Putting your Professional Group on the Map

Tech Comm on a Map is an innovative project by Sarah Maddox of the Google Developer Relations team that showcases technical communication activities globally using an interactive map powered by the Google Maps JavaScript API. The project integrates data from a Google Sheets spreadsheet, allowing technical communicators to add and immediately visualize conferences, societies, groups, and businesses on the map, with the data processed and displayed using the new Data layer in the Maps JavaScript API. Users can interact with the map by selecting specific categories, hovering over markers to view information, and utilizing the Google Places API for location searches. The project is collaborative, inviting contributions from the community, and its open-source code is available on GitHub for adaptation to other special interest groups.