[Talk-ca] SOTM 2008: The State of The (Canada) Map

[SteveC]

On 8 Jul 2008, at 18:46, James Ewen wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 6:41 PM, SteveC <steve at asklater.com> wrote:
>
>>> We need to find and enlist GPS enabled users currently... I found  
>>> out
>>> about OSM from the Geocaching community, if I recall correctly.  
>>> Hmm, I
>>
>> Disagree again - I carry around a pack of 10 GPS units to lend to
>> people at mapping parties.
>
> Cool, where do I find those 10 packs of GPS units at no cost? I'm
> still using my Garmin GPSII+. I managed to find BSGPS which will log
> my travels so I don't have to stop every 1024 seconds to download my
> track.

There are several people, including the foundation, who have sets of  
GPS units to lend out.

>>> We need to spread the
>>> word and build the membership base around here currently.
>>
>> Absolutely wrong. I'm running lots of mapping parties in the US where
>> OSM is totally unknown. I contact the geography departments, hikers,
>> cyclists and so on and the results are good.
>
> So, do you send these distant groups free GPS units? Do you attend
> these mapping parties? If so, how do you get there at no cost?

I'm not going to tie myself to this 'no cost' thing as it seems to be  
reductio ad absurdum

> I'm also not sure how you keep the OSM project a secret from these
> people that you get to map out an area for you. It sure seems like you
> would be spreading the word, and bringing more people into the OSM
> community through these activities.

Well, I try.

Best

Steve