FAQ

How long will it take to do? If you work quickly, an afternoon.  More likely, a weekend, using 3-4 dedicated hours, including editing what you wrote.  Assuming you have in mind most of the places already, it should not take longer than an hour or two to type up your listings, and less than an hour to cut and paste from Google Maps.    

Will my groovy.guide really be rejected if I don't fill everything in?  Come on!  We are only asking for 20-30 places!   Ask yourself if you would be happy to download a guide, only to discover it had just 10 places to pick from?  We will take whatever you send, but your choices represent you! 

What if I cannot locate the place on Google Map?  You can also paste GPS coordinates instead, if the place you like isn't listed or can't be found.  To do that, click directly on the map where the place is/should be, then right click, and the GPS coordinates should be shown (and copy-able).  For instance, 13.731121393341326, 100.56771901744409.   You can test it by opening a new Google Map window in your browser, and pasting in the coordinates, and then seeing if it takes you to the place.   For the sample coordinates above, it should take you to Benchasiri Park in Bangkok, Thailand. 

How long will it take to post my guide?  ASAP.  We aim to put up any submissions within 2-5 working days, and eventually make it automatic.  If you don't see it, be sure to email groovy.guide@groovymap.com to ensure we have seen it and are processing it.  As we don't work full time on this site, it might easily be overlooked if submissions are not a regular thing. 

When can I charge for my groovy.guide?  We feel we need to build a community of users and writers/guides first, and let people appreciate the guides naturally (and currently, we would have to manually PayPal or wire each transaction, so not yet...) 

When can I offer guide or walking tour services?  We will hire programmers to facilitate this once we have enough volume or get enough user demand.  If you are a programmer and want to do this as a volunteer thing, let Aaron know at aaron[at]groovymap.com 

Who owns the content?   You do.  All content belongs to you, and you are free to take down your submissions anytime, just like you are free to update or change anything (but we ask you don't do this every month UNTIL we hire a programmer to make it possible for you to log in and change your pages.   The format and template should belong to us though.

Who owns groovy.guide? Groovy Map Co Ltd., so essentially, Aaron Frankel as the biggest shareholder.   He's a nice guy, if a little autistic. 

What type of guides can I submit?  We are totally open to new categories and suggestions.   If you see an audience for your particular point-of-view, such as "Trans Friendly" or something that we haven't thought of, you are welcome to submit.   Naturally, if publishing your guide would get us in legal hot water, we may hesitate, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.  

Can I donate my revenue to charity?  Not yet, but eventually we foresee taking a percentage of donations to run the site and to set up a "Traveler Trust," to help those in trouble (wallet stolen, falsely arrested and needing legal representation, money currently rendered worthless because you come from a country with a maniacal dictator that caused all your credit cards to be cancelled overnight) while traveling. 

When can we get our own travel blog/show?  We would love to create a travel lovers eco-system, with things like ratings, linked videos, and your guided tours for instance, but that takes programming money, and we need some of that first to hire the programmers.  Thanks for your patience! 

Go for it!  Get Groovy!