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Welcome to MegaMapRaid! All editing areas should be live! Team assignments are found here. There are now five regions in the MegaMapRaid! Check out the late addition |
MegaMapRaid (MMR for short) is a special kind of MapRaid. It is a one time event virtually gathering well over a thousand map editors, from dozens of countries, to jointly perfect several large pieces of the map. It is also a fantastic opportunity for newer editors to work with many senior editors to gain skills and insight into mapmaking and the Waze editing community.
The editors are divided into groups, and each Editing Group has a particular area it works on. There are fifty editing groups, and four MapRaid Regions of the map.
A unique feature of this MapRaid is that the Editing Groups are in friendly competition to see who can rack up the top editing score.
Where is it?
There are four MapRaid Regions in the MegaMapRaid project. Each of them has its own project page. The four Regions, with links to their dedicated pages, are:
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Washington, DC
- Baltimore
- North and central portions of Louisiana
- Special NJ Mentoring areas for newer editors
The illustrations below show the first four areas. On the left is the SF Bay Area. The upper right is Baltimore, and below it is nearby Washington. Louisiana's map is at the bottom. More information about each of these areas appears later in this page. Note that Louisiana and the Mentoring areas were late addition, early MegaMapRaid communications only listed three Regions.
Note that the United States is large, and has 50 main political units that are called States. The four regions each cover portions of one or more states, and those states have pages describing local editing practices and policies. You may optionally read the State page related to your editing area when it is assigned. However, it is not required: the important information form the State pages has already been placed on this page and the four Region pages linked above.
If you do wish to review the State pages, they are:
- San Francisco Bay Area: See California
- Washington, DC: There are three State pages, depending on where in the Metro DC area you are editing. They are District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. (Note that DC is not a regular State politically, but functions as a State for Waze purposes.)
- Baltimore: Maryland
- North/Central Louisiana: Louisiana
The mentoring areas are generally rural, with an almost original "basemap," and still subject to very basic editing. This is ideal for inexperienced editors, as there is more basic editing to be done, fewer "locked" roads, and more tolerance for errors. It is critical that editors of these areas participate in their assigned Slack channel for guidance from their mentors and to gain access to their specific assigned editing areas.
The mentoring map areas are spread across many States.
When is it?
The public portion of the MegaMapRaid, including initial registration through final editing cleanup, is running from mid-January 2015 to mid-March.
Registration
The registration period originally ran from January 18, 2015 to February 22, 2015. It was later extended to February 28 due to demand. About half of the participants registered in the extended period.
Editing Group assignments
Preliminary formation of the groups are shown in the forum. Detailed information will follow. Please keep an eye out in your forum Private Message inbox, the Waze MapRaid Slack to find out more, e.g., who the group leader is, and where to edit the map. Your extra editing area will become available shortly before the start time of 19:00 (7 PM) UTC Sunday March 8.
Live MapRaid
The editing start of the MegaMapRaid is Sunday, March 8 at 19:00 UTC (Greenwich Mean Time), and runs through Thursday March, 12. The end time will be posted here once it is confirmed.
Your extra Editing Area will become available shortly before the start time.
(Note: The start and end times were originally one day earlier. They were postponed due to technical issues with editing area assignments. We apologize for the delay. Please keep your excitement level!)
What will we do?
Getting started
MegaMapRaid will work very much as if it is four normal MapRaids operating simultaneously. Each editor will be assigned to an Editing Group. The groups are numbered from 1 through 50. Editors will get an e-mail letting them know about the group assignment. You will have an extra editing area for the duration of the raid.
Communication
- Email -- check your email and forum private messages to learn your group assignment. Other special announcements for MMR will come this way too. E-mail and private messages will not be a primary tool for other editing activities
- wazemapraid.slack.com WazeMapraid slack messaging
- Look for a channel dedicated to your editing group (You will need to click the "+58 more..." link to display all the numbered group channels.)
- -general channel for general questions about mapraid.
- local channels for each map raid region will be to ask questions of locals.
- megamapraid forums are there for you to get answers to questions that don't get answered in the slack channels. The slack messages scroll off the page, so if you don't get an answer in Slack, post it to the forum for less immediate response.
More details
When you get your assignment, go to the Wiki page for your assigned group's host city MapRaid. You will see your group's specific map assignment area and your group leader's name there. We will provide a link that takes you to Waze Map Editor (WME) at the approximate center of your group's editing area.
In Slack, find your group's channel (chat room) on the upper left, and join it. (You will need to click the "+58 more..." link to display all the numbered group channels.) The channel name will be -mmr-group_nn where nn is your group number, 01-50.
Your group channel helps you keep abreast of activities going on within your group; ask questions; and receive instructions from your group leader, local MapRaid hosts, and other senior editors. You can ask questions, make suggestions, or make an unlock request in your group channel - there is no need to post unlock requests to the unlock forum. Use of WME built-in chat is discouraged for MapRaid editing, as there is too much going on during a Raid to make it an effective tool. The messages from the combined active editors would be overwhelming at times. WME chat may still be used for non-MapRaid activities.
You may also wish to read the Wiki State page for the state of your assigned area. There are state pages for California, District of Columbia, Louisiana, and Maryland, as well as Virginia for some of the Washington suburbs. Note that key information for the State is repeated on the MapRaid pages, so it may seem partially repetitive.
There are also a few Slack channels for specialized MapRaid purposes. The default channel "-general" is for discussion that goes beyond any one Editing Group, and there will be a channel for each host area where local hosts are available to clarify regional policy and practices.
Editing: Overall guidance
The most common activity in a MapRaid is resolving Update Requests, followed by correcting restrictions (turn restrictions, vehicle restrictions, timed restrictions). The MapRaid includes some areas that have a less mature map; in those areas, there will be a lot of geometry and setting directionality for "unknown direction" roads.
Each editor will get an extra Waze Editing Area matching the approximate boundaries of the Editing Group's geographic area. This extra Editing Area will become available shortly before the start time on Sunday, March 8. It will be revoked some time after the Raid completes.
Editing: Specific guidance
Your Editing Group leader may provide more specific guidance to the group or to individual editors. There may be specific edit types that a group leader is looking to implement in the group's geographic area. In some groups, the group area may be subdivided into smaller areas with specific editors getting assigned to take ownership of one of the small areas, to focus on it and perfect it.
When the high is over
MegaMapRaid has a short duration of about 4 days, but some activities will continue when it is over.
- Promotions and competition results: Deserving editors will have their rank increased, or receive new Manager status. See also the Competition section immediately below.
- Group "picture:" no promises, but this is a MapRaid "tradition." Details to come.
- Continued cleanup of Update Requests: URs can take longer to resolve. If you start managing or following a UR during the Raid, you should continue responding to the Reporter and working on the map and with other editors to resolve the problem. If your extra Editing Area expires while actively working on a UR, contact a local host for follow-up.
- Mentoring and networking: Newer editors have an opportunity to network with other editors from around the world, including some senior editors (Champs, Country Managers). You can build on those opportunities, staying in touch with your new editor friends, and continue receiving valuable mentor tips.
- Next MapRaid: Take a breather! We don't recommend jumping from one MapRaid to the next. But there will be other (smaller!) MapRaids in the near future that you may wish to participate in. Keep informed through the Wiki, forums, and those valuable networking contacts you have made.
- Skills! Any improved skills and techniques you pick up in the Raid, and knowledge about the current state of mapping, are yours to keep ... forever. Don't let them get stale!
Competition
We're having a contest! Every MapRaid results in rank or role promotions for some outstanding editors - become an Area Manager, gain Rank 3 or Rank 4 rights, etc.
In the MegaMapRaid, we're also tracking Editing Group performance. Since groups are partially aligned by country and language, there's also a little national pride at stake. We'll announce the rankings about a week after the Raid. Go team!
Who is participating?
1,333 editors are participating! The table below is slightly out of date, and is missing 66 editors... maybe they're driving Route 66.
| Country | Editor count | Country | Editor count | Country | Editor count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | 378 | El Salvador | 5 | Greece | 1 |
| Brasil | 141 | Portugal | 5 | Hidalgo | 1 |
| Malaysia | 52 | Turkey | 5 | HK | 1 |
| Colombia | 49 | Uruguay | 5 | Jakarta Utara | 1 |
| Italy | 48 | India | 4 | James City County | 1 |
| Mexico | 43 | Myanmar | 4 | Kuala Lumpur | 1 |
| France | 42 | Rio de Janeiro | 4 | Kyrgyzstan | 1 |
| Canada | 35 | South Africa | 4 | Lithuania | 1 |
| Romania | 31 | Switzerland | 4 | Madrid | 1 |
| Chile | 22 | Austria | 3 | Magyarország | 1 |
| Philippines | 19 | Bulgaria | 3 | Maharashtra | 1 |
| Poland | 18 | Dominican Republic | 3 | Malawi | 1 |
| Australia | 16 | Ecuador | 3 | Maldives | 1 |
| Peru | 16 | Honduras | 3 | Malta | 1 |
| Argentina | 15 | Ireland | 3 | mauritius | 1 |
| Belgium | 15 | Nicaragua | 3 | Moldova | 1 |
| Germany | 15 | Norway | 3 | Mongolia | 1 |
| Indonesia | 15 | panama | 3 | Montenegro | 1 |
| Slovakia | 15 | Paraguay | 3 | Namibia, All | 1 |
| Hungary | 14 | Thailand | 3 | New Zealand | 1 |
| Israel | 14 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | Pakistan | 1 |
| United Kingdom | 14 | Bolivia | 2 | República Dominicana | 1 |
| Costa Rica | 12 | England | 2 | RSA | 1 |
| Czech Republic | 12 | Virginia | 2 | Santiago | 1 |
| Latvia | 12 | Serbia | 1 | ||
| Sweden | 12 | Belarus | 1 | Singapore | 1 |
| Netherlands | 10 | BIH | 1 | Slovensko | 1 |
| Venezuela | 10 | Brno | 1 | Sweden | 1 |
| Estonia | 8 | Caldas | 1 | Taiwan | 1 |
| Guatemala | 8 | Cuenca | 1 | TANANA | 1 |
| Spain | 8 | Cundinamarca | 1 | Ukraine | 1 |
| Singapore | 7 | Dubai | 1 | Veneto | 1 |
| Denmark | 6 | fortaleza/ceara | 1 | Wales | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 6 | Ghana | 1 | Zambia | 1 |
| Russia | 6 |
Editing Groups
There are 50 Editing Groups being assigned. Each group will have a group leader and will get a geographic Editing Area within one of the four MegaMapRaid Regions. Once the groups are formed, MegaMapRaid administrators will let the participants know which group each editor belongs to, and who the group leader is. There will be some effort to align groups by country and primary language spoken.
The list of Editing Groups and their local MapRaid Regions (within SF Bay, DC, Baltimore, Louisiana) will be posted here, in this section of the Wiki page. The group membership and precise area to be edited will be posted on the MapRaid pages specific to each of the regions.
These graphics have been temporarily inserted while the actual editor list is sorted and completed.
Am I registered for it?
Editors can verify that they are successfully registered by visiting https://www.waze.com/forum/ucp.php?i=167
If you see the forum group "Mega MapRaid!" in your memberships, you are in! (Forum groups are not related to MapRaid Editing Groups. There is only one forum group for the entire MegaMapRaid, but 50 Editing Groups.)
Make sure you have received your Slack invitation. If not, PM (private message) orbitc on the forum.