So I think having a formal organization can enable people to do certain tasks. There are plenty of situations where it isn't needed of course.
Examples where it can help: -We wanted to put on a conference, it is much easier to have a formal organization for sponsorship and reserving a venue. -There has been talk about wanting to have Tagwatch and Extracts for the US. Can you do that without a formal organization? Sure. Can you get donations for hardware as an individual? Perhaps. But it is easy to have an organization own such a resource. The actual day to day running I would hope would be the community. -Some people want to set-up OSM education programs. Not impossible as an individual but can be easier as an organization. -There is a crew that wants to get a bus and drive around the US having mapping parties. Could someone just buy a bus and do it on their own? Sure. Do we think it would be easier as an organization? yes So none of these things have to happen with a formal chapter, but there are those of us that think they would be easier with one. -Kate On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 8:35 PM, Apollinaris Schoell <ascho...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On 18 Jul 2010, at 6:07 , Serge Wroclawski wrote: > >> I want to be clear on the outset that this mail is personal, and while >> I'm going to discuss some OSM US business, I'm not speaking on behalf >> of the organization or the board in this mail. >> >> With that out of the way... >> >> At the OSM US board meetings, one area of frequent discussion is "How >> can we get the community to be more involved with us?" > > did you ask if there is a community at all? Even this list is literally > silent. > why bother with an US board if there is so much to map and so few mappers. > >> >> So this is an open ended question: >> >> If you're in the US, what are your thoughts on the OSM US? Is there >> something you wish we were doing that we're not? What would you like >> to see the organization doing? And how can we get you (personally) >> more involved? >> > > What can a US board offer? I know there was much talk about what can be done. > All this is on a legal, organizational, governmental contracts, fundraising > level… I'd say community first and the rest will follow > > >> I'm really looking for practical answers, something we can take action >> on and accomplish. >> >> If you joined the organization, first, thank you, and second: What >> were your reasons for joining? >> >> And if you haven't yet joined the organization: Why not, and is there >> something we could do to encourage you to join? > > Simply don't see a personal reason for it or where and how it will help osm > in US. > > >> >> - Serge >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Talk-us mailing list >> Talk-us@openstreetmap.org >> http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us > > > _______________________________________________ > Talk-us mailing list > Talk-us@openstreetmap.org > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us > _______________________________________________ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us