2022
2013!!
That's the day I signed up for the Google City Experts program, the baby that grew up to eventually become Local Guides. Back then it was launched only in a few major cities and it was only on 4th March 2014, that it rolled out to Manchester, UK, my adopted home away from home.
With the launch party set for 1st May, it was a long but exciting wait; my very first Google event! And it didn't disappoint set in the excellent backdrop of the beautiful Victoria Baths with a silent disco, food stalls, photo booths and an actual DJ session too!
I can still remember the awesome Katie Glass who was the UK rep at the time. She was super and during her stint at City Experts she organised many events such as a Secret Supper at Chethams (June), a Garden Party at the Allotment Bar (August), and finally the Science of Food at the Museum of Science and Industry (October).
Then a quiet spell as Google went back to figure out how to scale such a popular program to the rest of the world! On January 15th 2015, we had our answer; Local Guides! And by 27th Feb, I had become a moderator on the official (back then) Manchester community on G+. It was Amy Korin that handled my induction with a group hangout! And the first time I came across Traci Cappiello was in June when another moderator session was held online.
Do you know when Local Guides Connect went live? That would be 1st August 2016!! With the sad but understandable departure of officially supported local communities on G+, Local Guides from all over were encouraged to join their 'voices' on Connect! Oh, the resistance and frustrations!! LOL.
It was amazing! Too many wonderful memories..too may great friendships made.. too few words to describe them all! What was important though was that I left (my heart in San Francisco) for home feeling pumped and excited and exuberant! It was only after meeting all the wonderful folks at the summit, was I then able to have enough courage to organise my very own event!
And then lightning struck twice (who knew)!! Off I went to the next Summit in 2017! Another round of amazing memories, experiences and friends!! Another round of coming home feeling that I could do anything!!
Fast forward to today and I've now organised numerous events from food crawls, photo walks and get togethers. Through Local Guides, I've been able to build on my self esteem and confidence, improve my social skills (still much to do!) and also appreciate that my overachiever nature and OCD on organising, is actually a plus!! Engineers can be useful after all!!
But more importantly look at how the Local Guides program has matured into an all inclusive global community of passionate folks! Look at how everyday people have been empowered to do more for their local communities! I remember fondly the first global photo walk organised by @PaulPavlinovich in which the Manchester folks participated too! And on the back of Summit 17, we've seen many new global initiatives from summit attendees ( @AlejandraMaria and @ErmesT to name a few!)
So what's in store for 2018?! Well, it's an open book and you could say, the world needs the positive power of Local Guides even more! I wish all Local Guides the best in their application for Connect Live and may you find your own voice and strength through this amazing and enriching community!
Thanks @AslamMo!! It took a while to get all the photos and email screenshots in place! And quite sad too to find out that I've been wearing the same clothes since 2013!! Lol!!
