RECAP: Clean The World - Connect Live 2018 Edition

[KarenVChin]

@ermest, an Italy Local Guide and a Connect Moderator and I, @KarenVChin, a San Francisco Bay Area Local Guide hosted 28 Local Guides from every corner of the globe at our first annual Clean the World - Connect Live Edition Meetup early October 16, 2018 morning.

Having this meetup gave many of us the chance to meet and get to know one another more as we cleaned The Presidio, one of the true gems of the U.S. National Parks and one of the best outdoor destinations of San Francisco, prior to the official start of Connect Live.

We arrived at the Presidio Transit Center to meet Jason, our Presidio Trust Volunteer Coordinator, at 9 am

Jason took us to an open area to introduce The Presidio, a former 1,500 acre U.S. Army military base. Since 1994, The Presidio has been converted into to become one of the parks of the U.S. National Park Service and Golden Gate Recreational Park Area, a place where many San Franciscans can play, live, and work. It is also the home of Lucasfilm (Star Wars fame) and the Walt Disney Family Museum.

He told us how important volunteers are to help keep The Presidio clean for everyone, both locals and visitors who visit San Francisco, like many of us, Local Guides, who came here from around the world.

Yesenia, our Presidio Trust Volunteer Intern, shared with us how important it is for people to keep parks and open spaces clean, free of trash, especially plastics and toxic materials from waterways.

As we listen to both Jason and Yesenia, we were blessed by the breathtaking 360-degree views of the famous Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay as our “background.”

Our first 360 photo as a group. Thanks Italy Local Guide @davidhyno for sharing.

Ermes shared with us why he started the Local Guides Clean The World Project and the importance of taking what we learned here and bringing it back to our own Local Guides Communities, to help spread the word of keeping our world clean by picking up trash, recycling, and reducing our use of plastics, etc.

The power of Local Guides in action - we started to CLEAN!

Jason showed us how to separate trash - paper, plastic, and pure trash that cannot be recycled.

We got ourselves ready to take another 360 group photo under @LudwigGermany, Germany Local Guide and Connect Moderator’s direction.

Along Crissy Field is the San Francisco Bay Trail with panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay, the Marin Headlands, Alcatraz, Angel Island and the San Francisco skyline that visitors can see while walking, running, picnicking, or cycling. It’s amazing that visiting The Presidio is free – No charge to walk around and be in this U.S. National Park.

Right off the Warming Hut is a pier called Torpedo Wharf. This was an incredible area to take photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. You are that close you can almost touch the Bridge. Of course, being Local Guides we had to take photos, videos, 360s, and selfies!

Myanmar Local Guide @Lattoria wins for most creative Local Guides group meetup photo taking!

Yes! He caught all of our attention as he stood in the distance on the San Francisco Bay Trail and caught us happily waving. This was not staged photo by no means. = )

Powered by Local Guides - Clean the World Connect Live 2018 Edition
How we ended our 3 hrs of cleaning is an interesting thing to think about.

Quantify the amount of time each of us volunteered and compounded it all together, we collectively picked up enough trash to keep one person busy cleaning for 2+ weeks! It’s that easy, to volunteer as a team, and help make your community a better place.

HUGE THANKS

Ermes and I would like to thank Jason and Yesenia from The Presidio Trust for helping us host our first annual Clean The World - Connect Live Edition Meetup. They both provided a lot of information about The Presidio, the U.S. National Parks Service, and the importance of keeping public places clean so we can all enjoy them as a community for many generations to come.

We also want to give big “thank yous” and warm hugs to all the Connect Live 2018 Local Guides attendees who chose to spend their time with us that early October Tuesday morning prior to the official afternoon start of Connect Live.

We know they could have chosen to do and see so many other different things in San Francisco that morning. We were blessed by their energy and enthusiastic “powered by Local Guides” spirit to help clean a part of San Francisco.

Huge thanks and much appreciation in making our inaugural Clean the World - Connect Live Edition such a fantastic success!

See and read more about our Clean The World - Connect Live 2018 Edition Meetup Recap

Check out our Google Photos shared group album (collectively 165+ photos & videos).

Watch Our Clean The World - Connect Live 2018 Meetup Recap Video

Visit and learn more about The Presidio and how to volunteer your time with The Presidio Trust
– https://www.presidio.gov
– https://www.presidio.gov/presidio-trust

Interested in Ermes’ Local Guides Clean The World Project and want to learn how to join and help your own community, click here.

---

Cheers,

Karen and Ermes

[bdmafuz]

Hello @KarenVChin thanks for share with us.

[ErmesT]

Wow, what a Recap for this great experience @KarenVChin

I will share more later, but I want to quickly thank you, and all the Local Guides that have been part of this amazing moment.

EDIT: 7 hours later, finally I am here.

You did an amazing job, Karen. I know, of course, a bit of the backstage of this Meet-up, the time for being in touch with Jason, defining place and time. I was so excited, thinking about this Meet-up as the most symbolic moment for Clean the World project (Yes, I still call this a project, a work in progress activity), the introduction of Connect Live '18.

A meet-up that is now becoming, in my mind, “the first edition of…”, while next year it will be “The Traditional” Local Guides Clean the World Meet-up.

I cannot tag every Local Guides that decided to spend a few hours with us, helping our planet. But for sure I can tag someone of the back stage. I don’t remember if I already did it, but in any case, I can do it again, and again. So, thank you @brittym (you know why) for supporting us.

Well, Jason and Yesenia, thank you so much. Thank you for helping / guiding us. Thank you for caring about the environement. You are not in the community, but I am sure that some Local Guide from the bay area will find a way to reach you with this message.

Thank you everyone

@DavidTito, recap is here.

[StephenAbraham]

@KarenVChin Thanks for sharing this amazing event. Sorry I was not able to join you all there in this. Wonderful photos and even more wonderful participants.

[KashifMisidia]

Hello @KarenVChin , I have still regrets that I just missed that awesome clean the world meetup.

But thank you so much, because I m reading and enjoying , and feeling myself with you guys doing one of my most favourite activity.

Shukriya again.

[FaridTDF]

Es una gran recapitulación @KarenVChin , con mucho detalle como nos tienes acostumbrados , fue una hermosa experiencia la que tuvimos todos, ya que solamente se toma real conciencia de algo cuando uno lo experimenta personalmente, gracias por darnos el ámbito donde poder hacerlo, también muchas gracias @ErmesT , por tu gran empuje the iniciativa que tienes con este gran proyecto de Clean the World.

Creo que todos los que participamos vivimos varias experiencias ya en el camino se charló con casi todos y también tomamos muchas fotos, fue una gran experiencia Local Guides

Farid, ya listo para hacer un nuevo encuentro en el 2019…

[Stuart_C]

Brilliant recap, @KarenVChin . Sorry I couldn’t make it. Well done to all the LGs who participated!

Great video and photis, too! Especially love the shot of you all in front of the bridge.

Stuart

[DavidTito]

@KarenVChin Wow this has absolutely captivated me, Your Presentation is much exceeds a great education of Local Guides Clean The World But an educational experience, for me overwhelming not knowing the background of the area, You have done a perfect job here more than words can say and my kindest regards to all attendees for being behind you, This Meetup should be a day never forgotten, Thank you ever so much for sharing, I will add this in the map and tag once done

@KashifMisidia @StephenAbraham @ErmesT @bdmafuz just wonderful

[brittym]

Wow, @KarenVChin ! I love that this initiative involved Local Guides from every corner of the world coming together to beautify San Francisco–and as you said, when they could have chosen to do any number of the city’s activities. The teamwork is beautiful and @Lattoria 's photo is among the best I’ve seen from Connect Live!

To all of the Local Guides who participated in this initiative, and to those who are committed to making a difference in their local communities, thank you for making the world a better place. Maybe it’s because Thanksgiving is tomorrow, but I just got tears in my eyes!

[DavidTito]

@ErmesT I’m blown away by @KarenVChin [Recap]

and I found these

[nkwetche]

Nice recap @KarenVChin

I missed this Meetup

[davidhyno]

Mamma mia what a beautiful memory you recalled dear @KarenVChin and @ErmesT ! I remember how it was yesterday: I was very excited because I did not know anyone except Ermes and this was the first meeting with the other Local Guides! And I must say that all fears have disappeared with the first handshake! It was a fantastic morning, Jason and Yesenia made us understand how in small steps and with the willpower we are able to rearrange our little world and what the volunteers have done with the Presidio is the clear proof right under our eyes ! Thanks again for this recap of that fantastic day and heartfelt congratulations for having looked after him in every detail … a great job for this great recap!

Thanks again Karen & Ermes!

[IlankovanT]

Thank you for hosting this wonderful meetup with our fellow local guides @KarenVChin

[Lattoria]

Thanks @KarenVChin , @brittym

I am now filled with energy to clean the world more than before!

And @catlinging thank you for answering that call which started my photos in front of the bridge!

[KhamphoutS]

Thank you so much for the recap @KarenVChin @ErmesT and organized this meet-up.

I was blessed from no one at the first day and this meet-up gave me additional valuable time to connect more with other local guides and very happy to be one of clean the world meet-up program this year.

I hope you and Ermest could make this meet-up as annual in the coming summit.

[AnuradhaP]

@KarenVChin Nice recap and it was a wonderful experience. Thank you for organizing @KarenVChin and @ErmesT .

[DeniGu]

Such an amazing recap!

Thank you @KarenVChin for sharing your wonderful experience. All the great photos of big smiles and famous places, the amusing video of Local Guides in action, and the virtual tour of The Presidio (I checked all the locations on Google Maps, this park is huge!) just brought me so much joy. I follow closely @ErmesT 's Clean the World project, as I find this cause really close to my heart and personal beliefs. It’s great to see how this initiative is crossing oceans!

Seeing that this is going to be an annual event, have you already got any plans about which would be the next location of your Clean the World meet-up?

[rajuroyal]

Nice Work all of you @KarenVChin

I planning to host a meet up Soon in India.

[OmerAli]

Great recap @KarenVChin

I am so glad that I was part of the group to join you and @ErmesT

For the project.

No doubt, it was one of those finest days that leaves a vivid print on your mind.

Group activity, great cause, friendly global people to work with and a big warm message of Social responsibility to the whole wide world.

I am sure I am going to initiate and ignite the same fire and sense of social responsibility in my country as well.

Tip for CL19 Atyendees: well, you MUST not miss any activity planned by our Moderators’, as simple as that .it is totally worth it.

[ErmesT]

Shukriya to you, @KashifMisidia

You was with us, in our hearts and in our minds. What you are doing for the environment in your country, every day, is much more than what we did once.

Btw, it was important to do it, it was important to spread the message around the world, and it was important to do it in Presidio, that is a symbol for the respect of the environment