2022
I would say this is the best meet-up I have ever had in my Local Guides life. The event was planned to start at 9:00 am at Shivananda National School in Kallady, Batticaloa. However, I reached the destination by 8:45 am and there were no one at the destination. I was wondering why and was so upset and was thinking what should be the next step if no one came to participate. Suddenly, at sharp 9:00 am, 29 people came as a bunch and surprised me. I was amused to see such a crowd coming together at the last moment.
On the previous day, we Batticaloa local guides got together and made a tentative plan to host this session and we wanted to have this session open to everyone. During this gathering on the previous day, we selected certain people with special skills and gave them a chance to show their talents and share their knowledge with the audience at the knowledge sharing session.
The event started around 9:15 am and I did an introduction about myself (Ilankovan). Following myself, all Batticaloa Local Guide community members introduced themselves.
Most of them knew me. I was surprised to see that. They have seen my web presence on several occasions and have been wondering how to do all these and how to get into this program in a proper way and contribute to LG program. The spirit among the youth gathered to volunteer was amazing.
At the beginning, I asked them a common question why and for what purpose are you all using Google maps and what do u do on Google maps generally. The response was they have used it only for navigation so far. Then I explained to them that they could use them not only to navigate but also to help other travellers by writing reviews about places, adding photos and editing or adding places if they notice any place marked at an inappropriate place.
I gave a basic introduction to LG program, about the levels, points and the benefits unlocked when we reach each level. Then I went deep into the subject. Initially, I did a presentation in their mother tongue Tamil. As everyone was not fluent in English, they wanted me to do it in Tamil. As I was prepared already, I did it in Tamil illustrating screen shots and pictures. They gave a positive feedback for the language used and they stated that they can perform well if it is to be done in their mother language. So that I also decided to do most in their mother language to reach the local audience easily.
Following this, @gowshann and Sakthiyalingam took over with photography sessions. They explained how to take better photographs regardless of what device is being used. They explained about considering lighting, angles and many other basics aspects of photography using mobile camera, digital cameras and DSLRs.
Then I took a session about the morals of Batticaloa Local guides. Under this topic, I explained about ethics of reviewing, professionalism in uploading photographs, the basic requirements of photographs and how to maintain accuracy while adding places.
I was amazed by the enthusiasm of that young group of people while doing the session. They were asking questions continuously. I found practicability in those questions. For instance, when I was talking about our badges and t-shirts, one guy asked me why are you all using a different logo from the Official LG logo? I then explained them about the official and supported communities of the LG program and I advised them not to use the official logo at any circumstance, also if they are posting anywhere on social media about the community, I requested them to mention the clause “Unofficial community”.
I then explained about 360 photography. During the session, I demonstrated how to take 360 photographs using the mobile app and how to use a 360 camera. During this session, many question arouse about 360 photographs and virtual tours.
Based on the number of questions asked, I found that there is a high curiosity among the youngsters on taking 360 photographs. After explaining about using mobile app and 360 cameras, I introduced them a new internal program to overcome the scarcity of 360 cameras. I promised them that they could borrow my camera for 360 photos if they could agree to my terms and conditions.
My terms were
- Every participant has to fill in a form and register into the program
- Only Batticaloa Local Guides can take part in the program
- They have to use Street view app and fill in the missing places instead of taking photos of places that are already available on street view
- They might not break my camera
Also, I clearly mentioned that this is not supported or sponsored by Google. It is all about my own expense and dedication.
Also, I explained them about the features “Check the facts” and “Uncover missing info” to verify the information added and increase the accuracy.
Also, I invited the new members to our Batticaloa Local Guides community and gave them a brief explanation about the activities we have done in the past and I continued the topic “How to become an Active Local Guide”.
While explaining about the communication and connectivity among local guides, I demonstrated LG connect as the best platform. During this, I explained how to use connect, how to reach out people using connect and obtain solutions for our constraints and How to create a better post in LG connect.
While discussing about posts on Connect, some raised a concern that they prefer to post in Tamil, their mother language as they were not fluent enough in English. For those people, I advised that they could post in Tamil and the viewer can access the translate option and reach their post without any constraints. Also, I explained about using Google translation and transliteration which could help them interpret the posts on connect and improve the quality of posts.
Meanwhile, someone asked whether is it possible to change certain aspects of our Batticaloa Local Guides Community (G+) into Tamil. Then I explained about the Translate option in Google chrome. Again they asked what if it is someone who doesn’t know how to use the above option or someone who uses some other browser. They asked whether the menu, descriptions and some other aspects can be displayed in both English and Tamil. Based on the request, I tried to make a sample as illustrated in the below screenshot.
@TraciC is it accepted under community guidelines? Hope this will reach more local people.
Finally, I explained about hosting meet ups. During this session, I explained about how to choose a topic for a meet-up, how to plan the event, how to invite target audience and several other important aspects and how to submit it to the meet-up site. Also, I explained about choosing a mission area on My maps before hosting a meet up if required.
What made me feel contented while wrapping up the session was, they wanted to plan for a meet-up immediately and wanted me to guide on how to submit it to the meet-up site. I explained the things and hope this will be published soon at the meet-up site. Also, they were prepared with some contents and photographs to post on LG connect.
I was pleased by the immediate feedbacks from the participants. When comparing to the past knowledge sharing sessions I have hosted, I felt like this one is the most fruitful event. Hope this will bring up more active members to Batticaloa Local Guides Community.
Thank you @TraciC for the presentation on Local Guides program, hope I will improve the presentation based on today's comments.
