For me being a Local Guide means helping and guiding people in their decisions based on my experiences left in comments and photos of the places I have been to. I love it when Google approves some changes I make or adds a place I created because up to that point the place didn’t exist on Google Maps. When I found out about Google Local Guides I thought that only visitors would see the comments and photos I left, until one day I had left a comment about a not very pleasant experience at a coffee shop and the owner of the business got in touch with me about the review I had left about his company. Not only did he apologize for the inconvenience, but he also invited me to come back and discuss about the incident and he talked about how the comment helped him improve the coffee shop’s procedures and service.
Since that episode I feel the importance to describe the places I go to, so everywhere I visit, I write about my experience so that other people know what the place is like. I am very happy to know that people and companies from all over the world rely on the comments they read on Google Maps to guide themselves and make decisions. Thank you, Google Local Guides, for allowing me to be part of this family.