<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>I think the concept is great. But how about we just simplify the name, to the Welcome Working Group?</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><span><br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><span style="background-color: transparent; ">(Welcome Wagon is apparently some kind of creepy marketing </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Wagon" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; ">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Wagon</a>)<br></div><div> </div><div>* Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel
s:mikelmaron<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "> <div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "> <div dir="ltr"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Jorge Gustavo Rocha <jgr@di.uminho.pt><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Monday, September 24, 2012 12:42 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Osmf-talk] Proposal: Welcome Wagon Working Group<br> </font> </div> <br>
Hi Richard,<br><br>"That sounds good"! The Welcome Wagon WG (the name is excellent, even <br>translated to Portuguese!) is a very good idea.<br><br>I have 2 cents to the topic:<br><br>i) It is hard to create such a wide WG to attend the specific <br>difficulties and cultures of each community. The support to new mappers <br>is better provided by neighbors, I think.<br><br>ii) The current OSM web site is the major reason for creating such a WG. <br>With a better web site, with a more social oriented and simple interface <br>to get in, to find mappers around, the Welcome Wagon work would be easier.<br><br>But I know it is very hard to agree in major changes to the web site.<br><br>So, such Welcome Wagon could provide some design guidelines to get the <br>OSM web site reformulated, to attend new mappers.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Jorge <br><br>Em 23-09-2012 17:59, Richard Weait escreveu:<br>> Dear All,<br>><br>> I would like to
suggest a "Welcome Wagon[1]" Working Group. An OSMF<br>> Working Group dedicated to learning, understanding and promoting best<br>> practices relating to new mappers. In this email I outline my<br>> "vision" for this potential Working Group. I seek your comments,<br>> participation and ultimately, community and Foundation approval to<br>> proceed.<br>><br>> Background<br>><br>> Many OSM accounts are created but never used to contribute data to<br>> OpenStreetMap. Many more accounts contribute a single changeset and<br>> are not used again. It seems logical, though it is unsupported by<br>> data at this time, to suggest that "more mappers, mapping more often,<br>> is better for the OSM project and data set." It seems likely, though<br>> again, unsupported by data, that these many new accounts are an<br>> excellent group to study, with a goal of creating more and
better<br>> mappers.<br>><br>> Goals<br>><br>> Test, record and learn what works best to encourage responsible<br>> mapping in new mappers. Test, record and learn what non-mapping<br>> social interactions improve mappers and mapping.<br>><br>> Tasks<br>><br>> Tasks of the WWWG are largely To Be Determined. An example is,<br>> "Contact a percentage of new mappers with one of a series of<br>> semi-custom emails. measure the responses and differential responses<br>> between the semi-custom emails and the mappers who were not contacted.<br>> There are many unanswered questions, and questions that have been<br>> answered through experience but without hard data. WWWG might be the<br>> way to answer questions like, "For what reasons are n% accounts never<br>> used? What percentage of mappers are frustrated by their first<br>> attempt at mapping and leave the project?
What series of tasks or<br>> goals provide the easiest learning curve to new mappers? Are there<br>> different types of mappers? If so, what are the differences? How do<br>> we recognize them? How do we assist them in becoming reaching their<br>> goals?"<br>><br>> Working Group vs. Community<br>><br>> Some aspects of new user welcome and guidance are already ably<br>> executed by individuals in the wider OSM community. This should<br>> continue. I suggest that some aspects of new user welcome and<br>> guidance are better suited to a formal OSMF Working Group. i see the<br>> benefits of a Working Group as:<br>><br>> Coordination - by using a uniform procedure and tools, a larger corpus<br>> of response data can be collected and analyzed.<br>><br>> Institutional memory - individual community members who welcome others<br>> may know what works and what does not, but that
information is not<br>> necessarily shared in the form of project wide best practices.<br>><br>> Privacy - While initial work may be performed using only public<br>> information, the group may find that sensitive data provides<br>> additional insights. This data can only be accessed and evaluated<br>> within the terms of OSMF privacy policies.<br>><br>> Efficiency - If tools are developed to assist in this research, having<br>> the unified tools available within the working group is an advantage.<br>><br>> WWWG vs. other WGs<br>><br>> There is a small amount of overlap in interest between this proposed<br>> WWWG and other Working Groups. WWWG is primarily a communication<br>> function, but to a more-restricted audience than the mandate of the<br>> Communication Working Group. I don't see and exact match in<br>> responsibilities and so I suggest that this be a new group, rather<br>>
than an additional task for an existing group.<br>><br>> Next steps<br>><br>> I hope that this email will garner some measure of support in the form<br>> of "that sounds good", and / or "perhaps this idea can be included"<br>> and / or "yes, somebody should definitely do this" responses. Even<br>> better would be responses in the form of "Yes, I want to do some<br>> specific tasks in this area" and / or "We are doing similar things in<br>> our sub-community and want to participate on a broader scale".<br>><br>> So, let's hear it. What do you think?<br>><br>> Best regards and happy mapping,<br>> Richard<br>><br>><br>><br>> [1] Welcome Wagon is / was a business in USA and Canada from the<br>> 1920s. It greeted new home owners with samples, coupons and<br>> advertisements for local participating businesses.<br>> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Wagon"
target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Wagon</a> I'm not suggesting that<br>> OSMF start such a business. I'm suggesting that we learn the best way<br>> to welcome new users, then eventually, make recommendations to do a<br>> better job of welcoming new users.<br>><br>> _______________________________________________<br>> osmf-talk mailing list<br>> <a ymailto="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org" href="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org">osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org</a><br>> <a href="http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk" target="_blank">http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk</a><br>><br><br><br>-- <br>Jorge Gustavo Rocha<br>Departamento de Informática<br>Universidade do Minho<br>4710-057 Braga<br>Tel: +351 253604480<br>Fax: +351 253604471<br>Móvel: +351 910333888<br>skype: nabocudnosor<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>osmf-talk mailing list<br><a
ymailto="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org" href="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org">osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk" target="_blank">http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk</a><br><br><br> </div> </div> </blockquote></div> </div></body></html>