Internet Marketing Pakistan

Google and FAST-NU (Lahore) joined hands to hold the first ever Google Maps Mapping Party in Pakistan. The event was held on Saturday, January 2, 2010 at the newly constructed auditorium on FAST-NU campus.

The event was designed to:

1. provide the local mapping community to come together and discuss issues related to mapping Pakistan
2. create awareness amongst non-mappers and hold workshops for the initiated and newbies
3. learn the features and use cases of the Google Map Maker tool
4. meet technologists, bloggers and urban activists to discuss Google Maps and it’s role in urban development

Two guest speakers, Faraz Ahmad from Glasgow, UK and Omar Sheikh were also present and shared their experiences as skilled users of the Google Map Maker tool. Faraz Ahmad is some what of a celebrity in the Google Maps arena as he is one of the top contributors to the platform with over 41,000 entries. Meeting these fine young men crystallized my belief in the talented youth of Pakistan. All they need is some direction and positivity around them. Sarah Ahmed (Lecturer, BNU) shared her vision of the future and some example uses of the information layer being developed by the mapping community in Pakistan.

Amongst presentations and workshops, the participants had lively Q&A sessions with the event organizers and speakers. A few topics of interest were:

1. the passion of the mapping community and doing something for the community that leads to individual benefit in the mid to long term.
2. the issue of privacy and security against terrorism
3. role of government in providing basic maps and how Google Maps can be used to provide “social layers”.
4. the depth and breadth of information in Google Maps and how moderation is handled in the Google Map Maker tool.

The participants of Google Maps Lahore Mapping Party

The brains behind the event were Khurram Siddiqi (Asst. Professor of Electrical Engineering) and Badar Khushnood (Google Country Consultant Pakistan). Both did an admirable job in planning and executing the event. I thought they did a good job in involving the passionate mapper and blogger community in the process, thus the impressive participation at the event.

There were some usual suspects at the event who can be found at all of Google events in Lahore. It was nice to get a chance to catch up with these friends and discuss experiences and opportunities.

The post event highlight was an exclusive dinner hosted by Badar Khushnood in honor of our guest speakers at the impressive Fujiyama Japanese restaurant. The group enjoyed mouth savoring meals cooked by the dining table by expert cooks and rounded off the day’s discussions with action points for the future.

Overall it was another well managed, informative and action oriented event by Google in Lahore. I have a sneaky feeling that this is not the last of it’s kind in Lahore and there was a genuine commitment amongst participants to make a real difference.

Do watch out for Google Maps and try the Google Map Maker tool. Your neighborhood needs you to put it on the world map.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!