Hi, First, I want to apologise, this is a long email, but if you are at all interested in moving OSM in Ireland to the next level, please read on and give your feedback when you're done.
Efforts to get the OSM Ireland group set up as a legal entity and established as a recognised chapter have never really got out of the starting blocks for us, mainly because it's an exceptionally long, boring process to get it all done. Back when Rory gave the Townlands presentation at a Sotm or two ago, I contacted everyone who took part and asked a number of questions to allow for some stats to be included in the presentation. I asked a few questions specifically around the topic of setting something up properly. If I recall correctly, all but one were interested in joining an official OSM Ireland, but less than half wanted to be involved in setting it up. But that ratio is to be expected. If I'm honest, it was a lot higher than I originally expected. What I would love to see is a functioning OSM Ireland body which, at an absolute minimum, could do the following - Scheduling regular meet up's - These would have some organisation around them e.g. guest speakers, break out groups, objectives etc. This could be monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly, doesn't matter, just even setting up a schedule and sticking to it would be a great achievement - Work on increasing the qty of daily contributors - Some simple things like automating messages to first time mappers, or a tool to ensure every new contributor's edits are reviewed for accuracy/vandalism etc. Basically, just setting up some structure around it to ensure we engage with new folks in the most efficient and effective ways possible. I see no reason why a number of 50 a day shouldn't be achievable within an 18 month period if this is done right. - Setting up an Import strategy - There is an ever growing pool of open data being released. To make full use of it is going to require a signficant body of up-front work (selecting, categorising, prioritising, tools and import process). - Lining up other, structured, mapping tasks - For example doing a 1 month blitz on lane mapping, or a 3 month clean-up of errors using Osmi or keepright etc etc etc. We did this with the enormous townland mapping project. Smaller scale versions, with a little work, could have a real, lasting impact on the map - Commiting to organising a State of the Map yearly. This doesn't need to have a load of bells and whistles, hell, year one would likely be one day, but it has to be possible to get a 2 day conference going within 2 years, whatever format it may take (barcamp, unconference etc). There's enough going on now between mappers, govt, commercial and academic folks that is easily within reach. - Lastly, getting out of Dublin. I know Dublin has the biggest population of mappers, but what about having the meetup in a location outside of Dub once or twice a year. Or there could be a night away where we do a load of ground work on the basemap first, then hit the ground in a town and get every street name, address, business and attraction all in one day, then meet back somewhere, have a bite to eat and a few drinks. In my head, I'm seeing each of those things needing 2-3 people to work on them, i.e. working groups, to ensure nobody gets left holding the bag and to avoid burnout. Now, I'd like to say, all of the above is purely what *I* think OSM Ireland should be about. Others may feel differently, and that's totally fine. It's kind of the point of this email :) With all of that in mind, to get us formally set up, what I am proposing is the following 1. A meeting in early Sept (the 2nd or the 9th) where we will come together to hammer out a lot of the basics of setting up OSM Ireland. Note, this will involve people coming together, agreeing on the structure and, most importantly, some people agreeing to take some work e.g. research whats involved in setting up a bank account, what are the legal requirements, how will we manage membership, etc etc 2. A second meeting in early Oct where the majority of the structure is locked down. Work to start on Articles of Association etc if required at this point. Again, some people would need to agree to take on some tasks to keep the process moving. 3. A third meeting in Nov and a fourth in Dec, to lock down any last elements. At this point we would need to agree a provisional board probably, to allow for paperwork to proceed for banks, govt. etc. Note, this board would step down at the first general meeting of OSM Ireland and elections would be held at that first meeting. 4. Jan, get all the paperwork sent to whoever 5. TBD, once paperwork is approved by relevant bodies, agenda for first general meeting to be determined and election process to begin There you go. With a bit of luck, before the next round of green milkshakes hits McDonalds, we would be a formal entity and we could start talking about moving to the next stage, which would be completing the OSMF chapter application, not to mention any other objectives we might have. So, who's in? Dave _______________________________________________ Talk-ie mailing list Talk-ie@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-ie
