I was expecting few new faces on this meet up as today is a holiday in Sri Lanka (Poson full moon day), also it has been a long while since I met new friends. Overflowing my expectation, there were FIVE new faces today namely @KamalDM , @Kumaran_thanga , @PriyanthaR (I found him in LG connect initially), @AntonO and @nipuna_sandeepa . We got introduced to each other and the team mingled quickly. Most of the new participants wanted me to teach about maps, LG Connect. Considering the request, I took it into account and spent some time sharing some knowledge, even though it is meant to be a photo walk.
The venue was Viharamadevi Park, which was formerly known as Victoria Park, I remember visiting this park with parents when I was a kid. Things have changed a lot and the park has been developed pretty well.
We gathered at the venue sharp at 4.30. We started walking along the park covering up some nice photos.
There was a hanging bridge and few ducks too. Then we got a call from Priyantha asking for the exact location and he joined us. We received him into the team and started walking. The team got united very quick and everyone was excited to be part of it. Especially @AsankaRubasinghe , we have spoken to each other, have had long chats on our HO but this was my first time to meet him in person. He was another interesting personality. In the middle of the walk, we found a nice place to sit and have a chat. There was a pony too. Priyantha shared his experience of meeting a lot of ponies in Delf island which is located in the Northern part of Sri Lanka.
Priyantha came with his laptop and he asked many questions about kudos, badges, posting on LG connect. I shared my experiences and also suggested him to limit the number of photographs per post as there is a maximum limit of 1000 photographs in LG connect. Also, I suggested them to search for existing related topics before posting on LG connect. If there were any related posts previously made by other Local Guides, we may have to post our concern as a comment in order to avoid duplication. I gave a well-rounded explanation about getting kudos, badges and other minute details. There were so many questions in the middle from Priyantha, I was so happy to explain them. @TharinduPunchihewa , after making his first post of LG Connect came up with a lot of questions and doubts, I gave some suggestion based on my experience.
Then we had a small round of 360 camera introductory session, following that we had some fun with my Google daydream. This got the team excited.
Finally, when I was packing my bag, Priyantha made some jokes on me. “How many power banks do you carry? I think you will have to carry a car battery looking at the number of gadgets you have” told Priyantha.
Almost every new face today, wanted to create their own Local Guides community. Also, Priyantha promised he will be hosting a meet up soon with some tree planting activities targeting a Green environment. We seconded his suggestion. Let’s go green! At last, we ended the session with some snacks at the street food caravan, some of them collected their Tshirts from me, I distributed few badges to those who were new today, then we came home with a bunch of nice memories.
More photos please check this album
It was wonderful to meet my fellow guides. Thanks for everyone who made this meet up awesome @KamalDM , @Kumaran_thanga , @PriyanthaR , @AntonO, @nipuna_sandeepa , @TharinduPunchihewa , @AsankaRubasinghe , @NiroshaJ , @IsurangaD , @Shafranlive
thank you for the beautiful photos, ha hahaha “A pony and a man” 
