It was not just the first virtual meet up in Anambra State, but the first meetup registered as Anambra. I founded the Awka City Local Guides which is also in Anambra State. After reaching out to other cities and gathering so many local guides from different parts of the state, hence, it was necessary to change the name from Awka Local Guides to Anambra Local Guides, to encapsulate a wider local guide reach.
With the growing interest of the programme in the state, we now have more passionate LG’s evolving of which of them is @TerryGoodman . We co-hosted the first Anambra Virtual Meet Up which had about 30 participants from 7 different countries.
We started by introducing ourselves. Thereafter, I introduced the do’s and don’ts necessary while contributing to the map and on connect too. I spoke briefly on the need to add quality pictures and reviews on Google map- to avoid blur pictures and sentimental reviews which may not provide appropriate information. @HelloSamsonR , spoke so well on adding good pictures and videos. He said pictures should not clearly show faces of people and that videos taken from windscreen would not give proper representation of the place. He said that higher quality contribution attracts higher rank, trust call and better algorithm reading for local guides. He encouraged local guides to avoid adding temporal places on the map, adult entertainment services, call centers etc.
Questions were entertained from TerryGoodman, @Lily_Asongfac , @AlphaSays on picture quality and Google My Business (GMB). Slim asked if local guides could use someone else picture. He suggested that local guides should not allow their emotions control their reviews. Lily asked if there are better ways of flagging inappropriate pictures of a place. Alpha suggested monetizing GMB.
@MrBest , spoke on copyright and plagiarism on connect. he said that he has observed so many posts on connect with plagiarism and encouraged LG’s to shun such habit.
@JoegatesChidi encouraged local guides to spell out the rules of the program especially for those joining newly because they lack so much idea. He told them to encourage newbies to do quality contribution and avoid staging their minds on benefits before doing a quality contribution. @Anil6969 asked if selfies were allowed while contributing to Google Map and @RosyKohli asked if large photos like school match past could be added as part of the activities of the school on the map.
Well, it was a learning session and we wished we could buy more time to learn. Samson, @Shrut19 , Deepakjhic, Karen, Md Reazul, Nkiruka Okeke, Amarachi Okpunobi, Elizabeth Bassey. Erna’s Adventure, Favour Occonor, Yago Ykd, Nyai Nujanah, Shurti Upadhyay, Ayua Silas, Ogechi Eweuru, Sumeet K, SK, Devi Dimitra Maksum, Chiazodo Okonkwo, Ewaade 3A, and some other local guides did well in answering most of these questions.
@Austinelewex exposed us on how we could share links while writing on connect. He encouraged LG’s to write interesting and detailed post especially on their cultural values and heritage. He said that it is wrong to digress on people’s post. for example, a post on culture and then discussing politics on the same post.
Personally, I felt disappointed because it was about 3LG’s from Anambra that attended the meet up while we got so many people outside the state and country participating fully. The poor turnout from Anambra is very discouraging that could make someone not to organize meet up again. Hopefully, there would be improvement.
I want to thank all who were present at the meet up. I am sure you all enjoyed it. I would have tagged more people here, but I am limited to 10 people. Other local guides could help in tagging them. Thank you so much
Thank you for your time and for participating. I love the Local Guides Program.
Here is the link of the photoalbum: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8H1MMTLvfNBpM7K9A
not forgetting mr. sampson (don’t know his LG I.D).
India
