Hello, Local Guides,
After the Mid of the year 2022, it was so thrilling for Local Guides from Pakistan because for the first time we got an invitation from BBC for a Local Guides Documentary to talk about the Local Guides Program in BBC Urdu Documentaries.
And right after a month, we got another invitation from 92 News HD which is one of the famous news channels in Pakistan & they have a Vast Viewership on TV with nearly 4.56 million Subscribers on Youtube & which is so famous in Pakistan.
First of All, we want to say Big Thanks to the Local Guides Program, because of all the honor and respect we got, it’s just because we are Local Guides, and we are following in the footsteps of great Local Guides of the program, who taught us. Otherwise, who knows us? Through the Local Guides program, we learned something useful not only for any country but for the whole world and the people who live in this world.
So I submitted the Meet-up on Connect to make sure that anyone (who lives in Pakistan and who is on Connect) can watch this show live, and we promote the poster of the show through our social media messengers groups as well.
The Show Time :
I & @Swalay reached the92 News HD Studio around 9:00 am, the show time was 10:00 am, but we wanted to prepare ourselves for this show because this was another kind of experience of life. And before the TV show, we enjoyed getting Makeup as well. Mr. Shahrukh Ahmad who is also a Local Guide level 5 and the director & Producer of the show, invited us, welcomed and brought us to the set of the show.
So the show started and Host Shahzaib Ahmed began with the introduction that we usually see how places are updated with photos and reviews. Do you think it’s done by Google by itself, by any robotic technology or satellite? No, but some people like you and me update places as a volunteer of Google and help thousands of people in our country.
He invited us to explain the Local Guides program and wanted to know how we can support Pakistan Tourism & Small Businesses of Pakistan by Google Maps and the Local Guides program.
So I started with the topic of what a Local Guides program is based on.
I explained the local guides Program so well and educated the audience about Google Maps Contributions and Local Guides Connect as well.
In between, during the interview, I was watching the screen and it gave me pleasure surprise that the screenshots I was given by me were moving on the split screen with our interview, including the honor of Guiding Star 2021 screenshot which was not less than an honor for me because that time hundreds of people were watching it. And also I could see @JaneBurunina @ErmesT 's photos and @Globe_trotter_Ish 's forehead from a virtual meetup on the screen sorry Isha
There we also added more points about the real benefits to any country and community of the whole Local Guides program.
Promoting Tourism By Google Maps & Local Guides Connect :
Supporting tourism through the Local Guides Program is my favorite topic to speak about, and in this session, I talked about it at different times.
I shared how Local Guides share the beauty of their countries by writing articles on Local Guides Connect, which is the best way to share information regarding tourism attractions because the articles often show in the top 10 or 20 in Google searches. I shared the example of my visit to RaniKot Fort Sindh Pakistan, and then my post on Local Guides Connect. And I also shared that we don’t have any idea how many people got guidelines from this post about a wonderful place in Sindh, which has great similarities with the great wall of China.
Supporting Small Businesses By Google Maps :
The next question was expected, and it was about How we can support and increase small businesses in the country by contributing to Google Maps.
Swalay Muhammad, who has great knowledge in this specific field, explained everything from start, how a business can add an owner using Google Maps to add location, and how anyone can update all necessary information and their products to Google maps. And how anyone can claim his/her business by using Claim this Business option on Google maps profile (if a business is already added and visible on Google maps)
He also explained in detail the positive impacts of Google maps on the development of the local economy and local businesses. The biggest example from which they understood easily was online taxi services all over the world, which are dependent on the directions of Google maps.
And the major benefit of Google maps is that, especially for anyone who has a physical business, like a small shop, restaurant, Dhabas, factory, or office, and they don’t have any website or cannot manage/afford any webpage, they can also introduce their main dishes or products with timings, pictures, phone numbers and website by “own this business” option.
I shared that I also like to explore people during map editing walks, when people feel curious about why it’s important to their businesses in Google maps, and what benefits they can get by uploading the information on Google Maps.
We also talked about Google my Business linked with Google Maps, and how anyone can get a free website and then can update their businesses from time to time.
Indeed, in this short time of the program, Supporting Tourism in Pakistan & Local Small Businesses by Local Guides Program was the main concern for us But along with this important topic, in this show, We covered many important topics in it as well, such as
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What is the Local Guides Program & Who are Local Guides?
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How can we help people with our helpful contributions?
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How can we let people know about amazing places in Pakistan through Google Maps and Local Guides Connect?
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How can we help Differently-Abled people through our actions and especially through Google maps and Local Guides Connect?
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How can we promote small businesses through Google maps and Google my business?
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What is a Crowdsource App, and how can we help people who are seeking help from Google for education purposes?
Here is the Facebook link to the show “Subah Saverey Pakistan by 92 News HD”, which has till now 4.6k views on Facebook and 2.3k views on YouTube. Our session was started at 1:22:00 minutes in this video and it was the last part of the show. But by clicking the following video you can reach that part directly.
Our Expectations by Local Guides TV Show on 92 HD news :
Overall it was an unforgettable experience for us. We got some fantastic responses from the program director Mr. Shahrukh Ahmad and the Host of the program Shahzaib Ahmad as they said, we cannot give you an exact idea, but hundreds of people around the world and especially from Pakistan will watch this show. But still, we don’t know the real acknowledgment, but we did this amazing job as responsible citizens and Local Guides, to create more awareness in our country regarding the wonderful benefits (not financial) to contribute to the Local Guides Program.
Thanks to @TusharSuradkar @NareshDarji , @TravellerG who was enjoying and sending me msgs on messenger to me directly during the show.