City Explorer days it was about going out and sharing our experiences with reviews on Google Maps. About a year down the road, I went to a Mapmaker presentation where we went over correcting, adding, and updating information. Eventually the lines began to blur as I made friends within the community and it was just more than writing reviews. We began attending unofficial meetups, exploring different cities and events together, and sharing with everyone the best things we found in our city.
Even though I wasn’t selected for the first summit, I put together a list to do a post summit meet-up and co-hosted it with another Bay Area local guide. It wasn’t about who got credit for the meet-up, but it was late at night when my kids were asleep that I could create lists and ideas could come alive. Then came the 2017 Summit, with a large group of people sharing the same passion in promoting their city and what made it special. Brilliant ideas were discussed and some of them actually made it into the maps application. We saw changes in the Local Guides Connect forms, ideas for meet-ups and best of all making new friends from around the world. Friends I still chat with and try to see when they’re back in town. Then pre-2018 Connect Live, I joined some of the exploration groups and continued to make new friends as they explored San Francisco.
Doing reviews and posting pictures just became a common things for me to do. Then recently when I was at a restaurant grabbing some takeout dinner, I saw a sign and it made me remember why I started doing this.
Giving #SmallThanks was a Google initiative a few years back about promoting small businesses. In a city like San Francisco, we’re seeing smaller business close for a number of reasons. I think it’s more important that these business keep on thriving as the define a neighborhood which can easily be swallowed up by the newest trend and instagram worthy photo. So when I get friends from out of town, yes we can do the touristy thing, but I am also going to bring you to some of my favorite places to eat, shop, and explore museums, small galleries, parks, beaches, and the cultures of our different neighborhoods.
