[Osmf-talk] OSM-US local chapter application

Clifford Snow clifford at snowandsnow.us
Sat Aug 22 03:05:24 UTC 2020


I am a long time member of the US Chapter. I fully support the long overdue
application to be a recognized OSMF Local Chapter. Thanks to Maggie Crawley
and the Board members for making this happen. This board and previous board
members, especially Ian Dees, have done an outstanding job guiding the
membership to be an inclusive organization. They have organized some great
State of the Map US events. I've only missed two over the years since
becoming a member. The recent decision to adopt a Code of Conduct shows
that the Board is forward thinking. I highly recommend others follow this
example.

On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 4:47 AM Craig Allan <allan at iafrica.com> wrote:

> Hi All.
>
> Questions: None
>
> Comments: I support the formation of the LC for the USA.
>
> Concerns:
> 1) The USA is one really big entity, so to improve direct engagement with
> membership (building membership is my thing) I would not object to
> formation of regional LCs operating closer to the members - for example
> East, Midwest, West.  They will have to decide internally whether to do
> this, but from the OSMF point of view I would support pre-emptively adding
> to the LC charter the clause discussed earlier for the Pacific LC to
> provide for the creation of independent or subordinate regional LCs if the
> need arises.
>

That's an interesting suggestion. I will take that up with the LCCWG, of
which I'm a member.

>
> 2) All but one of the USA directors seem to be employed in commercial GIS
> related roles.  I know that this is not an election for directors, but just
> as idle chatter I'd just say that maybe most of their board may lean
> towards technical and commercial application of OSM and not really worry
> about building membership.  The best mitigation of the most serious risks
> facing OSM lie with expanding membership and not with building commercially
> exploitable capabilities.
>

Craig - I've known most of the board members personally for the past many
years. While they may have geospatial jobs, those jobs never impact their
dedication to OSM. Martijn has been an avid supporter of OSM and is well
known for Mapillary. Not as widely known is the many hours he spends in
various committees to help OSM-US. Minh Nguyen is one of the most helpful
people I know. He is knowledgeable in so many areas, too many to list, and
is always willing to help out. I don't know Daniela Waltersdorfer well, but
my interactions with her are nothing but positive. Alyssa Wright has been
guiding the organization for a number of years. Her dedication to improving
gender parity in OSM is inspiring. Jubal Harpster is a corporate flunky :)
but has been not only involved with OSM going back many years but OSGeo as
well. Lastly Maggie Crawley, our Executive Director, has proven to me that
OSMF could use someone just like her. (No - you can't have her) Because of
Maggie we now have a newsletter, regular Mappy Hours, support for the
various committees as well as planning for SOTM-US, now cancelled, and the
upcoming OpenStreetMap US:Connect 2020.

Best,
Clifford

-- 
@osm_washington
www.snowandsnow.us
OpenStreetMap: Maps with a human touch
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