On May 21 and 22, 2011, we hosted a series of Google Map Maker events in Rabat, Morocco. The events included presentations at the g|Maghreb developer days, and a mapping workshop which took place at the nearby Fondation Mohamed VI. The same evening, we launched a one-week online mapping competition for those who attended the event (read on for the results!).
This year’s mapping workshop in Rabat built on the success of a similar event, which took place last year in Casablanca. It was organized by Amine, Mounir and Zohir, official Map Maker advocates from Morocco, in partnership with Evans and Jannine, Googlers working in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
The objective of the event was to introduce Map Maker to new users and illustrate that many Moroccans all over the world are helping to improve Google Maps through Google Map Maker. The audience was comprised of over 130 attendees - mostly students, young professionals and developers. They learned how anyone can use Google Map Maker to add to and update maps in over 180 countries and regions. The result is more comprehensive and accurate local maps for millions of people to see in Google Maps and Google Earth. These amazing time-lapse videos of Rabat, Casablanca and Fes show the impressive progress of mappers in Morocco.
The day kicked off with an introduction from Evans. He welcomed the audience and introduced our official advocates, who then took the stage. They engaged the audience with powerful stories of how they got involved with Map Maker and became top mappers. Their passion and enthusiasm was clearly infectious. They also led a demonstration with the audience participating actively, answering questions and occasionally winning fun prizes. We also recognized major contributions made by some of the power mappers in the audience by honoring them on stage.
“I was astonished to discover that my city is not mapped. There was only its name, so I felt a little bit sad and excited at the same time, because I will get the chance to contribute in making my city known around the world.” - Siham K.
Before ending the day, we announced a one-week online competition open exclusively to attendees of the mapping workshop. It concluded just a couple of days ago with impressive results. We are thrilled to announce the winners -- congratulations to Jalal L. in first place, Ilyasse M. in second place, and Mohammed Y. in third place! We will be reaching out to ensure they receive their respective prizes in the near future.
It is not too late to register for and participate in another online Map Maker competition focused on mapping Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria (click here for more information and to register).
Congratulations again to our winners! Thanks again to everyone involved in this event -- please stay tuned for more about Map Maker and future mapping workshops in the region. You can view more photos here and find more information at mappingmorocco.com, or on Facebook or Twitter.
We invite you to join a local Map Your World community forum and start mapping at google.com/mapmaker. Happy Mapping!
Posted by Jannine Versi, Product Marketing Manager
