Hello Friends,
I am extremely elated to write this recap to re-live February 08, 2025. This meet-up was also dedicated to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Google Maps, as part of Celebrating 10 Years of Local Guides: Let’s Connect and Contribute! Happy Birthday Google! 
I am pleased to observe the Responses and Reactions of all the participants during the GG kick off meet-up first and subsequently followed in GG meet-up–02. There were 24 participants including the Meet-up Moderator (MM), Guest Speaker and three Connect Moderators during the second meet-up of GG series. I am thankful to all of you who supported this idea and made this happen (MTH).
I have captured the gist of this meet-up under various heads. Please go through and share your views.
Technical Disruption
Meet-up link was opened 10 minutes before the scheduled time and couple of participants including the Guest Speaker have joined early along with the MM. In between due to some network failure issue from the ISP end, the MM got disconnected for 5 minutes and finally it started at 7.05 PM. I apologize for such disruption but at times something is beyond our control and extend my gratitude to all participants who understood this and stayed connected.
Quick Introduction of the Attendees
The participants have introduced themselves by sharing their Name, City, LG level and the Connect id. They were also requested to write down these details in the chat box.
Overview of the Meet-up
The MM explained the objective behind starting this GG Meet-up series.
He also explained, why the series is named as Ghumakkad Gossip? Ghumakkad is a Hindi word which in English means ‘Wanderer’ and Ghumakkad Gossip means ‘Talk with Wanderer’. Here, the emphasis is on Traveller and not on Tourist when we talk about Ghumakkad.
Introduction of Guest Speaker
The topic for this meet-up in GG series was on Editing Roads for beginners and for this most popular topic, our Guest was none other than our beloved roader LG – Prasad VR (@PrasadVR) who is the first and only Indian so far to have 20K approved roads on Google Maps.
Gossip with Guest Speaker on the topic
Conversation with Guest speaker started with the understanding about ‘Importance of Roads Editing’ on Google Maps. Prasad explained the steps right from beginning as to How and where to start road editing. To explain the participants in more details two recorded short videos were played to demonstrate Editing Roads. The first one was for the Desktop users and the second one was for the android device users. The detailed steps are outlined by the Guest speaker here:
On a request of the MM, Guest speaker shared some helpful tips based on his personal experiences for the beginners.
The MM and Prasad also discussed about the common mistakes that may lead to draw a wrong and disastrous road. This was the common question raised by the participants. Prasad demonstrated some common mistakes through two examples.
Prasad explained the difference in editing roads in Google Maps and Road Mapper.
During the meet-up the MM presented the short video on editing roads prepared by the CM @NareshDarji.
Naresh walked the participants through his video and shared some crucial help pointers. One of them were *
Find out the connecting dots from point A to point B while editing the roads.
Thanks @NareshDarji for this vital information related to editing roads.
@AjitThite shared his experience by saying,
Go through the street view while editing roads.
He also, emphasized on the fact that for a newly developed area in Urban cities, first let it available on the Maps and then start editing roads. Thanks @AjitThite for sharing the helpful tips for the beginners.
@SholaIB extended his humble invitation to all to join in TRAC campaign.
Some of the additional helpful resources to Learn about Editing Roads as suggested by the Guest Speaker and the MM during the meet-up:
- Understanding rejected road modifications: how to turn a disappointment into an opportunity
- How to add Roads on Google Maps via Android Mobile
- How to Add Missing Roads on iOS Device (iPhone 13): A Beginner’s Guide
- Manual for Road Editors
- Handle with care: Changes in the Road Editor and how to handle them
- Added 1K roads in Google Maps earth_asia
- Index Page For TRAC-All You Need To Know
Attendees to seek more clarity
During and towards the end of the meet-up, participants had open round of discussion and got their queries addressed by Prasad.
Debriefing & wrap up
The MM summarized the overall discussion and thanked all participants for joining and making this meet-up a success.
All participants were eager to know the next topic, name of the next Guest Speaker and the date of next GG Meet-up. Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm. Here is the details of next GG Meet-up.
Please block your calendar. See you around.
This is an opportunity for the Local Guides to Support and Shine.
I express my sincere gratitude to all who have joined and expressed their interest throughout the session.
@Rahul001, @PrasadVR, @NareshDarji, @Ssiddharth2000, @TravellerG, @AjitThite, @SholaIB, @ShreyaMusings, @Gouri_S_Prakash, @K.K.Sharma, @ogewuru, @Shrut19, @Rakshith_LG, @SarathUpendran, @VijendraPatidar, @Shubhu1, @Sagarkanherkar,@Supriyadevkar, @Rushikesh_joshi, @TusharSuradkar, @VikramSingh_Valera, @Ptrivedi, @KetanChhaniyara
Please let me know if I have missed any name.
This photo is the testimony of togetherness for the reason we all have met up for.
Key Takeaways
- Use street view while editing roads.
- Use desktop to get a better view.
- Use maximum zoom-in mode.
- Draw roads that are very clear. If in doubt, avoid drawing.
- Avoid editing complex roads.
- Find out the connecting dots from point A to point B while editing the roads.
- Be prepared to face rejections and long approval time.
- Maximum approval time is 3 months. If not approved, it gets rejected.
- This is an opportunity for the Local Guides to Support and Shine.
Key Success Factor
- Meet-up promotion through various networking channels (Thanks @travellerG and @PrasadVR).
- Friendly gesture to coordinate and handle participants flow of interactions. (Thanks @NareshDarji)
- Respect each other’s time and commitment. Start & Finish on time.
about missing it. Congratulations to both of you and all the participants for making this space more vibrant and enthusiastic! I’ll keep my fingers crossed 
for another opportunity like this in the future.
It was a great experience for me as well. Keep this good work going. Much appreciated!