[OSM-talk-be] Mapper of the month

[Ben Abelshausen]

Hi,

I think this is the first idea that is really working and something that we
are actually continuously managing to do every month apart maybe from the
meetups we started.

Many thanks to Marc G, Marc D & Jorieke for making this happen. If it would
have been me alone this would never have worked.

As for the VZW/ASBL:

The structure we have now is more than enough to handle what we are doing.
We can do a LOT more and do things a LOT better but it's still just me. I
keep asking people for help and on this mapper-of-the-month thing this
worked out great but there are lots of initiatives that never get off the
ground because there is nobody to run things or nobody to help.

I'm talking about things that are not mapping here. I think we have proven
that mapping is something we can do and keep doing well. We also managed to
organize the CRAB-import and other mapping-related projects without the
need for any formal structure.

The email about west-vlaanderen and mapping parties for example needs a
different kind of volunteering and got almost no response. I'm not pointing
fingers here, there are no obligations whatsoever when contributing to
OpenStreetMap, we just need to realize that when there are no volunteers
for organizing stuff nothing will get organized. We are a community and we
have to do these things ourselves and together. This opportunity in WVL is
great and I think we should take it.

I think Marc, Marc and Jorieke have shown that with a couple of hours of
work a month a lot can happen. The only hope I have is that with meetups,
OpenBelgium, OSM.be and a mapping party here-and-there we can get more
people involved and we can grow in a better way.

What you can do:

- First of all, keep on mapping! :-)
- Organize a local meetup, there is a lot of potential in Brussels/Ghent!
- Organize a mapping-party (like Nicolas now).
- Ask me If you want to do something extra.
- Put your ideas on talk-be!

Real projects that could use some help:

- Helping Nicolas with the mapping party.
- Website improvements. (!)
- West-Vlaanderen community-contact-person. Still looking for someone
there...
- Communication, for example, weekly OSM and managing the
twitter-account/facebook group a bit better... ;-) Also a FR-speaking
volunteer would help a lot.
- Emailing to your province about the 'Atlas der Buurtwegen'. Will send
another message about this soon.

Happy Mapping!

Ben
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