Community Power and Unholy on Blocking Users

Hey guys,

It’s been a busy February with a lot of plates spinning and - as always - the community has played a critical role. Check out the highlights below, including first-time MapRaids in Guatemala and Canada. Also, there’s been some thunder down-under with Australia joining the coalition of raiding nations.

Also, Unholy's uncompromising policy regarding problematic editors, and France's own kpouer! Here we go.

With a Little Lovin' Help

alentine’s is here, love is in the air, and Waze is ready to help your heart navigate to the right place. Or at least help you find some cool romantic spots.

Editors from all over the world have shared their favorite romantic spots, and we’ve marked them on the map.

Feeling romantic? Just fire up Waze, enter “Love” in the search bar, and find a Wazer-reccomended romantic spot to share with that someone special. (only available in certain geos) - drive safe :)

We've been getting help with lots of other stuff, too! The community is helping translate the new helpcenter, they’re busy providing info on traffic situations in their area, and are helping out in cases of harsh weather and special events. We want to take this opportunity to thank you all. Seriously, you're the best!

Unholy's Bi-weekly Meme

As you know, we put a lot of emphasis on keeping a positive community spirit. But, we're all human and sometimes editors get out of line, fights break out, and people are offended.

Unholy will have none of that.

MapRaids: LATAM and Down Under

The first Guatemalan MapRaid just ended. With only 6 bold Raiders led by HugoGTM the impact was still staggering: Almost a 1,000 UR's handled and more than 1,300 pending Places updated. Amazing.

The Canadian community had it's first raid too: 96(!) raiders went to work on Ottawa and Montreal, led by local champs hmarian and doctorkb with a hand from orbitc, manoeuvre and SkiDooGuy. More than 6,700 pending Places were updated, not to mention a massive improvement to map connectivity.

MapRaids are proving to be a great tool to improve the map and bring the community together.

Wazer spotlight: kpouer, French global champ

kpouer, ready to roll

What do you do when not editing maps?

I'm a developer in in a small french software company that provides solutions for phone operators and ISP.

What car do you drive?

Since 2012 a Golf 6 DSG7 (DSG7 is important, as I'm living in Paris. In the rare occasions I use my car, I constantly have to stop so having an automatic car is really a pleasure)

How long have you been a Wazer?

I'm a wazer and an editor since March 2010

How did you get hooked on Waze?

I read something about it on the web (I'm not sure, maybe a blog or something like that), telling about a new GPS where the map was edited by users. It was very important for me as I like sorting and organising things Being an open source software developer I like the idea of contributing things for the benefit of other peoples.

In the beginning I was so happy when I saw another Waze user on the map, and now in Paris there are never less than 1500 Wazers at one time.

What's your favorite part about the community?

A long time ago, during a long trip, there was a Wazer ahead of me that was reporting cars on the side of the roads and things like that. And that small interaction makes you feel like you are not alone on the road anymore, you are with a community of other Wazers.

And being an editor gave me the chance to meet a lot of interesting people from many countries that I consider as friends for some of them.

...And the worst part.

Wazers that are complaining about the quality of the map or that they did not avoid traffic, but that will never try to edit the map to make it better or will not use Waze when they think they know the road.

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

A few years ago when Waze did not have the option to share drives, I used to follow family member coming to the family house in Auvergne, far from any city, on the Waze map. It was easy because there were no other Wazers on the road.

What's your best Waze tip for newcomers?

Don't think you are smarter than Waze. For a long time, I thought I was smarter, but every time I ended up in a big traffic jam.

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

I Usually listen to podcasts or the radio, no specific songs, but if I had to choose one, I would choose Child in Time by Deep Purple. I think it is a good choice when driving.