At the Google Geo Community Summit in Singapore with Bariles

Bariles is writing this from the Conference Hall of Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore where he is attending the Day 1 of the Google Geo Users Summit or Google Geo Community Summit Singapore.

The Google Geo User Summit Singapore is the first-ever regional Asia-Pacific gathering of the region’s geo-mappers or users/contributors of high-quality mapping data through Google Mapmaker. About 100 Map Maker Mappers are joined by 20 Geo Modelers and 10 Panoramio Photo Enthusiasts.

As they say in their invitation to Bariles… “this event is an opportunity for ASPAC’s geo-mappers to meet up, exchange ideas and have a bit of fun.”

As head of the Sox Bloggers, Bariles with the help of GandaEverSoMuch conducted two Mapping Events in a span of two years. The first was the first ever GENSAN GOOGLE MAPPING Party in 2009 and the GENSAN GOOGLE PRECINCT MAPPING PARTY last year  just in time before the National and Local elections in May 2010.

Those activities paved the way not only for the Bloggers but for other people to learn how to use Google Map Maker in mapping over a thousand places, destinations, establishments, roads, and streets in Region 12 or South Central Mindanao.

Right now, Bariles and nine other Pinoys, including GandaEver represent “Team Philippines” in the ongoing summit and while he’s writing this he just had lunch at the Convention Center of Resorts World Sentona just below where they are all billeted, the Hard Rock Hotel. Read GandaEver’s blogpost by CLICKING HERE.

The two-day conference is FREE including billeting at Hard Rock Hotel but Bariles and GandaEver had to shoulder their plane fare which was quite hefty since the invitation came too late before they could avail of cheaper fares.  Bariles also had to approach friends to help fund his travel and based on their commitments, he might just be able to pay his creditor who advanced him the plane fare (the very loving brother of his – GandaEver) very soon!  🙂

The Team Philippines experience from this summit will in no doubt help their advocacy to include more and more local destinations and places in the Google Map.

As for Bariles, it will be a major push in his and his colleagues at the Soccsksargen Bloggers Community‘s vision to make sure that eventually, through their use of Google Mapper,  NOBODY GETS LOST IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINDANAO anymore!