Template of topic 380525, post 1
The Waze community is vast and diverse.
It is made up of millions of people around the world, all contributing in different ways in order to make the world a better place to drive.
The community is everyone using Waze. The most basic layer in Waze’s community is anyone that uses the Waze app to navigate. While the contribution of drivers is passive, the app would not work without them. A small contribution, but essential to the success of the community.
Wazers who report police, hazards, petrol prices, etc. You might have submitted a report through the app yourself? When you submit a report, one of our dedicated community members, or staff support team members, reviews the report and decides how to handle it.
We also have what we call the Waze Editors Community. The Editors Community members are intense contributors who edit the map and add more information to it.
Finally, at the very top one percent of the editors are the Waze Champs - local and global. Their contribution is phenomenal through their leadership and management of entire countries. Hopefully you’ll get to meet them throughout your editing journey.
Other Important Communities
Within the wider Waze community are subsets of people who have an interest in a particular area. They may belong to one or more of these communities.
Community Roles
Our editing community is made up of volunteers who keep it running smoothly. Volunteers fulfil different roles and sometimes specialise in specific areas of editing.
Map Editor
The Waze map is crowd-sourced, user edited and open to anyone who wants to contribute. Any Waze user can become a map editor by logging into the Waze Map Editor (WME). All map editors start at level 1 and can then progress through the ladder of levels and roles as they gain experience, learn the intricacies of WME and map editing, and become involved in the community.
Each editing level has its own mood to show a user’s level of experience. These appear in locations including WME, forums and editor profile pages. These moods are known together as The Collection of Geniuses.
|
Level 1 Cell |
Like a biologist, you know great things emerge from small changes. You start with the basics, but soon evolve into a mighty Map Editor. |
 |
Level 2 Robot |
Like a roboticist, you're building powerful things that save the time of millions of people. Just, no Skynets, please. OK? |
 |
Level 3 8-Bit |
Like a computer scientist, You're reshaping the world with ones and zeroes, kind of like the Matrix, but for good, not evil. |
|
Level 4 Rocket |
Like a rocket scientist, you're a true professor of propulsion. You don't think in miles per hour. You think about the speed of light. |
|
Level 5 T-Rex |
Like a paleontologist, you see the biggest possible picture. You map evolutionary paths for all living things. Even humans. |
 |
Level 6 Quantum |
Like a physicist, you walk alongside the greatest of minds, and the very finest of map editors. Newton... Einstein... Hawking... You. |
Template of topic 380209, post 14
Managers
All of our managers are selfless volunteers who work together with the community and management team to improve and protect the Waze map. Managers need to be active and contactable to hold the role so they can assist the community, and are expected to mentor and lead others. All managers play an active role in proactively contributing to, and protecting the map from damage.
Area Manager
Area Managers (AM) are map editors who volunteer to take an active role in maintaining specific areas of the Waze map. A selected area of the map is added to their “editable area” as long as they are active as an AM (the role expires automatically if inactive for 90 days.). This area does not require them to have driven there recently.
To be granted AM status, editors need to:
- be active in the community,
- follow the rules,
- have a good understanding of mapping standards, and
- approaching, if not already, level 3.
The more experience you have, the greater the likelihood of being granted larger or multiple areas. In addition, Local Champs are more inclined to approve larger areas in regional and remote Australia as road infrastructure is less dense. Use the Area Manager application form to apply.
State Manager
State Managers (SM) have an editing area that extends to an entire state or territory. In addition, they are community leaders who assist with;
- guiding new editors,
- mentoring,
- lock and unlock requests, and
- contributing to policy decisions for their state and country.
It is a large job and they depend on the support from their AMs. SMs are chosen by Local Champs, and there can be multiple SMs per state.
Country Manager
Country Managers (CM) have an editing area that extends to the entire country (though it does not appear as an area on their profile page). In addition, they are community leaders who assist with:
- guiding new editors,
- mentoring,
- locks and unlock requests, and
- contributing to policy decisions for the country.
It is a massive job, and they depend on the support from area and state managers. In Australia, the CM role is both an editing and community role.
Country Coordinator
Country Coordinators are champs who serve as community ambassadors and coordinate between the local community and Waze staff. A coordinator’s main responsibilities are:
- Participating in both global and local champs’ groups, and being in direct contact with the relevant Waze community managers.
- Advise about the urgency and the severity of any reported issue.
- Advocate on behalf of the community.
- Be aware of the company news, product announcements, new versions etc..
- Assist with social media activities in the country.
- Take part in the setup of editor meetups.
Champs
Champs are editors, selected by Waze management, that show long-standing contributions to the Waze community. Their role isn’t just about editing skills, but they play a major role in community development and management. They set and enforce rules and standards in order to protect the map and community.
Local Champ
Local Champs (LC) are part of a specific country’s community leadership. Typically an editor must first be a Country Manager for some time before being eligible to become a Local Champ. Waze will select the most senior and skilled editors in any active editing region to become Local Champs. Once Local Champs are selected for a region, they will have the authority to nominate and approve more Local Champs for their region.
Global champ
Global Champs (GC) are part of the world community leadership of Waze. Typically an editor must first be a Local Champ for some time before being eligible to become a Global Champ.
GCs are:
- active within the community (forums and Discord),
- engage in cross-community collaboration with other countries,
- represent their local community on a global platform,
- act as a connection between their community and Waze staff,
- sustain the wellbeing and health of communities, and
- demonstrate adept product proficiency.
Check out the Waze Global Champ position description for more details, and new GCs can be nominated here.
Wondering what a GC does in a month? Check out this forum post to read about one month for one GC.
Special Interests
Product Expert
Product Experts (PE) are very experienced community members that help answer questions in the Google Help Center ecosystem and earn points and levels for doing so.
Beta Testers
On top of the Waze app and services to the public users, Waze is also constantly working on improvements through their beta program. Beta testers get early access to new updates and features, have a voice in providing product feedback, and are a part of the exclusive beta community. You can join the Waze app betas including the routing beta server (RBS) by following the instructions on the Waze Beta site.
Waze App and Routing
App beta testers contribute to critical bug fixes and communicate with the Waze team. They provide feedback for the features they test. This feedback significantly impacts the Waze app - from helping prioritize bugs to providing your honest opinion about upcoming versions.
WME Beta Tester
Waze also has a beta program for the Waze Map Editor (WME) which is managed by the community. WME Beta Testers are playfully known as pirates (ARRRGH). If you are a level 3 editor or above in Australia, you can request to join the WME Beta program by asking in the #role-requests channel on the Waze Australia Discord server, or by contacting a Local Champ. Admission into the program is at the discretion of our Local Champs.
Beta Leaders/Suggestion Moderators
The Waze beta program is led by Beta Leaders who support Waze staff to run the beta community. Beta Leaders get early access to beta builds and features for thorough testing before it reaches the rest of the community. They curate high-quality bug reports for investigation by Waze developers while working directly with staff on issues. Many Beta Leaders are also Suggestion Moderators who organise incoming suggestions, including the filtering of duplicates, to reflect the true community need behind suggestions for review and prioritisation.
Localiser
Localisers use language to make the app experience feel native to their country. A small team of localisers support the project to make sure Waze feels Aussie to our Australian app users.
New Editor Coordinator
The New Editor Coordinator is a unique role to Australia, and they’re one of the first people you might hear from after you start mapping here. They’ll welcome you and help induct you into the map editing experience and help answer all your questions!
Some of their responsibilities include:
- reviewing and developing strategies to recruit and retain new map editors,
- examining the whole process from joining Waze to becoming a senior editor,
- developing resources to assist new members,
- are a friendly face and advocate on behalf of new editors, and
- they reach out to new editors and refer them to mentors to support their growth.
Mentors
Formal mentoring is a great tool to help you learn the skills and knowledge. Mentors are experienced, accomplished editors who pass on their knowledge to new editors. Mentors are approved by Local Champs and it is expected they would be:
- An active participant on Discord
- Eligible to be an Area Manager
- Show consistent good editing, closely following the wiki
- Ensure you have the available time to commit to mentoring
Event Marshal
Event Marshals help to promote high quality traffic event data collected on the Waze Map. They lead the closures team in Australia, and help organise the exchange of information between Waze, event partners and most importantly, our community. Check out the event marshal position description.
Closure Team
Separate from the Waze Closure Team, the Australian closure team works with Event Marshals and is composed of responsible and experienced editors who display an interest in traffic events and road closures. They can be assigned additional “real time closure permissions” that allow them to apply road closures within a defined polygon in response to routine works and disaster closures.
Social Media Team
Community members with an interest in public relations and social networking who assist maintaining Waze Australia’s social media platforms.
There are not currently any editors in Australia active in this role. We’ve actively looking though, check out these roles available in Australia.
Toll Pricing Team
This team monitors changes in toll prices across Australia and feeds the data into the toll tool/management portal. It is a large job and very data focused, but it has the tremendous result in displaying accurate toll prices to Waze app users before they embark on a toll road route.
Beacons Team
The beacons team lead the mapping of tunnel infrastructure that has specific requirements before they can hold Waze Beacons. There are not currently any editors in Australia active in this role. However, our country managers and local champs usually lead any beacon projects new to Australia.
Partner Coordinator
Partnerships coordinators aim to clarify and organise the relationship and knowledge sharing between editors and partners in a specific city, region or country. The coordinator will handle general communication by the editors community, mentoring etc ., playing a critical role in the city’s transportation flow.
There are not currently any editors in Australia active in this role. We’ve actively looking though, check out these roles available in Australia.
Community Booster
Community Boosters are editors from one country who is involved in a form of guidance or mentoring and helps lead the build of a strong, thinking, independent community in another country. For more information see the Community Booster role announcement thread on the forums.
Scripit Writers
Script Writers are extremely experienced editors who give of their time to help enhance the functionality of WME. This is not a role that is taken on lightly.