I am honored to be part of the Google Local Guides community! Before the summer of 2019, my connection with Google Reviews was limited to consulting them as the source for business details and ratings. I did call out a business sporadically for terrible (Pep Boys) or awesome (TruClean) customer service.
Two things changed my level of involvement: views and perks. I was surprised when Google sent me a congratulations email and a virtual badge for earning 1,000 views of my Nauti Donuts photo snapped at the Jersey shore.
Since this was just weeks after I had posted, I proudly shared the news with my family. My daughter’s super-polite fiancé declared he was impressed. TJ explained that he’d been a Google Local Guide for a while. He described some cool perks he had earned for
his contributions. Then, he confided he was doing it mainly to earn the exclusive Local Guide socks. Once he showed me a photo of the colorful quirky socks, I was on a mission. (PS. I earned the socks in 2 months and gifted them to my future son-in-law).
What do I love about being a Local Guide? It encourages me to share my perspective and draws upon my diverse life experiences.
I’ve changed careers more than 8 times over the decades. Here’s a partial resume: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Chips Ahoy! brand manager, Founder/CEO of Smart Art, preschool teacher, library director and lead facilitator. While my titles have changed, I’ve always gravitated to careers that involved helping others, communicating, and being creative. Simply put, I love finding stuff out, knowing what others don’t, and sharing what I’ve discovered in clear, compelling language. Isn’t that what good Local Guides do? In my reviews, I sometimes highlight community organizations that do incredible work, such as the Philly Goat Project. They treecycled thousands of Christmas trees by having goats nibble away at the greenery.
I haven’t worked as a Librarian for years, but I still give off that supportive, in-the-know vibe. Strangers will routinely ask me for help or advice. Full disclosure: I’m great at advice, but not at giving directions. My excuse is that I’m left-handed.
Most of my reviews include an insider tip. It could be anything from dog-friendliness, where to park, how to get discounts, hidden gems, and little known facts about the place or business. The librarian in me always checks facts and spelling before I post.
I am now an almost Level-7 guide and a top 1% Local Guide in Philadelphia. When I checked today, I had 2.3M views of 453 photos and 94 reviews. I will turn 65 in December 2019. Contrary to stereotype, I don’t need to call my kids because I’m baffled by technology. Instead, I embraced the challenge of creating websites, blog sporadically and I’m active on Instagram.
Here’s another reason I am proud to be a Local Guide. It rewards me by sharing my photos with the world. People connect with their creativity in different ways.
For me, taking and sharing photos has been an enduring creative outlet. For years, I took photos mainly of our kids growing up, and of our far-flung vacations. Our family has travelled worldwide and around most of the U.S. Years ago, I kept travel journals, made photobooks and posted photos on Flicker. When we discovered all Philadelphia has to offer and made it our home, I became one of those people. The ones who are constantly taking and sharing photos. It’s the truest way I know to show everyone how amazing and special Philly is. And this is from someone who was born and raised in New York City. Finally, I love being in the Local Guides program because I’m a stats geek. I’m the person who volunteers to create Excel spreadsheets because she enjoys analyzing data trends. I have a Master’s Degree in Experimental Psychology and crunching numbers is satisfying to me. I find it a fun mental exercise to track and analyze photo view rates. In the past few months, I’ve tried to guess which photos will attract the most views. I am routinely dead wrong in my predictions. Here’s one of my most popular photos, taken at the Powel House in Philadelphia. Now that I look closer, it appears haunted. Ah, the rewards of sharing. One mystery solved, hopefully many more to come.
also love it during Christmas time. Zoo is awesome too.