[Local-chapters] what chapters and OSMF can do for each other

[Daniel Kastl]

On Wed, Jan 16, 2013 at 11:15 PM, Richard Welty <rwelty at averillpark.net>wrote:

> On 1/16/13 9:05 AM, Richard Welty wrote:
>
>>
>> it may be that the agreement doesn't need to talk about what the chapters
>> and OSMF do for each other, but it would be nice to see some discussion
>> about what such things might be, whether they're incorporated into the
>> agreement or not.
>>
> having brought it up, i'll now throw a few things out there:
>
> 1) permission to organize SOTM <locale> conferences in their <locale>, with
> support from OSMF as needed/desired
>
> 2) permission to run servers that provide various OSM related functions
> for their <locale>, again with support from OSMF as needed/desired
>
> 3) permission to support mapping in adjacent locales that don't have their
> own chapters yet (e.g., US support for Canadian mappers until the Canadians
> decide they want to form their own chapter.)
>

Here a few topics I can remember that they came up:

- Shall local chapters collect funding on behalf of OSMF?
- Shall local chapters play some role in OSMF (ie. voting rights)
- Are local chapter memberships independent from OSMF memberships?
- Can OSMF give financial support to local chapters (ie. developing
countries)
- Must local chapters represent a country? What about languages?
... I think I forgot many ...

Speaking for OSMF Japan the reason to establish a local chapter was to have
a legal entity to be able to receive data donations (ie. Yahoo!Japan) and
sponsorship/funding (you need a bank account), and to be able to sign
contracts (SotM).
In many countries it's necessary to have a local contact. OSMF Japan
receives frequently emails from local media, that probably wouldn't contact
an international (English speaking) organization.

Currently we don't need more than being allowed to use the OSM logo and
name, but having the brand to be an "official local chapter" sounds good,
no? ;-)
I think that local chapters are more effective in promoting OSM (especially
in non-English speaking countries). Maybe OSMF could help that local
chapters (or some representatives of local chapters) coordinate in some way
and support each other.

Daniel



-- 
Georepublic UG & Georepublic Japan
eMail: daniel.kastl at georepublic.de
Web: http://georepublic.de
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