SotM 2011 UK? Setting up a GB OSMF chapter?

When the SotM 2011 venue bids were coming in, it seemed likely it would
finally leave Europe. I heard some chatter that maybe it would make sense to
hold a national/continent conference (like there is SotM US). Who is in
support of that? What sort of numbers do you think it would attract?

You all know I love Durham. But I actually think it would be really good to
hold a national event in North East England. It is a section that isn't so
strong (like Birmingham, London, Manchester) in map-coverage and
contributors/users. Durham and Newcastle are on the East Coast Main Line
(London Kings Cross to Edinburgh, and direct trains from the West). Other
nearby cities that could be interesting are
Sunderland, Middlesbrough/Stockton, Darlington, Hartlepool. I would see if
some of the other active mappers would help with local organisation.

But then this summer we never made a GB chapter of the OSM Foundation.
Should we be focusing on that instead?

I hope the mapping passion isn't sliding away from the UK.

Gregory,> When the SotM 2011 venue bids were coming in, it seemed likely it would 
> finally leave Europe. I heard some chatter that maybe it would make 
> sense to hold a national/continent conference (like there is SotM US).The team that did the Vienna bid is, to my knowldege, currently 
investigating options to hold a SOTM-EU in Vienna in July. That should 
not keep you from organising a UK conference of course - but if you're 
looking to do a "continent conference" then maybe check on their status 
and see if it makes sense for you to work with them.

Bye
Frederik-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail   ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"

I'm all for a UK SOTM conference as it would be great to meet up with folk
who have been so far might only have been an electronic presence, to share
best practice, get some hints and tips on techniques for map-making from the
data for those of us who are less technically gifted (perhaps documenting
them for others who come later); discussing projects that need national
collaboration e.g ward boundaries; and setting up a UK chapter. Doesn't
leave much time for mapping though. Venue sounds like it might be
contentious so I'll stay out of that for the moment- anyway that should be
secondary to the content and objectives.

Regards

Brian> _______________________________________________
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On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 06:15:37PM +0100, Gregory wrote:
> When the SotM 2011 venue bids were coming in, it seemed likely it would
> finally leave Europe. I heard some chatter that maybe it would make sense to
> hold a national/continent conference (like there is SotM US). Who is in
> support of that?+1, although I would like to see more material directly aimed at mappers
at conferences too.  It’s alright garnering business support, and going
into all of the technical details of running OSM, the cartography, etc.
How about some practical aspects of going out and gathering the data?
Sure, the mappers get their bit at mapping parties, but why not at a
conference too?

> What sort of numbers do you think it would attract?

Um… twelvety! ;)> But I actually think it would be really good to
> hold a national event in North East England.Why not?  Everything else seems to happen in Birmingham or London these
days (I possibly exagerate, this year I did go to the Maker Faire which
takes place in Newcastle every year).> But then this summer we never made a GB chapter of the OSM Foundation.
> Should we be focusing on that instead?What advantages would it bring to us to do this, and are there enough
people prepared to be the core of the chapter?

OSMF itself is incorporated in the UK and, as far as I understand, has
been doing much of what a local chapter would be doing in the UK. On the
other hand, OSMF may wish to delegate to a local chapter so they can
concentrate their efforts globally, and in turn the chapter can
concentrate on the needs of the UK.

This maybe one to push over to the local-chapters and/or osmf-talk
lists.

> I hope the mapping passion isn't sliding away from the UK.

I have a small backlog of data that I have yet to incorporate into OSM
pending my acceptance of the CTs, which I still can’t bring myself to
do.  I could submit the data while the new CTs are not yet enforced for
existing users, but there is a reasonable chance that would be just a
waste of time.  If anything, my passion for mapping for OSM is waning
because I am in conflict with the new terms, but I still like mapping.
I’m looking for other ways to make my data accessible to the world, I
just need to implement them (and by that time all of the world’s geodata
will be free data and we’ll all be happy anyway).

Simon