[Talk-us] US Chapter Mission Statement

[Serge Wroclawski]

Chris, great start!

My .02 on the issue of territories, protectorates, etc.issue is that
we don't need to limit the organization's mapping mandate to the US.
I'd say the goal of US OSM is the same as the goal of OSM in general,
which is to map the entire world.

One other bullet point would be (in my mind) to work with local groups
to help them with their local mapping activity.

For example, in DC we've running mapping events about once a month,
and it would be nice if a national organization could help us with
procuring resources to help in the effort (GPSes, for example).

This is one of the key differences in my mind between US OSM and some
of the other OSM groups around the world. The US is both
geographically large and has a relatively high population. The number
of participants in OSM from any one city that's heavily involved in
mapping could constitute an OSM chapter elsewhere- so the US OSM
chapter structure needs to work in service to these local groups.

The DC folks briefly considered becoming an OSM chapter on our own
before deciding to push for the national chapter. I'm hoping that
through this process we can create an organizational structure that
can give the local groups the benefits we were looking for without the
same level of formal paperwork that a non-profit demands.

Really awesome start!

- Serge