RECAP MEETUP - Accessible Michigan #LGCannivmeetups - 4th Anniversary Celebration

Finally, I have conducted my first virtual meet up. Accessible Michigan :wheelchair: . It was very thrilling. This meetup is a Part of #LGCannivmeetups (Unofficial LocalGuidesConnect Worldwide 4th Anniversary Celebration).

My interest in accessibility started in the lock down time of Covid-19. After attending a couple of meetups from @KashifMisidia and @JaneBurunina , I started paying very close attention to this subject.

I reached out to Kashif to inform him of my interest to get involved in a little part in his meetup. He told me “Why don’t you host your own meetup?” My reaction to him at that moment was “no, no way”. As professional as he is, he believes in me. We discussed a lot of things to do in this wonderful meetup, and now I am writing a recap for one of my most memorable moment ever.

THANKS, Kashif Misidia.

My first virtual meetup was scheduled for July 18th, 2020 at noon. It started with the introduction of all attendees. Very excited to see, have 49 Local Guides from different countries: Indonesia, India, Nigeria, London, USA, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.

The next step was my presentation. Here are some of the highlights of my discussion:

  • Universal symbol of accessibility

  • Percentage of an individual with accessibility in Michigan

  • Definition of ADA (Americans with Disability Acts)

  • Implementations of rules and regulations of ADA for public or private building structures, hotels, public transport, recreational parks etc.

  • Street signs for deaf, blind, and autism individual in the neighborhood

  • Importance of Google Maps Contributions for Accessibility.

It was a pleasant surprised when I saw “Megan Coburn” @Kwiksatik joined the meet up with Denise Barlock. Because of Megan, we were going to learn many more new things which are helpful for all of us for our future contributions. She answered many questions asked by Local Guides. One of her suggestions is to add the disability photos directly into the website of the business and add review. By doing this the photos will always be on the top of the lists. She also said to always use the emoji of wheelchairs :wheelchair: in the review. Thanks again Megan, hope to have you in our next virtual accessibility meetup.

Kashif Misidia, shared his story of how he became a thoughtful Local guide. He shared his experience about Accessibility walks and how he tries to convince business owners that they should have facilities for the people with different abilities. His tip is I always say one thing to the owner, “A person who uses a wheelchair never comes alone, but with a group of family and friends, so if you provide a facility for just one person who uses a wheelchair, maybe you can get five or six customers with him/her.”

@AnshukMitra , Anshuk Mitra, who recently got the title of Accessibility Champion on Connect, got emotional when he was telling what inspires him to become a passionate Accessibility Contributor which started in his college years with his professor that was using special types of shoes along with a stick.

@Globe_trotter_Ish told us about great initiatives by the UK Government for differently-abled people, one of them is the braille writing for the blind.

@MSulaiman , Muhammad Sulaiman, also shared his story when he started his interest in disabled accessibility as well. He is contributing in Accessibility features on Google Map because he feels being a citizen it is his prime duty to help his society. Unfortunately in the past, he never got the chance to participate in any sort of accessibility contribution. But thanks to Google Map from where he learned about the features and the importance of accessibility. Now he can proudly say that he is playing his part in the society. It might be his tiny miny but it gives him a sense of pride.

@Gurukrishnapriya added a detailed explanation about individuals with autism and how it varies from person to person. She also explained how to help them such as a special education program for children with learning disabilities at school. Guru Khrishna has a Master Degree in Psychology

In General Discussion, Local Guides shared the disability accessible in their countries. Anshuk told us about Orthopaedic Hospital without any disable accessibility which is the most important thing for its patients. Some countries need to implement changes in their infrastructure.

Many Local Guides were impressed with the street signs that stated or reflected for the blind, deaf, and autism in Michigan neighborhoods.

Together we will be able to change this beautiful world one step at a time for now and generations to come. Together as a team, we achieve more (as @Anil6969 said).

Please remember to always add two more lines and at least two photos for Accessibility. It will be great for the people with different abilities (this is a slogan I heard from Kashif Misidia).

My sincere thank you to @Ddimitra for taking good care of the chat room. She is doing such a wonderful job. THANKS Devi.

Last but not least, to all attendees from the bottom of my heart I would like to say thank you. This successful meeting would not happen without you all.

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Thank you soon much Mbak @Erna_LaBeau for great hosting accessibility meet-up and hopefully much more people’s caring about this issue , honestly in my home town Sukabumi regency , I just see accessibility sign in hospital only , but almost never seen in other place .

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Congratulations dear @Erna_LaBeau !

I’m very very happy that your Meet-up was successful and you absolutely enjoyed it!

A pity I missed it. But your amazing detailed recap make me feel like I attended it!

You’ve done great work! :blush: :+1:

We are sharing our knowledge/experience with community and have great idea exchange to create Accessibility awareness and encourage Local Guides to collect Accessibility information and contribute to Maps. Keep guiding! Keep contributing! Keep sharing!

Hope to see you again soon on Virtual meet-ups!

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Congrats on hosting your 1st virtual meet-up @Erna_LaBeau . I hope you plan to host more in the future, and not just Accessibility!

Cheers,

Karen

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Congratulations @Erna_LaBeau for your successful meet up! You doing great, well done. I enjoying a lot about Michigan :wheelchair: which look established already. Lets keep our contribution about :wheelchair: in google maps.

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Congratulations @Erna_LaBeau on your first virtual meetup, it was wonderful meetup and many new things to takeaway!! Thank you.

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@Erna_LaBeau honestly, I can’t say it was your first-ever accessibility meetup. Your concepts and presentation were very clear and to the point and for that, I would like to congratulate you. Apart from that, it was wonderful to hear such inspiring stories and ideas from @Kwiksatik , @KashifMisidia , @Globe_trotter_Ish , @RosyKohli , @Gurukrishnapriya .

Looking forward to your next meetup.

Cheers :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks for recap excellent presentation, & awesome meet up got to know much more from all lg guest speakers .Congratulations for successful meet up.

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Hey @Erna_LaBeau , was that your first meet-up? I don’t believe it :laughing:

What a great recap, what an awesome meet-up !!!

It was like you have great experience in hosting meet-ups :star_struck:

And thank you so much for mentioning me in your post,

I never forgot the golden words of @ErmesT that “We are just moving stones” and today by your recap, And after reading your recap post today, I remembered that sentence again. When first time I heard this sentence, and got the real meaning of these beautiful words, I really felt change in my prospective. This is not sugar coated word but Ermes will remain always A Teacher for me.

Congratulations for your first and Successful Meet-up, if you believe I really enjoyed it, and really love the way you explained all the important features in very simple way by your presentation.

Shukriya :pray: Erna for your kind words for me.

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It is very sad to hear that @Nyainurjanah this is why our role as Local Guides take parts through our reviews. If enough people to do it we hope our voices will be heard. Please donot forget to review the Accessibility and put the emoji too :wink:

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  • First of all, congratulations for being the Accessibility Champion and being a role model for us, accessibility enthusiasts like me @JaneBurunina . Our intention is to better this world we live in one day at a time. Together we can do it. Yes, I hope to see you in virtual meetup.
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Namaskar…

** @Erna_LaBeau **

Nicely done recap & your first Meetup successfully finished, Congrats :bouquet:

Keep it up dear…

Thanks for Sharing

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Congratulations @Erna_LaBeau ! It was an amazing meet-up! Thanks for the mention too. After seeing your presentation, I now wish to visit Michigan! It is so much accessible ! I was amazed to see specially the sign boards! All the other speakers like Anshuk, Kashifji ,GKP Ma’m, Megan and others also shared amazing points!

Happy to be a part of such meet-ups! Keep up the good word n spread the word for accessibility!

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@Erna_LaBeau I absolutely loved coming to your meetup! Thank you so much for hosting it!

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Thank you @KarenVChin yeah I have already thinking about my second one. It is very addicting as @KashifMisidia said.

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@doc_dells yes, many places in Michigan have adapted the ADA (Americans with Disability Acts) requirements. I hope this will inspire other countries.

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Thank you @Arati I hope my meetup will inspire you to betterment the Accessibility in your local area. Remember this simple noble cause will start from us.

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Thank you for your kind words @MSulaiman .

Yes indeed I love listening the stories from our Accessibility Champions @Kwiksatik @KashifMisidia @AnshukMitra . The explanation about Autism from @Gurukrishnapriya and Rosy mam, @RosyKohli , referred to them as God Gifted or Special child.

I wished we got hours to talk in depth about the subject.

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@RosyKohli thank you for your time sharing the story about autism. You are always a sweetheart and always have a big heart to love all the children. I really appreciate you for that :hearts:

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@KashifMisidia a good student has a good teacher :wink:

I needed to go out of the town after the thrilling meetup and ordered ice caramel coffee to cool off. I was like, did I just do it?

I am glad I can share something for others and I hope all the attendees start utilizing the review to add two lines for accessibility and to use the emoji.

Once again thank you !

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