This October, 151 Local Guides will fly to San Francisco to participate in 2018’s big event: Connect Live. Our team carefully reviewed thousands of inspiring applications before selecting each attendee for a very special reason. To celebrate the amazing videos Local Guides created as part of their applications, we’ve created the video below to introduce you to some of this year’s attendees.
Travel arrangements are still being finalized, but attendees are projected to fly in from 60 different countries across six continents. Both the attendees and the programming at Connect Live will reflect the inclusiveness of the Local Guides program.
Local Guides are as diverse as the communities they come from. At this year’s Connect Live, we’ll have passionate women solo travelers, students, musicians, a doctor, an author, a firefighter, and, of course, many people who are passionate about technology. We intend to give attendees a special look behind the curtain to inspire them to bring the best of Google Maps back home.
This year’s applicants represented some of the world’s smallest countries, like Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Maldives, Malta, and Liechtenstein. Combined, these countries are just 390 square miles, but Local Guides there are adding and editing places, writing reviews, uploading photos, answering questions, and more to help others get around.
The world’s 10 largest countries were also represented among this year’s Connect Live applicants. Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil, Australia, India, Argentia, Kazakhstan, and Algeria add up to a land area of 45,942,289 square miles. From places near and far to countries small and wide, Local Guides like you help both locals and visitors alike navigate and explore our world.
As one attendee said on his application, “It’s always fun to meet other people with the same interests, but such an event is also a very good place to exchange ideas, learn from each other’s good practices, and, last but not least, occasionally have a sneak peek into what Google is cooking for the near future.”
