About
jalondon628 (Joel London) is a level 5 editor from Seagoville, TX and has been editing since March 2017. He serves as a multi-state manager for all of US South Central region, covering Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Much of his concentration is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he lives and works. He also serves as an area manager in the Central Valley of California, southeast Florida, eastern New Mexico, and parts of Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
Milestones
- Joined Waze – March 2017
- North Texas area manager – November 2017
- SCR closures team – January 2018
- North Dakota area manager – February 2018
- Waze app beta tester – October 2018
- Promotion to R4 – January 2019
- WME Beta tester – March 2019
- Florida area manager – May 2019
- Waze formal mentor – August 2019
- Promotion to R5 – March 2020
- Promotion to Texas State Manager – July 2020
- Central California area manager – July 2022
- New Mexico area manager – July 2022
- Promotion to US Country Manager – November 2022
Notable projects
- VEOC participant – Hurricane Harvey (2017), Hurricane Gordon (2018), Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Ida (2021), Hurricane Ian (2022)
- US Falcon implementation
- Waze Apple CarPlay Alpha tester
- Developed apartment complex standard implemented in SCR
- State Fair of Texas coordination (2022–2023) - worked with staff to set and monitor closures around the fairgrounds and consolidate traffic flow to designated ingress/egress points
- Added shields and lane guidance to parts of Texas seldom touched by editors (in progress)
- Contributed to various national place harmonization campaigns
- Formally mentored two editors; active in informal training in SCR
- Developing standards and guidance for Texas frontage roads (lane guidance and addressing)
- Developing standards and guidance for usage and display of road shields across region
Meetup Attendance
- 2018 SCR Regional meetup – Dallas, TX
- 2019 SCR Regional meetup – Grapevine, TX; presented on place harmonization
- 2020 SCR Regional virtual meetup; presented on place harmonization
- 2021 SCR Regional virtual meetup; presented on place harmonization
- 2022 SCR Regional meetup – Austin, TX; presented on place addressing and routing
- 2022 NA Mega Meetup – San Francisco, CA
- North Texas Waze Cafe – November 2022
- 2023 NA Mega Meetup – Las Vegas, NV
- 2023 SCR Regional meetup – Fort Worth, TX; presented on unique editing challenges in Texas
- North Texas Waze Cafe – November 2023
- 2024 NA Mega Meetup – Atlanta, GA
MapRaid Participation
- Russia – February 2018
- South Carolina – April 2018
- West Virginia – May 2018
- Texas – October 2018
- Kansas/Missouri – August 2019
- Florida/Alabama – October 2019 (assistant group leader)
- Maine – May 2020
- US Falcon – November 2020
- Iowa/Nebraska – August 2021 (group leader)
- Project Koi Fish – January 2023 (group leader)
Personal life
Following high school, Joel attended the University of Florida and met his wife, Sara. He later enlisted in the United States Air Force as a civil engineering craftsman. Through eleven years (2003–2014), they were stationed at Beale AFB, CA, JBER, AK, and Minot AFB, ND. Joel deployed in 2005 to Iraq support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and to Afghanistan in 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Following military life, Joel and his family relocated to Dallas. Joel currently works as a senior survey technician and surveyor-in-training (SIT) at an engineering consulting firm in Frisco, TX. He is actively pursuing a license as a registered professional land surveyor in Texas.
Joel and Sara have been married for 22 years and they have five children together, three of them now adults. They homeschool their children and are active in teaching with their homeschool co-op. Joel teaches high school math, history, and physics while Sara teaches science, speech, and social studies to all age ranges. They love to travel and explore new places. Joel is an avid sports fan and enjoys cheering for the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Stars, and Florida Gators.