That was the bad post. Now I’d like to say something about who I’ve been and what Waze has meant to me.

Back in 2012, I had my first smartphone. I was due to go on holiday in a few weeks and I was looking for a free satnav app. There was this Waze thing available. The “you can edit the maps” seemed particularly interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try. It was useless! It couldn’t even get me to work – but I was able to find some problems and, with help from fellow editors, I was able to get a route. Then I went on holiday. South Wales was in desperate need of work and it became my first major project in editing.

I have always been an anti-social kind of person. I’ve never been on Facebook, or MySpace or any of the “social” networks. I never could have imagined that I would ever become so deeply involved in an online community as I have with Waze. Even today, after 9 years in which Waze has become a core part of who I am as a person, I couldn’t tell you how or why it happened.

After a month or two, I was really starting to get into this editing thing. It seemed endlessly fascinating. There were experienced editors around me to help and make suggestions and I rapidly found that, even as a noob, I had ideas to contribute to mapping in the UK. I think I’d probably been involved less than two months when I had the wonderful idea that “London” was completely useless to Waze and should be removed. I must have had a charmed life – not only did they listen to me, but we’ve spent the past 9 years making sure “London” never re-appears in Waze!

So then they said it was time I became an Area Manager. I thought about it, decided I could commit the time and started on down the rabbit hole..

It wasn’t long after that the UK Self-Management Team asked me to join them. I thought long and hard about that. For my own piece of mind, I couldn’t agree unless I decided for myself that I could make the personal commitment to put a proper effort into it. I thought long and hard – and agreed. I was deep in the clutches of Waze by now!

Next to come was Global Champ. I never expected this in any way. I never asked for or looked for it. I wasn’t asked if I wanted to be one. They just made me one.

People have often asked me how they can become a Global Champ. There are nomination forms now. GCs get created to ensure representation of local communities around the world. Back then, it wasn’t so clear cut.

My opinion is that I became a Global Champ simply because that was what I was doing for myself. I know of many people whose forum landing page is their local country forum. I have that link in my bookmarks but barely ever use it. My home page is the main forum and the link I use more than any other is “new posts”. Communities all over the world use English. I can speak a little French and a little German. I can even understand the Yanks occasionally. There’s no way the knowledge I’d acquired could only be relevant to the UK, so I looked at all the posts I could. If I felt I could help, I would try. I guess someone at HQ noticed me and said “why isn’t this guy a Global Champ already?”

So I thought I was already down the rabbit hole. Now it had taken an unexpected turn and I was never getting out! Suddenly I was part of a group of giants in the Waze community. People who seemed to have been there forever and built the community from the beginning and I was one of them. Direct communication with Waze staff. A window into the heart of Waze itself. Special meetings and GC meetups in Israel.

I didn’t feel worthy then. I’m not sure I ever did, but what has poured back to me over the last few days from my fellow champs is that I have earned that position and that I have earned and used that position for good. That is their opinion, and it would be a disservice to them to deny it. As much as any person can, I have contributed to the DNA of Waze and the community and that is something that will survive my physical absence in the future.

Things didn’t always run so smoothly though. About 5 years ago I came to a personal crisis with Waze. As a Global Champ, I felt that I represented not just the Waze community, but, in an unofficial way, I was a representative of Waze HQ to the community – and I discovered I was not happy with how HQ were interacting with the community. I nearly quit Waze. For a month or so I tried, until I realised I literally couldn’t live without Waze. So I returned with my great rant: “Staff communication with community is broken”. This was an entirely personal statement and I never intended it to be anything else. Instead, it seemed I had unwittingly tapped into a feeling that we were all experiencing. Once I expressed that feeling, it turned out I was just articulating it for us all. A personal rant ended up being the most-thanked post ever on the Waze forum, with double the thanks of the next most popular post. If there is one single contribution I have made to the community that I could choose, this would be it. It led to a revolution in how HQ and community dealt with each other. For new Waze staff, I’m told they are all sent to read that post. Communication improved dramatically across the board. Not only did Waze HQ make outstanding efforts to repair the situation from their side, we were made to face up to the fact that communication is a two-way thing and it’s not enough for us to complain about the problem – we had to hold up our side of the issue and work with HQ to make things better together. Waze as a whole would not be where it is now without that reset to the relationship – something that can still be seen today.

So that’s how I became the Angry Champ. Yes, it’s a bit of a joke. It was never as simple as the emotion of anger. It’s more about having an opinion – making it a reasoned one that can be backed up with sense and then argued for the benefit of all. And having the humbleness to realise that sometimes we get it completely wrong and knowing when to back down and apologise.

Then I entered the world of WME Userscripts. WME is an incredible tool that allows us to create & maintain a map that provides benefits to millions of users around the world. But at the end of the day, it is developed and produced by people who simply don’t USE it and will never truly understand what it needs to do to be our daily productive workspace. I could go off on a whole separate rant about this, but that’s not the point here. From the beginning of my use of WME, there have been scripts created by the community to improve and extend the capability of WME. These are tools created by true giants among us. If I could “donate” 20% of the millions of edits I’ve racked up over the years to the authors of those scripts, it would barely begin to be a fair return for what they’ve done for us all. There are big scripts used by thousands of people. There are little ones that may perhaps get used a dozen times in a week. But each one is produced by someone who saw a use for it and used by someone who has that use.

Since 2016, I’ve been proud to be a member of that scripting crew. I’m not one of the greatest. My script is probably used by hundreds of people, not the thousands who use some of the main ones. The script couldn’t even have started to exist without shameless copying from the basics of the others that were already there. But it has filled the requirements I have of it and does so for hundreds of others who find it helpful. I’m proud to have been able to help those people.

I have been to many Meetups over the years. I have been privileged & honoured to meet so many of you in person. There are many more who I have never met but have talked with on the forums. There are many of you I’ve never spoken to. You might look at a forum leaderboard and think I’m someone away in the stratosphere who means nothing to you but a name. But to me, you are all a part of a family that I’ve belonged to for years and will leave no less easily than I will leave my own family. I love you all.

That’s how my Waze career has developed and changed and brought me to who I am now and I have no regrets.
 
 

So is there a future?

Yes there is. My direct participation in it will soon be over. But I leave a legacy of my own and one that I know that those who come after me can build upon. Not for the memory of Iainhouse, but for the future of your extraordinary selves and the community we are all part of.

If I have one skill I feel I have truly used for good in Waze, it has been communication. As I said somewhere earlier, most of the forum is in English. For many people that is not their first language, but you invest in the effort of using that second language so we can all talk together as equals. For me, it’s the primary language. I’m pretty good with it and with expressing my ideas about Waze with it. Whilst many of the things I have said seemed like entirely my own idea at the start, I watch the thanks start appearing on my posts and I realise that I am actually expressing what so many others would like to say. But before they could gather the words or work out how to express the idea, along comes Iain and says it like they would have said it if they’d just had a little more time. Without trying to make things my own, I’ve instead managed to repeatedly become the channel to express what so many wanted to say.

I’m not unique. I’m not that special. I KNOW that out there among you are people who can do what I have done. Perhaps it’s the noob with a radical idea who is afraid to speak up because  they will be laughed it. Perhaps it’s the Global Champ who is so infuriated by the latest silly change to WME that they don’t know where to start or what to say. I can only say to you “try”. You might get it right, you might get it wrong. The only guaranteed route of failure is not to say anything. 

I never believed or imagined I could contribute to Waze as I have done. But if I can, so can you. 

I am only one person. My end is here and I will no longer contribute directly to Waze. But you are still here and you will be for a long time to come. The community isn’t me, or one person, or 10 or 100. It is all of you and I leave it confident in the knowledge that it will continue to live and thrive without me, because I don’t believe you can do otherwise than continue to be wonderful.
 
 

As you have already said, there are no words, so I won't even try.

I just want to thank you for all you have done to help the community and Waze grow.

I bet you now have the most staff responses on a single forum post as well.

Iain,

Although I never had the pleasure of working with you personally, your impact on the community goes far beyond just over the pond. You’ve been a huge influence to all of us and your legacy will live on forever. The community will forever be greatful for your contributions not only on the forums, but to everything you've done to shape what we are today. All the way from Chicago, I wish nothing but the best for you and will continue to keep your legacy known to all editors

Joe - aka Socks
 
 

I’m am so sorry to hear of your cancer. Thanks for all you’ve done for us with Waze. My thoughts and prayers are with and for you. 

Dear Iain,

My first impression when I listened to your sharp and insightful comments & suggestions in the 2016 EU-meetup was "How is it even possible to possess such huge amount of detailed information about Waze under the hood?" I was a newbie back then as our community in Finland had just re-gathered together and started more active communication with HQ.

I really have seen the positive change in communication in past years and if there is someone to blame for that, it is you. Also your dry and sick sense of humour resonates in my soul deeply.

FixUI has become the most useful script I use in map editing, many many thanks for that. It helps a lot even with bigger screens although I remember those rants about VGA + WME = IMPOSSIBLE in the meetups 
 
Although our physical presense must end one day, we will remember you as long as there is at least one functioning brain cell in our heads. You made the difference.

I want to send a big squeezing hug to you and your family (my surname means "a little hug" in English). We will see again one day, somewhere out there.
 

Hey Iain,
I am also very sad to hear that terrible news, thanks for everything you did, we will all miss your strong opinions during meetups and on the forum.

Your words on this post had a great impact on this side   
  
Just know that you are not alone on this moment: a huge community carry you on their minds on this moment ...