[Talk-us] Mappy Hour HOWTO

[Richard Weait]

1) Book a time and place.
2) Promote the event.
3) Attend.
4) Have fun.

That's really it.  Everything else is just a matter of balancing your
compromises.

Pick a location and time that suits you and suits the audience you
wish to attract.  If you want the high-school crowd, don't pick a
venue they can't attend like a bar.

Promote, at a minimum, on the OSM wiki calendar, talk-us@, the
usergroups map[1] and whatever social networks you like.  Depending on
mapper-density, that might not be enough.  Also consider, local linux
user groups, local cycling clubs, local Audubon, business improvement
districts, etc.  You don't have to tell them every time you meet, but
let them know once in a while.

Also on promotion, you don't have to use meetup.com.  At least one
group is using groupspaces.com But use "something" to keep track of
previous attendees, to keep a public calendar, to get in touch with
the other attendees, etc.  Ideally, you want a place people can find
you and your next event, even by accident.

Attend.  If you set a date, make sure you show up.  ;-)

Have fun.  And help newbies have fun.  Get the new attendees to talk.
Make sure they can ask questions.  Answer if you can, "I don't know"
is a valid answer.  Or help them through the wiki / mailing lists if
you can't, "I don't know, let's find out" is a valid answer as well.
If you have wifi available and an editing question arises, get them
online, and coach them while they edit.  Let them drive the computer.
Don't grab the keyboard / mouse. ;-)

There are many refinements you can make, but none of this can happen
until you decide to do it and pick a time and place.

But mostly, you just have to decide to do it.

[1] http://usergroups.openstreetmap.de/  Get listed by adding your
group to the osm wiki and use the groups template.  Follow Seattle for
an example. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Seattle,_Washington#Local_OSM_Group