[WelcomeWG] Messages to new mappers

[Charlotte Wolter]

Andy,

         This is no surprise. People don't stick around OSM because 
no one reaches out to them. They join and then it's like we forget 
about them. So they leave.
         Think of how many would have stuck around if you sent a 
message that said something like, "Welcome to OSM. We're really glad 
you joined. Your contributions to OSM are very important as we grow 
our map of the world.
         "If you have any questions that we can answer or need any 
help with your mapping, don't hersitate to contact me or the 
"Newbies" mailing list. We also have excellent guides and tools on 
the OSM wiki, starting with the Beginners Guide at (link).
         "Again, welcome to OSM and keep mapping!"
         This is not rocket science. This is just basic good practice 
for any volunteer organization, practices that are followed by most 
successful nonprofit or volunteer organizations. And you don't reach 
out new members just once. You reach out to them regularly. Outreach 
has to be done on an ongoing basis if it is going to be successful. 
And our email lists won't cut it. Frankly, our email lists are too 
geeky to be of much help for the average mapper, and they certainly 
are not friendly.
         What kinds of things do we need to say to new members?
         First, we need to keep them informed about what's going on 
in OSM, particularly things they can get involved in, like Mappy Hour 
and mapping parties.
         Second, we have to give them help with mapping, help geared 
to their level of mapping. Some will be GIS professionals, some will 
be schoolkids or retired people looking to get involved in something. 
So we have to have tools that work for different levels of mapping experience.
         Third, we need to give encouragement. We need to emphasize 
that they are important to the organization. We can just say that, 
but we also can do things like give individuals or groups recognition 
for their efforts.
         Again, this is not rocket science. This is what successful 
volunteer organizations do. It's not even hard to do. Just regular 
emails, at least monthly but preferably more often, to all members 
for the first year after they join.
         In my eyes, this is really basic. Frankly, I'm amazed OSM 
has stuck around as long as it has, considering how little it does to 
hang onto new members. But, this has to change, if OSM is to reach 
its potential.
         What does everyone else think?

Charlotte


At 04:17 PM 1/16/2013, you wrote:
>I believe that I mentioned some time ago on IRC that I'd go through 
>the "messages to new mappers" that I'd sent to mappers who started 
>in around November last year and tot up which new mappers are still 
>mapping and which not.
>
>I've finally done it, and put the summary behind my wiki user page here:
>
>http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:SomeoneElse/contacting_new_mappers
>
>Two things really surprised me:
>
>1) Of the mappers who I'd sent polite "please make sure roads and 
>paths join" messages to, 30% were still mapping as of a week ago - I 
>was expecting fewer.
>
>2) Of the mappers who weren't messaged, the vast majority edited on 
>one day only - they mostly made a successful change (e.g. mapped a 
>building or changed a street name) and job done, they didn't come 
>back and edit anything else.
>
>(apologies if this second point has been obvious all along to 
>everyone but me!)
>
>Cheers,
>Andy
>
>(see also 
>http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:SomeoneElse/new_mapper_messages 
>for info)
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>WelcomeWG mailing list
>WelcomeWG at openstreetmap.org
>http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/welcomewg

Charlotte Wolter
927 18th Street Suite A
Santa Monica, California
90403
+1-310-597-4040
techlady at techlady.com
Skype: thetechlady

The Four Internet Freedoms
Freedom to visit any site on the Internet
Freedom to access any content or service that is not illegal
Freedom to attach any device that does not interfere with the network
Freedom to know all the terms of a service, particularly any that 
would affect the first three freedoms.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/welcomewg/attachments/20130116/25521456/attachment.html>