The Hi, Welcome and Introduction space!

Map Editors Community United Kingdom
1

It has just occurred to me that we do not have anywhere for the new editor, or even an existing one, to introduce themselves to the community.

We want to grow the UK editing community and it is important that we all feel part of the same team and both work well together and also get to know each other. While we have the annual meetup, which some of you will have attended, and this is a great way to meet your fellow editors and have a chance to chat in person, we also need to have a space to introduce ourselves and get to know a bit about each other.

Here is that space!

That said, I thought I would kick this off with a bit about me.

For those who do not know me, my name (unsurprisingly) is Ian and I live in the bottom eastern corner of Essex. I retired from working in R&D for a medical equipment manufacturer 8 years ago and shortly after that found Waze. I have now been editing almost daily since then. After far more hours working on Waze than I care to try and work out I have reached a fairly senior position within the editing community, with still a lot to learn. The more you get involved, the more you find there is in map editing with Waze.
I am also the UK Mentor, trying to help and encourage all new and potential users of Waze to get involved in the editing and hopefully join and become a regular part of the editing community.

Now over to you, any new or existing editor who would like to introduce yourself, go for it.

2

Hi,
Stumbled across Ian’s post just after it appeared so I’ll throw in my 2-penneth.

I’m Martin and I live between Caernarfon and Porthmadog in beautiful NW Wales, on the western edge of Snowdonia. I was introduced to Waze a number of years ago and started editing the map up here because it was a bit out-of-the-way and neglected. After a while I offered to take on Area Management for Gwynedd and gradually expanded to most of north Wales. I work in IT at Bangor University so only do editing in my spare time. Most interesting recent project in Waze was the new Caernarfon & Bontnewydd by-pass on the A487.

3

Hi,

My name’s Craig and I live on the outskirts of Bognor Regis (that place with Butlins).

I’m a driver for the county council’s SEN school transport team. I spend every day of the week travelling around various parts of West Sussex, whether that be the scenic windy roads and hills, big towns or rural villages. I drive around 100-150 miles per day, so I like to think I have a good idea of what’s going on near me.

Although I’ve only been editing for a few months, I’ve really enjoyed making improvements to my local area and I’m keen to continue to do as much as I can to help out. I recently became an area manager for Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and Chichester, and even more recently added on the Goodwood estate in order to allow for more precise road closures.

4

Let’s continue on the Ian bandwagon!

Another Ian here, this one is based in North Oxfordshire, but originally from SW London, so have a good working knowledge of both areas. I’m a Paramedic Team Leader for the local ambulance service in this area, which means I get to head around the area seeing all those less travelled areas quite a bit. I honestly can’t remember what got me into Waze, maybe it was getting a car with Apple CarPlay and looking for something a bit out of the ordinary. I’ve been editing for approaching 5 years now and find myself editing most days.

On reaching the magic L3 I took on Area Manager for Oxfordshire and have gradually expanded out to a few other areas (both areas that I know well, or areas that were a bit neglected), now looking after the Thames Valley, Tyne Tees, Norfolk and Greater London.

For me, it’s a mix of the feeling of achievement when you see your edits live in the app and know you’ve made a difference to a lot of other Wazers, but also as I get more experience myself, being able to touch base with new editors with all those little tips and tricks that made my start to map editing that little bit easier!

I now like to think of map editing as an addictive hobby, but must remember that I need to work and have a family life too :lol:

5

I’m not Ian, and I’m from North East Wales. I’ve been using Waze off and on for a few years, although I only seriously got into editing while I was doing some driving work during the summer of 2020 (when the country isn’t in the grip of a pandemic, I work in the events industry).

Work tends to take me to many places throughout the country so I’m always finding thing to edit - but I’m currently area manager in Waze for NE Wales (Flintshire, Denbighshire, Wrexham, parts of Conwy), the Wirral, West Cheshire and down into North Shropshire as far as Oswestry.

6

I am Ian :slight_smile:

I live in Somerset these days although born and bred in Southeast Essex - probably around the corner from @Ianinessex .

I am a property developer with sites in the south west where I am AM. Also run a large site called Planning Geek.

Health is not always brilliant - but currently trying to work my way through many of the reports that are outstanding, when I wasn’t able to be so active.

Now just need to work towards L4 to save lots of unlocking requests. But think this might still be a while away…

Always happy to promote Waze around the globe and use it globally. I have edits in quite a few countries over recent years.

It is a pleasure to meet so many at the annual gathering of which I have now attended 4 or 5 from memory,

7

Hey everyone, another not-Ian here :slight_smile:

I’ve been editing on Waze since Feb 2016, ever since I started a new job as a Delivery Driver. The ability to correct the map myself and add places at the time was just what I was after, adding to that the live traffic and road closures and for me, Waze was and still is invaluable in my job, especially now that I’ve reached sufficient levels to add closures and edit all over the country.

I live close to Bedford, and started off editing around my local area, and in my delivery area before becoming the Area Manager for Bedford and the surrounding villages. Even in the early days of editing, I was always very keen to get as many road closures into Waze as possible as that helped me immensely for my job. I was a very active poster in the UK Editors forum, and I think some of the more senior editors at the time were relieved when I reached Level 4 so I could stop hassling them! Around this time my managed area was also increased to cover more of the area I deliver in, now covering a large portion of Central and Eastern England.

I started to get noticed for the closures by Tim, and some of the Champs and L5s, and also became a contact for liaising with Cambridgeshire County Council. I was promoted to a L5, and shortly after was granted UK editing rights and introduced to the joys of Closure Monitor.

Closure Monitor allowed me to see all the incoming closures and deal with a lot of them proactively, This did nothing to reduce my time on Waze, and with each level increase, and increase in responsibility, and then CM, I fell further into the rabbit hole that is Waze editing!

In recognition of my time spent on closures, and Waze generally, just over a year ago I was invited to become a Waze Local Champ.

Most of my time on Waze is now spent managing the closures through Closure Monitor. I would estimate that I probably spend somewhere around 4 hours on it a day, sometimes longer. It is to all intents and purposes, my 2nd job! You only need to look at my profile page (https://www.waze.com/user/editor/SteveSnail) to see the number of edits I get through, and this has raised my up to number 6 in the UK all time editing ranks, and last year I was the most active editor in the whole of the UK even beating Tim’s Mapmonitor bot that automatically adds some closures from the various feeds we use. I also try to spend some time managing my AM area but that’s becoming increasingly difficult. I may not be the most active Champ on the forums for the reasons above but I try to dip in and help with that sometimes too.

Lastly, I’d just like to say that in my self-titled position as the Closure King, I know I don’t always get them right. When you’re using the information supplied by Local Authorities, or digging through social media, or local papers trying to find out information, and generally finding either very little, or conflicting information, sometimes they will inevitably not be right. I do the best I can with the information I have with the time I have available. So please, if you know better in your local areas then please do correct/update/delete them as you see fit. I won’t be offended :slight_smile:

8

I’m Richard. Born & bred in Sheffield and never left. I live with my wife and two children (5 and 12) so life can be quite hectic! I’m a Procurement Manager by day and home based so I don’t really do much driving at all. Less than 5k miles a year I think.

I joined Waze in 2018. I think at the time I’d become frustrated with CoPilot Live which was a crappy subscription based sat nav that was riddled with errors. With Waze I realised that I could edit the map and for some reason that I can’t quite put my finger on, it really appealed to me. I’m sure I’m in the right place to receive some understanding nods as you read this. It’s therapeutic and satisfying, apart from when WME doesn’t play nicely.

I started editing in my home town but being quite mature (the map, not me) I was excited to branch out into other areas when I got to L3. I took on the Lake District which is one of my favourite places to visit and Limerick in Ireland which I’ve never been to! I also took part in a map raid in Pakistan which was a challenge but a rewarding one nonetheless.

Since reaching L4 I’ve added to my AM responsibilities by taking on much of Yorkshire & Humber and North Yorkshire.

Sadly due to family commitments I’ve never managed to get to a meet up, but nevertheless am pleased to be part of the community and to get to know others more. Thanks for doing this Ian, it’s a great idea. Hopefully the new chat feature will make it easier to communicate with each other.

9

Whilst the common belief is that everyone is called Ian or Chris, I’m not. I’m Jon.

Originally from West Yorkshire but currently living just outside West London. By day (also evenings & weekends) I’m a sound Engineer. Started out in theatre, which lead to a touring life with several well know musicals. The job took me all over the UK & Ireland so I know most city and town centres (ok, I know where the pubs are!). However the touring life, being away from home for weeks at a time living out of a suitcase, is a young persons game. When yet another decadal anniversary rolled past I sidestepped into the corporate world of conference, events and streaming. It’s better pay, you’re only away for 3-4 days and you get to stay in some really nice hotels! Thanks to the pandemic shutting down my industry for 18 months I’ve recently started working in TV Broadcast Sport as well.

Waze was recommended to me by a colleague and I liked how it gave real-time traffic updates. I haven’t cheated on Waze with another sat nav since. I got into the editing side as I kept seeing things that were missing or incomplete as I travelled around the UK.
I’m currently AM for West Yorkshire & Greater London. I seem to spend a lot of time focusing on PURs and places. It seems a bit of a neglected area of the map so there’s always plenty to do. If I drive through an area I haven’t been to for some time it’s not unusual to see PURs over 100 days old

10

Have I got the talking pillow now?
My names Kevin. The Tiobraid bit gives away my Irish origins, I’m from Co. Tipperary originally and I moved to the UK in 2002. Tiobraid by the way is the Irish word for Tipperary, and is pronounced tib-rudd.
I live near Derby and I’m a mechanical engineer. Pre-covid I was on the road usually two days a week visiting customers, doing around 30k miles per annum. That dropped down obviously during Covid, and I’m slowly getting out on the road more and more, but endless Teams meetings have replaced a bit of the traditional business travel.
I started with Waze editing in 2016. I remember thinking that the Level 2 target was ridiculous, who could ever do 3000 edits…well 200k edits later…
I manage Derby over to Skegness via Nottingham and Lincoln. During lockdown I took on Swansea to Bath, as I had a bit more time on my hands and it seemed to be a neglected area. I also pootle about in the south of Ireland a bit. For my sins, I accepted the challenge of editing in London this year as well.
Its funny how people have preferred things that they edit in Waze, Steve mentions closures, Jon mentions PURs. Mine is mopping up old neglected URs, particularly if I drive through an area without an active AM. Have to say though, London is defeating me, its impossible to get on top of the endless stream :mrgreen:

11

Good Afternoon!

My name is Scott, if you’ve seen a few of my edits they have been around Greater Manchester which is where I live. I have used Waze for years but only recently (past few years) began editing and updating it as a map editor. I had an editing spree but then had to drop because of work but I’ve recently been back and using it both as a pastime and way of relaxing! I work for a public transport organisation (I’m sure the Greater Manchester part should give the name away) :lol: .

My aim is to update various areas that are outdated and kind of get rid of the cobwebs from areas untouched. I do like a little project! A big thank you to those who have offered advice and support and have tolerated me in the past - I generally have a question and come back with 6 more :shock: ! Happy to chat, just throw me a message!

12

Hello & Good Afternoon!

I stumbled across this Forum whilst looking around the UK pages, and I thought I might as well give it a go!

I am currently studying Computer Science at University.

Some editors may already know who I am, by the continuous support they have provided to me, with my constant bothering of Questions, Mistakes, and at one point being banned from WME :cry:. I would like to keep my name private for the time being. :slight_smile:

However, as it may be recognisable from the majority of my edits on WME, I am also from the North West of England mainly Greater Manchester like Scott (Scawtteh) probably a neighbouring area. :smiley: I was always using Google Maps, but since hearing about Waze via promotional activity about Real-Time Traffic Updates, I have not used another Sat-Nav app since. I have been using Waze since the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020) but only got into Waze Map Editing from July 2022. As that September has been my most active month with contributions (although most did comply with the rules, I was informed by Senior Editors of the mistakes i had done).

Due to the Level 1 Editor restriction (which i was back in September), due to my many contributions, i was granted Level 2 early to continue with my help in the Waze Map Editor Community, but it did not go very well, as it was noticed my edits were off. Therefore, due to these (deemed malicious acts), i was banned for a week in October. I obviously did not mean to cause any problems/abuse to the Waze Map. And have since been given another chance under probation, with instructions, to fix my previous edits and continue my support to the Waze Community via WME. Since that day, i have gained more knowledge due to the support and guidance from fellow editors to make the correct decisions instead of causing issues! I am currently making my way through my previous edits, which is quite long - hate myself for this! But learning from mistakes is the main outlook which i will be doing!

However, i have been editing a lot within my living area, to fix any issues, or as Scott (Scawtteh), stated. Having another editor from the Local Area is great, as we both have knowledge of the area and have been discussing on certain issues etc, which i thank him for. I usually do around 250-300 miles on average of travelling per week, so i do get around the local area a lot and see what is happening.

Lastly, a huge thank you to everyone, who gave me support/information/guidance during the start of my WME journey, I still continue to make progress and have been checking with Senior Editors before doing something I am unaware of. Also, it does seem this has become an Addictive hobby, but i need to remember i have Programming & Design projects still to do :confused:

Have a great day folks! :smiley:

13

Thought I might as well chime in here too!

I’ve been making small changes and updating place information for a while now but I’m new to the forum so thought I would make this my first post!

I tend to have Waze open pretty much any time I am in the car since I downloaded it (many moons ago) so figured that contributing to the map, keeping things up to date and adding places would be my way of giving back to the developers and community!

I live in Warwickshire and have made a fair few small changes where all these new roundabouts and housing developments keep popping up and moving the roads about!

14

Hi,

Nice to forum-meet you all.

I’m Alex and I live in Staplehurst, Kent.

I’ve been doing software development for 18 years and I’m currently working as an Engineering Manager for a well-known food delivery company. My development team is dedicated to providing location capabilities within the company, so I’m quite passionate about polygons, postcodes, and geospatial coordinates. :slight_smile:

I used to use Waze on my way to work every morning, but I’ve been working from home since the start of the pandemic, so I don’t drive as much these days.

I’ll be moving to a new state within our village and decided to add the new roads and be more active with map editing to help everyone around my area.

Thanks for accepting my request to join the forum.

15

Good Morning all from Brighton!

I’m a paramedic and a locum dispenser by trade, so my job is kinda exciting at the moment, if the news is to be believed!
Does mean I get around a fair bit, I actually end up driving around most of Kent as well! I’ve also been to most hospitals in the South East.
They are ALL mazes to get around.

However, I do have to remind myself that my civvy car doesn’t have blue lights, I have to wait at red lights, and people won’t just let me pass, although on that last point, if you can push a Fiat to get over 100mph, you must be going downhill, a good tailwind, and someone has gotten out and is pushing, honestly, ambulances are not as fast as people think they are!

I’m unfortunately affected by the edit bug, so I’m holding out for a while before I can get to detailing the map out a bit more, there’s quite a bit that I’ve spotted already just in my regular stomping grounds that could do with amending!

16

Hi and welcome. We are hoping the L1 editing issue will be resolved in the next few weeks. If you set yourself up with an editing account and a username now, you will be all set to get going as soon as the new process is released.

17

Hi everyone,

I recently moved to London SW1 for work and will be here for about three years. I’m still editing back in Australia and not looking to take on more editing in the UK. However please let me know if I can help with anything in the SW1 area.

Cheers

KT

18

Hi all,

I’m Helen, living near Stansted Mountfitchet and commuting daily to Cambridge. I used to be an AM for Sandridge and St Albans when I first got into editing Waze in about 2011/2012 but am keen to get back into helping out if I can :slight_smile:

My username of Foxyroadie is purely a reflection of my lovely smart car (called Foxy) of which I’m very proud, and absolutely no comment whatsoever on me personally :smiley:

19

Hi Helen, as you are currently at L2, there is nothing to prevent you starting up again. I would suggest you read the UK Wazeo as a lot will have changed since you last edited. Welcome back. :smiley:

And NO, you can’t advertise here, but I will let you off just this once as long as you get back into editing. :sunglasses:

20

Sounds like a fair deal :smiley:

I have NO doubt a lot has changed but I used to have really good fun doing this back in the day (yep, painfully aware of how old that makes me sound)

Time to roll the old sleeves up and get reading :sunglasses:

(on my way to change my sig - again :P)