8 Feb 2020, the first extensive meet-up in Japan was held at Urabandai Lake Resort in Fukushima, Japan. This time, 12 Local Guides who gathered at the venue and 6 Local Guides who joined via Hangout attended to this meet-up.
Shared Album
The shared album is here. At the meet-up venue, @Anzu and @Izumi prepared a photo booth. It is beautiful. Don’t miss out on it!
The shared album of JAPAN LOCAL GUIDES MEETUP in URABANDAI
Opening
The main program started off with my greeting. The MC was @Anzu .
Experts of Local Guides
This section’s speaker, @KOBAYASHI_Jun and @Tak_Nag are Google Maps Product Experts. We heard about recent hot topics of Google Maps, what to do if when we find issues, and so forth and joking. The speeches that we have no chance to hear usually were very impressive and helpful for us. We got some useful tips for our activities as well, so we’ll utilize them from now on.
Report of Connect Live 2019
The attendees, @Yucco, @Shota_2020 and I reported about Connect Live 2019 through an interview style. By sharing our experiences, I wish more Japanese Local Guides have an interest in Connect Live, and the number of Japanese attendees will increase this year.
Group discussion
We separated the members into three groups. The topic of Group A was “What is a good reviews”, the topic of Group B was “The ways to improve accessibility information on the map”, and Group C was composed of Hangout members. The topic was “How to decrease spam”. The discussion was so exciting and the results were also really nice and very practical.
Fieldwork
The person in charge of our meet-up, Mr. Shimotsuma of Urabandai Lake Resort showed understanding to our meet-up, and guided us around the hotel. Thanks to him, we enjoyed the fieldwork of Urabandai Lake Resort and saw a high-grade hotel room, Nekomarikyu’s beautiful entrance hall that usually is for guests only, the observatory room, restrooms, and so forth. Thank you, Mr. Shimotsuma!
Btw, @Manatee台南新移民 and some members accompanied this fieldwork via Hangout.
Dinner reception
At the time of the dinner reception, @Yasuyoand @Anonymous joined us via Hangout. We enjoyed holding a conversation with other attendees. Of course, the dishes for dinner were very nice.
Morning meet-up
The next morning, we gathered at Urabandai Cafe and held a farewell meet-up.
Feedback
I collected feedback from attendees after the meet-up using a Google form. I’ll refer to them for the next meet-up. As references, I introduce some comments about this meet-up.
- I was happy to meet new Local Guides friends.
- I enjoyed a meaningful idea exchange, a passionate discussion, delicious food, and a wonderful hot spring!
- I joined via Hangout. That was a nice experience.
- The venue looked interesting. I hope to join at the venue the next chance.
- Let’s hold such a meet-up regularly!
Conclusion
This meet-up was AMAZING. We were able to reconfirm the meaning and importance that Local Guides gather and talk face-to-face. I’ll definitely hold such a meet-up again sooner or later.
And our choice to hold a meet-up at a hot spring inn was completely correct. Taking a bath in the hot spring after the meet-up was really nice.
In the end, I appreciate all Japanese Local Guides who supported me for this meet-up. Thanks to your support, we were able to hold such a great meet-up. Thank you very much!
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