Putting Caribbean Projects on the (Google) Map

Small towns hardly make big news in the world of online marketing technology; small islands even less so. While most of us have gotten over Google putting small town America on the map�??in the most literal of ways, the Caribbean is just getting around to celebrating their inclusion. Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad are just a few Caribbean islands that can be Googled down to 110 ft scaled maps in both satellite and hybrid.

Although, Google�??s Street View has not made it there yet�??that�??s still only available for select neighborhoods in a few big U.S. cities such as NYC, Miami and Denver; the Caribbean maps provide the same detailed view of towns and infrastructure (and yes, beaches too) that it does for cities across the U.S. The only difference is that directions are not offered.

Still, if you�??ve got a project in the Caribbean you can finally use Google Maps for a more dynamic presentation of your work. So far real estate agents and sporting fans (cricket, fishing, sailing etc.) seem to be the only folks that have been using the maps in mashups to reach their audience. Hopefully organizations such as Heifer International, Madre, Amnesty International and the many others doing great work in the region will jump on this opportunity to connect donors and volunteers to their work.