Actually, this picture of a hamburger, from another restaurant at Turku, Finland, has now more views than already mentioned “fish”. There is two sides in this; I think it gives other people good opportunity to choose which restaurant they want to go by looking the food beforehand, but the other side is that it is a good way for me to put memories on the map. Sometimes I have forgotten some place where I have eaten, but suddenly Google Maps pops up my photo and I decide to go into that place again.
But that’s not all. I love to be a Local Guide! It is so much fun to answer to questions that Google Maps gives me for the places I have visited. Is there a parking place for people with wheel chair? Is it a romantic place? It is very easy way for adding content and to make sure the content is right.
Reviews are another benefit for being a Local Guide. When I am going to visit some place, I check it from Google Maps and I usually check the reviews also. It is not all about the stars, but it is about the comments. It is good to read other people’s opinions and see what they have felt. It really helps me to make decisions and I hope that my reviews have given useful information to others as well.
Sometimes I propose corrections when I see for example that opening times are not correct. What I like is that it is so easy to propose changes. You can do it immediately when you notice something is not right. And that is exactly the way it should be, also in the future.
During my working life, I have had an opportunity to join Adobe Summit in London, I have participated to Nokia training at Johannesburg and I have visited IBM office in Bangalore. I have visited LEGO headquarters in Billund, Denmark. I am so thankful for those great memories. But I have never been in California and I haven’t seen Googleplex, not even from the outside. It would be a great experience for me to join Connect Live 2019 and I am sure it would give me so much energy for the autumn 2019. Last year I was nominated as a teacher of the year 2018 here in Southern Finland. I think it would be great to share Connect Live 2019 experience together with my students. In my job as a vocational teacher I am teaching 16-19 years old students who are studying Information and communication technology.
In my freetime, I am the coach of the floorball team. Floorball is a indoor sport that is getting more and more popular in Europe. In my team, players are 13-16 years old girls and they have tournaments almost every other weekend. Well, nice to know, but how is this related to Google Maps and Local Guides? Well, very often the tournaments are held in schools and sport venues where I have not been before. I use Google Maps to get driving directions but more importantly, I can check the photos of venues, if other Local Guides have contributed. It is a real advantage to be able to check the place beforehand! So thank you all Local Guides there, thank you for sharing your content! It really makes the Google Maps better and different.
So please invite me, middle-aged, bald teacher man who never have been in California, to your great event! As a counter-service for you, I promise to be even more active Local Guide in the future
Your Local Guide,
Mikko