Map Your World {Google Map Maker Event}

Hello my good people. It is a beautiful day and I hope you are well and happy. I am also just peachy! Well that is apart from this aching back and shoulders that I have. Oh boy, I could kill for a massage right about now. It has been a long week. But the fact that it has been fruitful makes all the pain worth it. And before I continue any further, I would just like to thank you once again for finding your way to this blog. It is always a pleasure to have you on board!

Yesterday we had our edition of Google Map Maker, map your world. It is the second one I have attended. The first time, which was last year, I was there as an attendee. But who knew the second time around I would be there as the GSA. It was really awesome for me to get to have a feel of both sides. Come to think of it, the same can be said for Jeremy :)

Last year's map maker event

Last year’s map your word event was the first Google event I attended. And let’s just say, I got hooked from then on. It was just amazing to see all the apps that were there at everyone’s disposal. Furthermore, I did not even know that any regular person could actually contribute in something like maps. Hehe, I always thought it was the work of some big shot in the company who was sitted at a desk with a recliner chair. Men, wasn’t I off base!

So we were taken through tutorials which made us understand how that is actually done. I have shared one with you here, but you can also check out YouTube for more of them. And once you see just how easy it is to do it, you can also contribute to the Map Makers society. Map your world!

In last year’s challenge, our school actually managed to come in 10^th place out of a very large number of universities participating in the mapmaker event. The criterion for choosing the winners was based on the number of approved points that were mapped.

In the end all those who successfully managed to complete the course were awarded with a certificate of recognition. Check mine out :)

We hoped this year would also be the same or even better. So we kicked started the day early in the morning. 8:00 am to be precise. But there are some people who can never arrive early for anything! Tsk tsk, but I have chosen not to shame you up in here. Thank me later! For a Saturday event, I must admit the turnout was good. This is especially after what went down in Safari Park on Friday night (I will share this story during the course of the week! LOL)

We had a group that went to collect more points in the areas neighboring the school that is Kahawa and Ruiru. This group was led by my colleague +njihia jeremy who I often like to call, ‘my partner in crime’. The rest of us remained behind adding points that we were already familiar with but were not mapped yet. So you can be assured we started with our city home areas, our former schools both secondary and primary and also our rural homes as well.

Some of the people that went to Ruiru

It was very interesting to do that I must say. Getting an aerial view of your home, seeing where you used to play as a child, the classes where you got punished and the assembly grounds where you got rewarded and having the privileged to put those points in nothing other than Google maps…WHAT…Google maps…WHAAAT…Google maps. It was just great! #sigh

Areas around my home

When the group that went out returned we added those points. The minimum number of edits one was meant to make in order to receive a map maker certificate was just 30. This is a requirement in the event. I am pleased to say that a good number of us did reach this limit and many even surpassed it. So a big thumbs up to you!

Editing ongoing

As with every event, there was swag. So if you see anyone rocking this white map maker tees just know that they were with us! Some who came a bit late missed out on the shirts but at least we sorted when it came to lunch matters. Yeah, we also had a budget allocated for us to feed all the attendees. Stomach tingz are important yo! We had a late lunch, at about 4:00 pm. Hehe, people were dying of hunger but the meals were hearty enough and everyone was satisfied in the end. Leftovers were even recorded. It was good that lunch was served after the event. I know this people and most of them would have slept the entire afternoon if we fed them any earlier. Thank you for your patience, I hope you understand :)

Tees and Stickers

Just like we always do at every event, we took a bunch of photos when the day was done. This is usually a very important part for us. It allows us to document the event and it also gives people a chance to loosen up a bit and get to know each other somehow. The photo session usually adds the cherry to the cake; the sprinkles to the ice cream…now I am getting hungry myself so let me wind up.

Mercy and I

This event would not have been possible without the help of Biggie from Google who we went through to get the approval, budget and swag. A big thank you to +Jeminatu Alabi-Isama as well. Not forgetting the attendees who were also a major factor in this event. They showed up in good numbers. Though some had to go before the day ended because of prior commitments. But all in all, a big shout out to +Mercy Owiti, +margaret adhiambo, +DANIEL KIHIA, +Kennedy Murimi, +kennedy wambua, +Malusi Faith, +Griffin Muteti, +James Kamau, +Lester Obbayi, +MoSSEY NANDWA, +hilary soita, +franklin ochola and of course myself and +njihia jeremy (I know I have left names out but it was not on purpose, sorry! I got you). The day was generally a blessing and I also thank God for it. 

PS. I can't seem to get this song out of my head today: Shake It by Metro Station :)

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday afternoon.

#happydays