From Newbie to Waze Master (And MdSyah!)

Happy new year! Time for the first bi-weekly newsletter of 2014. 

This newsletter focuses on transforming new editors into Waze masters and offers a peek into the world of MdSyah, a global champ and country manager for Malaysia & Brunei.

Educating New Editors Brazilian Style

To ensure that 2014 is our best year yet, we created new teaching aids, for champs and experienced users, to help bring new editors into the fold. We started by creating an instructional presentation for new users – Map Editor 101. But, as you will see below, we quickly learned we were not alone. In fact, the Brazilian community had developed a great method for introducing new users to the Map Editor. Luckily, we got the lowdown at last month’s amazing LATAM meetup in Rio.

Talk Talk Lock!

Notice the red section on top - with all a new user needs

So here it is… communication is key! Brazilian editors strongly advise mentoring new users, keeping an open line of communication, and anticipating their questions. They also suggest:

- Creating tutorials on demand: When community leaders notice a large number of questions about a certain subject, they quickly post a tutorial to their local forum.

- Soft landing: Making information easy and accessible to new users, such as placing important links at the head of pages, directing them to the right place before they have a chance to ask.

- Every question by a new user is answered.

- The Brazilians use the new chat feature in the editor, to communicate with new users.

- Mentors are provided to new area managers (usually the champ relevant to their area). This also helps to add new champs, as community leaders get to know users quickly and identify "champ materials" more easily.

- Area manager quiz offers a kind of tutorial/mini course for area managers.

- Local social media channels, such as Facebook pages per city or are used to answer questions and direct users to the map editor

And the system pays off. The Brazilian community enjoys an organic growth and benefits from proper education of new editors. 

Want to know more? the Brazilian champs are happy to answer any questions. Look for them on the forum - antigerme, Scarlogarcia and the rest of the gang.

Wazer Spotlight: 

Mohamad Shahdan Yahya (AKA MdSyah). Coordinator / Country Manager for Malaysia and Brunei / Global Champ

MdSydah at work on yet another map

What do you do when not editing maps?

Since my occupation is maps related, I see maps for most of my working day. I m a GIS Coordinator in one of the Government Agencies in Malaysia.

Which car do you drive?

The Malaysia made Proton Preve.

How long have you been a Wazer?

Since August 2010. I "retired" after a few weeks, and then made a strong comeback a few months later and never left. 

MdSydah's ride - Malaysian quality!

How did you get hooked on Waze?

Accidentally. I was searching for a GIS application for work, I found Waze. I ended up installing Waze instead of a GIS app from the App Store. 

When I first started using Waze, it was almost useless. I couldn't see 5 Wazers at a time. So I decided to do the edits myself, I joined the local Waze community and after a few months of hard worke, I could see more and more Wazers on the road and few more editors joined. Now everybody can navigate using Waze - it is the most reliable navigational map there is, not just for urban areas but also deep in rural and remote areas. I thank to all my "shifu" (mentors).

What's your favorite part about the community?

Recruiting new editors or Wazers to the Community, and guiding them to become good and responsible editors. 

...And the worst part.

When I Cannot solve a routing problem and nobody else has a solution.

What's the funniest Waze story that happened to you?

I Couldn't find the way to my destination using Waze. Only later did I find out that the segment still  wasn't connected.

What's your best Waze tip for newcomers?

It's good to be active in the community forum or local Waze group, since that will get you the proper editing guidance from the local veteran editors. Never forget to connect every segment, make sure to enable/disable turns, complete every segment with at least the city name or check the "none" box.

What do you listen to when driving your car (aside from the Waze app messages, of course)?

I have a few favourite local and national radio stations. One of my favorite songs is "Fire" by "Baby Face".

"Terima kasih" (thank you)

Quote of the week

A possible champ?

This is more like a quote of the year... Our Mushon Zer Aviv made a small error in a post to the champs: instead of "ferry road", he wrote "fairy road". The users, of course, didn't fail to notice and comment - and then came Mushon's response.

Don't miss this one - the revelation of the new Waze initiative for elves, fairies and trolls!

That's it for now! 

As always, suggestions and questions are welcome!

Stay tuned & have a great year!

Safe driving!