My name is Olorunfemi Davis and I am passionate about helping others explore (in details) places I have been opportune to visit.
I love to plan adventures, tours and travels but most of the most intriguing experiences I had were highly unexpected.
I started adding features to Google Maps in 2012 as a Google MapMaker in community events organized by Google in my University where we added the entire university landmarks, buildings and surrounding environments.
Google Certified MapMaker
One of the challenges we encountered was how to accurately place features on Google Maps which is prone to human error and also the presence of old Google Satelite Imagery.
We solved this challenge by being equipped with GPS enabled devices which were heavily utilized to accurately measure the length of large buildings, streets, and point of interests.
This activity also exposed me to see the magnitude of other surrounding places and emerging towns that have very little or no representation on Google Maps.
I worked with Google Map advocate of Nigeria, Google Student Ambassadors and the local community of volunteers and initiated more mapping exercises.
I started organizing mapping meetups and also conducted lots of Solo missions while on personal travels.
Mapping in Ifaki EkitiAfter Mapping ExercisePlanningJoined Akure Map Community
I was able to add thousands of features and kilometres of routes to Google Maps, bag some badges and also reviews hundreds of features added by other mappers.
Screenshot showing MapMaker in action.
I like photography a lot and I love to take special pictures of places which I posted to Panoramio and later moved to Google Maps.
My most-viewed photo on Google Maps was snapped at a resort centre in Ikogosi, Ekiti State Nigeria. It was exciting to see the photo referenced by lots of businesses and tour websites.
Ikogosi Warm Spring Pool (Above)
My activities were interesting but I have always to do more. My next step was to represent features on Google Earth in 3D using Google SketchUp. I developed a team from the Google Developer Group (GDG) Ado Ekiti and we made a couple of illustrations before we got to realize that the feature has been discontinued by Google Maps.
The last few years have been more interesting for adding features on Google Maps as this can be done on Mobile. So apart from sharing pictures, I love to share reviews about places and businesses I visit.
Reviews are quite important to people and having a pre-knowledge of a place or businesses before an actual visit can prevent headaches and boost business productivity.
Reviews also help promote businesses and their services as customers express their feelings and experiences on Google Maps.
I am still passionate about travelling and would welcome opportunities to tour the world.
Thank you.