2022
It’s been an incredible year for Local Guides across the world and especially in India. I wanted to share a look back at some of the great things you accomplished in 2017.
The community made an impact
To start, I’d like to mention three of the most amazing things you did for others. You joined the movement to map the country’s hospitals so people can find medical care. You rated and reviewed public toilets in Delhi to help others find sanitary facilities. And when Mumbai faced catastrophic floods, you shared news of road closures to help everyone get around. It was inspiring to see Local Guides do so much in time of need and crisis.
You also helped others in smaller ways, like when you mapped schools and colleges during the crucial exam time, helping parents and students alike to find the exam centers.
This was also a year of celebrations. The love for Cricket brought everyone together in May. You shared the best stadiums and places to watch Indian Premier League (IPL) with friends and family while cheering for your favorite team. (My favorite team is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Bangalorean at heart always.)
During festival season in fall, the spotlight was on your beautiful photos of Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali and Durga Puja. Your pictures made the celebrations come alive on Google Maps and on Connect. All the food and shopping recommendations shared by Local Guides definitely helped me plan my shopping list, and also miss all the local delicacies.
Local Guides starred in inspiring videos
Local Guides in Hyderabad came together for a memorable meet-up focused on biryani, their city’s famous dish. Have you watched the videos? Check them out to see @NarenChandra, @AslamMo, @DanielTh, @Arati, and @LeninBabu shopping for spices and digging into a delicious meal.
I had the pleasure of meeting many Local Guides when I visited Hyderabad, as well as Gurugram and Kolkata this year. You shared your stories with us and gave valuable feedback. This will help us strengthen Google Maps and make it better for all of us who use it day in and day out.
It was a year of fun perks
The Local Guides team worked hard in 2017 to bring some surprises for you all by partnering with Redbus, Swiggy, Oyo and Ola. We’ll have more fun perks in 2018, of course.
Cool features made for you
We’re deeply committed to India, something that was apparent at the Google for India event hosted on 5th December. A few of its key announcements were Google Station, for greater access to public WiFi, Android Oreo (Go edition), a new smartphone experience for entry-level devices, and Tez, which is a mobile payment app making transfering money simple and safe.
We also announced an India-first feature on Google Maps: Two-wheeler mode. Two-wheelers are one of the most prominent modes of transport in India, and they have the ability to navigate through bylanes and shortcuts. Those shortcuts are now available Google Maps to help you shorten your travel time. We will also showcase landmarks on these routes, like the ‘local bakery’, ‘temple’ or ‘chai ki dukan’ that will help you navigate better.
We look forward to an exciting 2018 with all Local Guides, in India and across the world!
Dear @AradhanaB
Enjoyed reading this and we Local Guides can learn a lot from this.
Wishing you and everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2018.
Cheers
@AradhanaB wrote:
It’s been an incredible year for Local Guides across the world and especially in India. I wanted to share a look back at some of the great things you accomplished in 2017.
The community made an impact
To start, I’d like to mention three of the most amazing things you did for others. You joined the movement to map the country’s hospitals so people can find medical care. You rated and reviewed public toilets in Delhi to help others find sanitary facilities. And when Mumbai faced catastrophic floods, you shared news of road closures to help everyone get around. It was inspiring to see Local Guides do so much in time of need and crisis.
You also helped others in smaller ways, like when you mapped schools and colleges during the crucial exam time, helping parents and students alike to find the exam centers.
This was also a year of celebrations. The love for Cricket brought everyone together in May. You shared the best stadiums and places to watch Indian Premier League (IPL) with friends and family while cheering for your favorite team. (My favorite team is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Bangalorean at heart always.)
During festival season in fall, the spotlight was on your beautiful photos of Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali and Durga Puja. Your pictures made the celebrations come alive on Google Maps and on Connect. All the food and shopping recommendations shared by Local Guides definitely helped me plan my shopping list, and also miss all the local delicacies.
Local Guides starred in inspiring videos
Local Guides in Hyderabad came together for a memorable meet-up focused on biryani, their city’s famous dish. Have you watched the videos? Check them out to see @NarenChandra, @AslamMo, @DanielTh, @Arati, and @LeninBabu shopping for spices and digging into a delicious meal.
I had the pleasure of meeting many Local Guides when I visited Hyderabad, as well as Gurugram and Kolkata this year. You shared your stories with us and gave valuable feedback. This will help us strengthen Google Maps and make it better for all of us who use it day in and day out.
It was a year of fun perks
The Local Guides team worked hard in 2017 to bring some surprises for you all by partnering with Redbus, Swiggy, Oyo and Ola. We’ll have more fun perks in 2018, of course.
Cool features made for you
We’re deeply committed to India, something that was apparent at the Google for India event hosted on 5th December. A few of its key announcements were Google Station, for greater access to public WiFi, Android Oreo (Go edition), a new smartphone experience for entry-level devices, and Tez, which is a mobile payment app making transfering money simple and safe.
We also announced an India-first feature on Google Maps: Two-wheeler mode. Two-wheelers are one of the most prominent modes of transport in India, and they have the ability to navigate through bylanes and shortcuts. Those shortcuts are now available Google Maps to help you shorten your travel time. We will also showcase landmarks on these routes, like the ‘local bakery’, ‘temple’ or ‘chai ki dukan’ that will help you navigate better.
We look forward to an exciting 2018 with all Local Guides, in India and across the world!
Very nice post and best gift ever year end @AradhanaB it was very memorable year for Indian Local Guides. Specially for me it's great time in this community. I've learned lot's of in this year.
Thanks! @AradhanaB for all the support and encouragement! Hope that next year it will be an even better year for Local Guides and our programs and meet ups in India and rest of the world.
@ArunMuralidhar, @Varghese @JoseVarghese @kmadhil @santhoshjohn @Midhunhk @bijusreekumar.. and everyone else. Proud to have our photo featured!
Sorry I was hiding behind lol. 😁😁😁
Just sharing our group meet up photo from Ernakulam on Sept 10, 2017, many faces couldn't be seen from the featured photo on top. 🙂
#KeralaLocalGuides #IndiaLocalGuides #LocalGuides
== Appending some photos from page 2 of this post ==
Team India in Local Guides Summit 17.
Sharing a few of the many photos team India took together during Local Guides Summit 17 in San Francisco Oct 2017.
Tagging Team India in Summit 17: Aradhana @AradhanaB (Google Manager), Thumaty Daniel @ThumatyDanielK (Hyderabad), Deep Pancholi @iDepp (Gujarat), Alam Shaikh @Alam_Shaikh (Mumbai), Aslam Mohammed @AslamMohammed (Hyderabad), Rahul Singh @rahul66447 (Delhi), Anuj Duggal @AnujDuggal (Bangalore), Dr Shaunak Das @DrShaunak (Calcutta), Stephen Abraham @StephenAbraham (Kerala/Malaysia)
A few of the many 360 photos we took together (3 panoramas from Roundme below), best to view in full screen from menu.
