Hello Friends,
I am extremely elated to write this recap to re-live January 17, 2025. I am pleased to observe the Responses and Reactions of all the participants during the GG kick off meet-up. There were 33 participants including the host and the Guest Speaker during the kick-off meet-up of GG series. I am thankful to all of you who supported this idea and made this happen.
I have captured the gist of this meet-up under various heads. Please go through and share your views.
Quick Introduction of the Attendees
Meet-up started sharp at 7 PM as scheduled with the introduction of the participants. 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 host 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 kick-off meet-up in GG series was on Supporting Small Businesses and for this most talked about topic, who is the better Guest than the Connect Moderator and Accessibility Champion Tushar Suradkar (@TusharSuradkar) himself who has been featured on multiple occasions by Google Maps: How anyone can make Maps more accessible; Google Video.
Gossip with Guest Speaker on the topic
Conversation with Guest speaker started with the understanding about ‘Small Businesses’ and their presence on Google Maps. Tushar explained about what type of small businesses we should look for while supporting them through Google Maps. Some of the examples he shared as Tea stalls, Paan shops, Hawkers, Legacy of farmers etc. @AjitThite, the Champion of this field himself showed the resonance to this and further added that the focus should be on the Local Businesses.
Small Businesses can be benefitted hugely through the Google Maps. People can search and locate them easily when they are on Maps and also through Google search. Adding shops, Storefronts photos, opening/closing hours and reviews of these shops can make a big difference in their selling and popularity. These shops get 20 times more visibility and impact across the Google search platforms.
During the discussion with the host and other participants, Tushar emphasized on putting the storefront photos of Small Businesses on Google Maps. This will have a significant impact on the Local businesses. Some of the indicative examples he shared from his past experience are listed below for reference:
One of the key aspects Tushar highlighted was related to the hot topic Chai Pe Charcha (Talks over Tea). This is a great opportunity for the participants to get along to this initiative by participating in Small Business Meetup Challenge: Chai Pe Charcha, Talks over Tea.
This way we can support the Local business like Tea stalls, Paan shops etc. Usually in India, Paan shops are found near the tea stalls and vice versa 
.
Tushar explained the outlook of Google to Support ‘Small Businesses’ as to expand the Google Maps user base and to get more small business added on Google Maps.
And finally, to the most popular question on
‘How Local Guide can be featured on Connect’
supporting Small Businesses, Tushar gave the key mantra as Jo bhi karo dil se karo (whatever you do, do it from your heart) And, the message was very loud and clear that start supporting the small businesses selflessly with an objective to help them rest things will fall in place in due course.
Attendees to seek more clarity
Towards the end of the meet-up, participants had open round of discussion in round robin mode and got their queries addressed by Tushar.
Debriefing & wrap up
The host summarized the overall discussion and thanked all participants for joing 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. Please stay tuned, soon the details shall be published.
This is an opportunity for the Local Guides to Support and Shine.
A big thank you to @PrasadVR for keeping track of the flow of the discussion with the timeline and managing the participants voices.
I express my sincere gratitude to all who have joined and expressed their interest throughout the session.
@Saksham_Tambe, @Ssiddharth2000, @RaviSharma111, @NomadicSatyam, @dshreeyash, @Supriyadevkar, @K.K.Sharma, @Ru_pali4, @ModNomad, @Sagarkanherkar, @praveenkumar2022, @MohanG, @ShreyaMusings, @MathanVibranarayan, Vedprakash Chaturvedi, Anannya Banerjee, @Gouri_S_Prakash, @TravellerG, Aviral Agrawal, @ShubhamWaman, @AjitThite, @Ranu5g, @PrinceKumar, @giteshsharma, @PrasadVR, @Rakshith_LG, @RohitashRaghav, Sandeep Panwar, @Shrut19, @Rohan_Kumar, Dheeraj Gulrajani
Please let me know if I have missed any name.
This photo is the testimony of togetherness for the noble reason we all have met up for.
Key Takeaways
- Be Vocal for Local through Google Maps. Add shop, Add Photo/videos, Edit open/close hours, write reviews etc.
- Post Storefront photos of the local shops
- Jo bhi karo dil se karo (whatever you do, do it from your heart)
- 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 and keeping tap on the meet-up timeline. (Thanks @PrasadVR)
- Respect each other’s time and commitment. Start & Finish on time. We started sharp at 7.00 PM and finished at 8.00 PM. No deviation. (Thank you all)
- A bonus extended time for the interested participants who wanted to stay back with the Host and the Guest Speaker. This also involved the discussion beyond the meet-up subject but limited only to Google Maps and Connect. (Thank you @TusharSuradkar and all of you who stayed with us for the extended discussion)
with small businesses.
it was great