Stay Connected

WebbT · ‎01-17-2017

Hi AnneM,

I would contact her in person. I'd want to go back to the cafe, and see if there's been an improvement and ask to speak with the owner at that time. It would be gracious to introduce yourself, and then start a conversation about your first/last visit there and what you had experienced which is why it's taken so long for you to return. You can then tell her the positive of seeing that improvements have occurred (if that's the case) or share with her your recent observations from this current visit, and why you'd like to support her business, but find it difficult to do so. Business owners can't fix what they don't know. I look forward to hearing the result: which I believe you'll have made a new acquaintance who will relish the feedback along with the fact that they were told f2f (face-to-face) rather than reading about it along with everyone else (especially if it's not that flattering). There's plenty of time to give written reviews.

anniemac · ‎01-19-2017

Thanks, TrudyeW, that's a good idea. I'll have to wait till summer, though, as many of the businesses around here are only open for tourist season. I agree with you about the negative effect she might experience reading a review without me first talking with her. And when I return, maybe that waitress won't be there anymore! I'll even order bacon again to see if they fixed that problem. Hopefully, they will have.

Anne

JeroenM · ‎04-21-2017

@anniemac, @WebbT, @EL, @Warjat, @JoeC

Hi everyone, I am very much enjoying your conversation here on how to write good, balanced reviews and in particular how to deal with the more tricky situations when you had a rather bad experience. So thank you all for your contributions.

Just in case you are interested, following another thread by a fellow Local Guide who asked for feedback on his reviews, I have started an independent Classroom to enable Local Guides to give feedback on each others reviews. To kick things off, I have make a list of recommended reads on Connect on the subject and listed the first two class assignments. As I am the administrator of the Gsuite for Education site that hosts this classroom, I am temporarily listed as the teacher, but have no intention to be the facilitator of this class on writing reviews.

To participate go to classroom.google.com and enter classroom code: pgsmwb0

Keep up the good work and perhaps see you in class?

With kind regards,

Jeroen

AslamMo · ‎04-21-2017

I always use the sandwich rule @anniemac, i.e. say the positives in start and the area of improvement in middle and on top the end positive effect it will have!

anniemac · ‎04-22-2017

That's helpful and succinct advice. Thank you!

WebbT · ‎05-02-2017

@JeroenM

I am just now seeing this message. I don't comfortably understand how this format works. I seem to be stumbling my way through this process. To see that I've had six missed notifications is eye opening. Thank you for reaching out.

Sincerely,

TrudyeW

JeroenM · ‎05-02-2017

Dear @WebbT,

No worries, we all are novices at the beginning. If you are not familiar with this kind of platform, it is a lot to all take in and comprehend at once. Just try not to stress, there is more on Maps you can do wrong, than here. This community is mostly a place for interacting with fellow Local Guides and LEARNING, so you are at the right spot. Making mistakes here, is not a problem, we are all here to help each other. On the other hand like I said, just be aware that making mistakes when making changes to Google Maps, does have consequences. It is better to learn first, and then do.

Please feel free to ask any questions and also feel welcome to tag me again if you like to reach out. With regards to notifications, you should be able to setup email notifications under your profile settings. I understand that there is sometimes a delay in the delivery of the notifications, but overall my experience is that it works.

Best wishes and happy mapping,

Jeroen

WebbT · ‎05-02-2017

@JeroenM, @iyudhi

Hello again,

Typing classroom.google.com into my browser doesn't give me an option to enter a password. I'm given the option to receive updates. I've tried including a snapshot but, I don't know if it's going to show up in my message or not. In checking the "preview" option below, it shows that my snapshot should be visible. You mentioned about making changes to Google Maps can have consequences. Does having a business logo show up on a business location on Google Maps violate any Google Map rules? I've also now read that having a business email address might be against Local Guide rules also? I'm just trying to make sure that I'm not violating any procedures. The strangest thing happened a little while ago. As I was getting ready to send a screenshot to a friend of mine all of a sudden these little green circles with white checkmarks in them popped up on all of my items. When I then went back into Local Guides I saw a message stating that there had been a failed verification or mismatch verification? I had closed out of my finder box because I didn't know what was happening. I'm basically asking if indeed I've inadvertently violated any of these LG policies?

Thank you.

~TrudyeW

JeroenM · ‎05-03-2017

@WebbT

Hi,

First of all, sorry if I was not clear. I did not mean to confuse you even more! It seems you are getting things mixed up, so I do apologise.

About the classroom.google.com. I am not aware of any email restrictions, all I know is that you need a Google Account (this does not have to be a Gmail) to use Google Apps like Google Classroom.
After you entered the website, you should see a "+" somewhere on the screen. Here you can create a class if you are a teacher or JOIN a class. When you select, join a class, you are asked to enter the class-code. So it does not work like a password. The code is the identifier of the class you are joining.

When we were talking about rules and consequences, I was trying to communicate the following.

You were apologetic for being new and overwhelmed at Local Guides Connect, I was trying to comfort you that you are in a safe place where you are allowed to make mistakes (here on Connect).

My warning, was related to the fact that many novices in the Local Guides Program are not aware of all the ins- and outs when it comes to making edits on Maps. With this I mean, in your role as Local Guide, you can either write reviews, add photos, answer questions or make EDITS. In other words, you can correct incorrect data or add missing data on Maps. These edits, if all goes well, do eventually end up being published on the live Map, for everyone to see in the world. Now, if you are making mistakes, like making incorrect edits to maps (because you are unaware of certain rules or procedures), this will effect a hidden score that Google keeps.

The more good edits you make, the higher your reliability score. By making mistakes, your reliability score goes down. So in other words, one gets penalties for mistakes. This is not visible, but you will learn from other posts on this forum that people that have reached level 5 and have done lots of edits that were accepted by Google, that they notice that there edits get accepted a lot faster then when you are a novice and have not "earned that trust" from Google yet.

With regards to rules about having the right account and not being allowed to promote stuff, this is about your participation as a Local Guide. Of course, there is no issue to have a company logo on photos at a business listing. It is good practice to have a cover photo with the front of the business (including logo and name) so people can recognize the business when they are there.

On the other hand, you may not have a google business account as your Local Guides account. Since it is free and easy to create an additional Gmail account or use another private email address as your Local Guides Google account, you are expected to separate the two. Some people, make the mistake of using their business logo as their profile photo and their screen-name reflects the name of their business, that is a BIG no no on this community platform and against the program rules. Please also note, that you are not allowed to review businesses as a Local Guide that you work for.

Your screenshot with the green dots has, as far as I can tell, nothing to do with your LG identity. The fact that you got some error message, might have to do with the fact that your connection with the LG Connect platform timed out. When you open a fresh window with this website, you start what is called a session (and a clock is timing the time you spend on this website). If you leave the page open, go and do something else and return later, your inactivity caused the session to be closed and then he session identifier that the system uses to monitor your activities, is no longer valid. Unfortunately the software used for this platform is rather buggy, meaning that lots of people have all kind of issues with error messages showing up, because the background processes cannot keep up with them. So don't worry too much about that.

I hope I am making more sense now and that you can start to relax 😉
It was only March when I became active on this platform and when I was a complete novice, so I know how it feels 🙂

With kind regards,

Jeroen