What does the Local Guides program mean to me?
Spoiler alert: It means a lot!
But firstly I would like to introduce myself:
I’m a Brazilian artist from Rio de Janeiro that moved to Germany after falling in love with and in Berlin (I’ve met my wonderful wife here). I’m passionate about Art, Culture, Science & Technology, Cities and their History and Stories. When I was a child I used to draw cities as viewed from an aerial perspective in A4 sheets and glue them to one another. Eventually, my handmade map would cover the whole floor of my bedroom. I also printed my own money by printing the numbers from poker chips into the paper with crayons, but that’s another story… I grew up playing many games that are somehow related to cities and map making, like the SimCity and Civilization series + other strategy and RPG titles. I’m also part of the generation that grew up with the novelty of the internet and had the privilege to start using it around 1995 and find it difficult to imagine how life would be without it. I believe digitization is one of our best chances to develop a better future together.
An artsy map I created using data from open street map + google maps with all the Berlin streets I walked exclusively on foot. (outdated)
For me, the Local Guides program means a natural and sometimes even fun way of empowering users to contribute to the service and tool that helps so many people to move, explore and discover great places. I find it great to be able to add places that are missing and help local businesses to thrive, or to make it easier for others to drift to thru out cities. I’ve used it countless times to help artists to find Art supply stores and Art Spaces or to guide visiting friends around Berlin, creating small tour routes making sure they’ll get to see some of my favorite spots and the best Berlin has to offer!
I love exploring the local guides community. I’ve already found very interesting places even in my city by going to other guide’s profiles and reading their reviews about the places they wandered about. I also find it useful to find the right places when needed, lots and lots of information sourced from the crowds in the palm of our hands. It’s also a different way to show my photos too, as I always loved to photograph the cities and places I’ve already visited or lived.
It would be a dream come true to join other enthusiastic Local Guides in October for the Connect 2020 live and together take it to the next level!
Hope to see you all soon…
Tchuss!
