[Talk-us] election statement

Steven Johnson sejohnson8 at gmail.com
Fri Aug 20 03:24:55 BST 2010


I simply want to say that I'm standing for election again and offer a little
background...

I've served as the member-at-large since the incorporation of the US chapter
of OpenStreetMap in April of this year. As member-at-large, I've helped
organize a few mapping parties in the Washington, DC area, assisted with the
incorporation process, and lent my modest talents where ever I could to
organize the US chapter.

Increasingly, I'm gravitating into an outreach role both to government
organizations and to communities that show potential for community
development. To that end, I am currently organizing a mapping party in
Raleigh/Durham, NC which could serve to kick off the GeoBus idea floated at
the US State of the Map conference. Regardless of whether I'm re-elected to
the board, I anticipate continuing in this role to build the OSM community
in the US.

I always wonder what drives us each to give our time and energy to US OSM,
so I'll share my motivations. First, I believe there is immense value in
creating an open source map of the US (and yes, the world) through citizen
mapping. Free geo-data enriches the public sphere. Second, I'm motivated by
OSM as a vehicle for building community, -specifically the means to connect
people with places that matter to them. And lastly, OSM has great potential
is a marvelous educational resource that can engage young students with
their environment and teach them social sciences often in ways that surpass
than the average classroom experience.

Thanks to all the candidates for standing for election!

SEJ
----
"Wretches, utter wretches, keep your hands from beans." -Empedocles
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