Applications for MENA Google Student Ambassadors 2012/13 Now Open

A lot of you have been asking us how you can become a Google Student Ambassador, here's your answer!

Fill out the Application now!

To apply;

1. Fill out the MENA GSA 2012 Application before June 30!
2. Write an essay about one of these two topics (you can choose either regardless of your major):
1. Engineering students: “Is there a way for the social web to be more than just social?”
2. Non-engineering students: “Creative FOPs (forms of payment) and social support” 
3. Write a motivation letter on "why you want to be an Ambassador, what you can change in your Country through learning new technical skills and how using Google tools could help your university" 
4. Provide a short statement from Professor or Head of Department confirming name, level and area of study.

Requirements:

• Currently enrolled in a college or university in the Middle East or North Africa, preferably in the 2nd or 3rd year
• Pursuing a BA/BS or MS degree
• Passionate about technology
• Able to plan events and manage a budget
• Actively involved in student life on campus
• Any student from: Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Palestine & UAE can apply.

You will have to:

• Attend a one-week intensive summer training to help familiarize you with Google products, features, programs and other opportunities for students. 
• Work closely with local Google teams
• Host and organize events to bring awareness about Google's products and brand
• Spread the word about competitions, training opportunities, scholarships and other events
• Attend Google events as a Google representative
• Help Google to better understand your campus' culture
• Build relationships on campus with faculty and student groups
• Test products and features
• Promote product use and new product launches to students
• Be a source of knowledge for your university about Google products
• Spread Google goodwill to your fellow students

If you succeed, you will:

• Receive regular updates about exciting new Google products / features, programs and announcements
• Enhance your professional development, leadership, technical and communication skills
• Be eligible to participate in special Google events, product training and be considered for local internships
• Be able to exchange best practices with Ambassadors from other schools and disciplines from around the region.

Timeline is as follows:

• Registration opens: Sunday. April 15, 2012 
• Registration closes: Tuesday, May 15, 2012  Friday, June 15 2012 Saturday, June 30 2012 (yes, the deadline has been extended! AGAIN!!)
• Acceptance noyification: Early July
• Training: August 2012 (after Ramadan)

More details here.

What's a 'Google Student Ambassador'?

I've been asked this question many times "What's a 'Google Student Ambassador'?" - more than I can even count! I've been asked in person, via chat, online post, social networks, ...

Some amazing fellow ambassadors
from the training

And I believe that many of my amazing fellow ambassadors (photo to the right) were asked as well.
And -as expected- I answered each one of them. At first I was proud for being an official google representative, so I gave them the link of the google page, but most of them came with the typical reply: "So what do you do exactly?"
So this post is the answer, hopefully all those revisions would make it brief, informative and sufficient :)

My role consists of 2 parts:

1. Bringing Google to my university (AlexU).
2. Taking my university to Google.

1. Bringing Google to my university:

In case you don't know, Google is FUN!! And having the opportunity to bring google closer to my colleagues is simply wonderful.

In addition to that; google always takes side with the user, and they're the kind of company that follows their public stated philosophy.
Google has amazing applications and tools that they choose to offer freely to the users (us). And I was telling my colleagues about these products like google docs, youtube, gmail,... long before I became an ambassador, having the title only made it official =)

They make the life of a student SO MUCH EASIER! I can't tell how people before graduated without them.

2. Taking my university to Google
Google also offers lots of grants, scholarships, internships, ... And many students -and faculty- miss out on lots of opportunities just because they didn't know. So the second part of my role is to stay in contact with google's latest news and offers and notify my colleagues about them.

In a nutshell: this way I work as a link between Google and AlexU.

How do I do that?
Simply anyway I can -in a good way though- if I have and idea: I just tell google, they approve it, then they provide me with what I need.

If I'm thinking of .. let's say a competition, I think it through, I check all my requirements, budget, etc and I tell google, wait for the approval, then I start making it happen :)

This applies to anything you have in mind, info booth, workshop, code lab, ...
In a nutshell be creative, enthusiastic, and realistic; and send your bill to google =D.

The official google page shows exactly what are my responsibilities and privileges, but being an ambassador offers much much more!! Hopefully I'll post later about the perks of being a google student ambassador.

At the end if you have more questions just post them in the comments and I'll try to answer them.

And if I excited you about being an ambassador, and you want to know once the application is open next year, follow the google arabia blog, and the google students blog.
Or add me to your circles, or follow me on twitter, I'll be posting/tweeting about google updates.

-- 

John Matta

Google Student Ambassador
Alexandria University
Egypt

Who’s ready for g|egypt 2.0?!

We had an awesome time at g|egypt last year, and we are excited for version 2.0! Following back to back g|days in Dubai and Jordan, we’ll be holding our next g|day in Cairo, Egypt, from December 11-13.

Last year, we had great sessions and this year will be even more packed with all things Google! Each of the three days will have separate tracks, focusing on various audiences: Day 1 is for Business Professionals, Entrepreneurs, & Students, Day 2 is for Webmasters & IT Professionals, and Day 3 is for Developers & Programmers. The sessions will be more advanced this year - so brush up on your AdWords skills, your App Engine coding, and your Google+ knowledge - the more you show, the more likely you’ll get an invitation.  We’re even having specific sessions for Android/Mobile application developers this year!



We’ll also be bringing back your favorite Googlers - they’ll be around to interact with you, answer questions, and brainstorm. We’ll have more updates and details to share on our site, but for now, be sure to register. We have a limited number of seats so the stronger your application, the more likely you are to receive a spot at g|egypt 2.0.  We’ll send invitations to those who are accepted by December 1st, 2011.

If you still have doubts, check out recent g|uae & g|jordan 2.0 photos for a sneak peek of the fun that awaits!

NB There's a Google+ competition!! So be ready
--

John Matta

Google Student Ambassador
Alexandria University
Egypt

What is Gooogle Student Ambassador Program?!

Google Student Ambassador is responsible for google technology and google products on his/her university ,this means >> if any body have any question about google technology and its products , he/she has to ask google ambassador on their university ..

Second , Through the Students Ambassador Program, you become a liaison between Google and your university. Ambassadors plan and host several events during the school year, introduce students to new Google products and features and act as a campus contact for Google teams.

Google Student Ambassadors may:

• Work closely with local Google teams
• Host and organize events to bring awareness about Google's products and brand
• Spread the word about competitions, training opportunities, scholarships and other events
• Attend Google events as a Google representative
• Help Google to better understand your campus' culture
• Build relationships on campus with faculty and student groups
• Test products and features
• Promote product use and new product launches to students
• Be a source of knowledge for your university about Google products
• Spread Google goodwill to your fellow students

What are the qualifications?

This opportunity is currently by invitation only and is open to students at university. Google MENA Student Ambassadors must be:

• Currently enrolled in a college or university in the Middle East or North Africa
• Pursuing a BA/BS or MS degree
• Passionate about technology
• Able to plan events and manage a budget
• Actively involved in student life on campus

Benefits:
As a Google Student Ambassador, you will:

• Receive regular updates about exciting new Google products / features, programs and announcements
• Enhance your professional development, leadership, technical and communication skills
• Be eligible to participate in special Google events, product trainings and be considered for local internships
• Exchange best practices with Ambassadors from other schools and disciplines
• Add the Google Student Ambassador Program experience to your resume
• Get your own Google SWAG

That's All ... Thanks :)

يعني ايه جوجل ؟

يعني ايه جوجل ؟


سؤال  غير  مجرى  حياتي   منذ شهر تقريبا وفي احدى المناقشات  سئلني شخص ما  "يعني ايه جوجل  "  وبسبب هذا السؤال  
قررت  التقديم في برنامج سفراء جوجل  وبرغم  مشاعر الغضب والدهشة  التي كانت تملكني  تلك اللحظة عندما سئلت هذا السؤال 
الا انها تحولت الان لمشاعر  فرح  و اعجاب  و  فخر   و   حزن 




فرح  :

كانت ليلة من الليالي  المتعبة  وتقريبا كانت الساعة 3 بعد منتصف الليل  كنت  اتمم استعداداتي لامتحاني في اليوم التالي  وقبل النوم
 جاءت لي فكرة ان  ادخل على ال GMAIL لأرى صندوق الوارد الخاص بي    وفجأة  صدمت   وكانت من اكثر اللحظات فرحا  في حياتي  عندما  وجدت اني اصبحت سفير لجوجل في جامعتي  ...




اعجاب  : 


لم اكن اتخيل يوما ماا  اني  سألتقي    بهذا العدد من الاشخاص الذين يمتلكون  خصائص وسمات  شخصية وعقلية رائعة
بدأا من السفراء وصولا  لكل من دربنا في اسبوع  لا يوصف  في مليون مدونة   .




 فخر  : 


قبل انتهاء التدريب بأيام قليلة  وبعد بضعة ايام رائعة  شعرت  وتجمعت لدي  كل  مشاعر الفخر كوني اصبحت انتمي لهذا الكيان العظيم  , العظيم في رؤيتة  ومهمتة والاشخاص الذين يعملون به  حقا انه فخر لي ان انتمي لهذا الكيان العظيم  ومهما طالت الايام سأظل منتمي اليه .




حزن   : 


بعد فراق  اسرتي الجديدة شعرت  بأنين في قلبي وضاق صدري حزناا والما على فراق من تعودت واستمتعت بوجودهم بجوااري 24 ساعة   , اتمنى لكم حياة مليئة بالاعمال الناجحة واتمنى ان القاكم قريبا .


******************************************************
قد اكون استخدمت بعض الالوان المتعبة  للعين لكن  تعمدت اختيار الوان +1  لان اسبوع التدريب  جعل حياتي
حياة +1 

Googlers!!

Actually, the last week  was one of my best weeks in ma life .. to be with googlers and google ambassadors is really different and great thing! ...

That was really great week , full of energy , power , great spirit and productivity ..

Googlers teach u! : 

1. How to be happy  and always smile ..
2. How to do what u really want ..
3. How to do it in the right way ..
4. How to work in a team , and have a great time with them..
5. How to be creative.
6. How to use ur energy and power in something useful and have fun at the same time.. 
7. That every thing is possible, just " if u want , u can!"..
8. That your work is a part of ur life ,not just a thing u have to do ..

...More & More ...it's very easy to be a google student ambassador just if u have PASSION , ENERGY , POWER and CREATIVITY ..


Cont.. :)

جوجل .. و أجمل أيام حياتى

لقد تقدمت لبرنامج سفراء جوجل مدفوعاً بحب ذلك الاسم الذى طالما رأيته امامى فى كل لحظة تتجه فيها اصابعى للبحث عن أى شئ على شبكة الانترنت

و قد سعدت كثيراً لحظة رؤيتى تلك الرسالة المليئة بالتهانى لقبولى بهذا البرنامج و بدأت أشعر بأنه أصبح على كاهلى مهمة ثقيلة لتمثيل هذا الاسم الكبير

قبل بداية فترة تدريب السفراء ، راودتنى العديد من المشاعر المختلطة ، منها ما هو  ايجابي من استعداد و نشاط و منها ما هو سلبى من قلق و توتر

و لكن بانتهاء التدريب تغيرت لدى مشاعر و مفاهيم كثيرة

فجوجل ليس مجرد موقع أو شركة كباقى الشركات ، انما هو كيان. كيان له مبادئ أهم من أى شئ آخر

  كيان جمعنا على حب فكرة نبيلة و هى التطوع لخدمة المجتمع ، و فرقنا على حب بعضنا البعض

كيان استطاع أن يجعلنا نؤمن بقدراتنا و امكانية تسخيرها لتغيير العالم أجمع

لا أستطيع وصف سعادتى الآن لانضمامى لهذا الصرح العظيم ، كما لا أخفى حزنى الدفين لفراقى هؤلاء الاصدقاء الذين عشت معهم أسبوعاً كاملاً حتى اصبحوا جزءاً لا يتجزأ من حياتى ، و لكن تلك هى الحياة

أتمنى التوفيق لكل من شارك فى نجاح هذا الاسبوع .. لكل من شاركنى فى أجمل أيام حياتى