[Osmf-talk] Candidacy: OSMF Board

[Tobias Knerr]

On 25.11.2017 13:55, Rafael Avila Coya wrote:
> Of all what Séverin says, I find very important, in my honest opinion,
> that a candidate for the OpenStreetMap board should have shown a good
> score of mapping. We are mappers, aren't we?

I wholeheartedly agree with that.

Don't get me wrong: There's a broad range of activities that help make
OSM a great project, and I'm grateful for the many people who volunteer
their unique skills to our community – be it in the domains of art, law,
coding, server wrangling, organizational skills or countless others.

But I feel that, to represent the community on the board, it's crucial
to have a passion for the heart of our project: Building the map.
Mapping is not just one skill of many, it's the foundational experience
of our community. And it's also an activity open to pretty much anyone
interested in OSM, as it doesn't require any specialist knowledge to get
started.

Becoming an experienced mapper tends to organically introduce you to
other facets of our community, too. When I meet a fellow mapper, I know
I have at least some of those experiences in common with them. As much
as the OSM community likes to passionately debate a broad range of
topics, I feel there's generally some set of common values as a result
of those experiences. And shared values are ultimately the highest
priority for me when considering a candidate.