Connections? On Local Guides Connect? On my Connect Live application post?? Well… yes, exactly!
To me, Local Guides is all about connecting, in a lot of ways!
Let’s start with the way that’s most likely to first come to mind when you think of Local Guides connecting:
Connections with other people
For us that have used Connect before, gone to meet-ups, been fortunate enough to go to a Local Guides event, or have been connecting with Local Guides in any way, we sure know about how the program can bring people together.
The program has given me the chance to meet so many great people that I most likely wouldn’t have met otherwise, even in my own city and country! People that also want to improve Maps and care about helping others, and that also bring their own passions, culture, knowledge, and more, to the table.
You can check out the recap of the #ExperienciaArgentina challenge to read how LGs in the Argentine community came together lately.
As I said before, this is just some of the connections I think the program is about. But what about the beginning? Right from day one as Local Guides or even before joining the program, we are connecting!
Connections on Maps
When we contribute we are helping people make the best decisions and understand all their options, and just like that, we are connecting people with awesome places and businesses with new clients. When we contribute in every way you could very much say we are connecting data.
When we add a new place, aren’t we connecting it to the map? When we add or edit roads we are literally connecting places with each other.
And what about when we start digging deeper into the program, and become active in Connect and meet-ups? Besides letting us get to know awesome people, the program lets us connect in other ways.
Connections with ways to improve Maps
Via events or right here on Connect easily give our feedback about Maps and Local Guides to people that can make a difference, while discussing among other experienced users.
Even create ideas after talking with other LGs you have already connected with, like happened with this idea I posted.
Connections in our own mind
Consider this a whole section, because thanks to Googlers and the diversity Local Guides has, we get to learn a LOT from each other and see things in a different way!
- of new skills, interests, routines, and passions
Because of so many beautiful photos and great tips shared here I became interested in photography, improved my photos, and it’s now one of my passions! Now when I’m about to take a photo I have many of their tips in mind. As a big foodie, this particular post comes to my mind a lot: .5 tips to consider when styling food
After contributing very actively for a while, I even started getting the urge to take photos of food I eat at home! I gladly know I’m not alone with that, in the community I found other people as crazy for Maps as me 
Thanks to a meet-up I attended and recaps I read, I also became interested in accessibility, which became other of my passions.
- of areas and places:
From looking at the map so much by contributing, I feel like I know areas I don’t go as much or have never been in, which really helps a lot my directional skills. And meet-ups have helped me know my city to the core.
I’m not only talking about local areas though, but also about how when many places or countries I have never been to are mentioned I remember posts made here in Connect about the areas and things my Local Guides friends have told me about their culture and part of the world.
- of really important stuff
Local Guides definitely has helped me be more aware of other people’s needs. I realized how truly important it was for places to be accessible, pet friendly, have options for people with dietary restrictions, and more. And how important it is for people to easily know if they are or not, too.
Now the more inclusive a place is, the happier I get!
And all of these things are connected with each other: what we learn on Connect, the friends we make on the way and what they share with us, it all influences our contributions to Maps for the better, improving their quality as a whole community, and as a result Maps itself.
All of these “connections” together are what Local Guides means to me.
Thank you for reading! I hope to see you in CL2020, and that this post didn’t make the word “connect” sound weird to you because of how many times I used it 
And if you’re wondering about the first photo, you can see how it was made on my Connect Live application video.
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