The Local guide program means a lot to me. I will share an experience, I was traveled last year to Edo state in Nigeria and had made reservations for a hotel, on getting there and late in the night , I discovered the fair was higher than I expected. I and my colleague were exhausted and very hungry and needed to make a quick decision on where to stay. He resorted to making calls to friends to find a location, I used google (LOL) - because google is my/your friend-.
The numbers he tried calling were switched off or unreachable but My dear Google was readily online and full of answers. I first checked the location we were and the closest to us. I eventually found a hotel and was able to read reviews from people and that is were we eventually stayed, my friend became a believer in using Local guide information. This same case happened in another state Kano were all hotels were fully booked and google came to my rescue.
This has been my personal experience but also I have answered question from people about places I go to , and one question that touched me was when someone asked about wheelchair availability to a particular organization . The routine task of getting to a place for me might be easy but daunting to a disabled person especially in Nigeria, his getting firsthand information on this can really be of help to him in ways I cannot measure. This and other questions from various people about locations remote or near that they have never been to is key, is there electricity, is the roads to the location safe at night, this are real issue that has caused me to always try to give inputs on places I go to.
I love being a guide and will continue to be one.