On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 8:21 AM, Katie Filbert <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 1:23 PM, Serge Wroclawski <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 1:20 AM, Martijn van Exel <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > On a related note, I was thinking about a traveling mapping party kit: >> > a bunch of GPSes, swag, some vests, instruction leaflets. A neat idea >> > in itself, but I feel the US is just too big to make that practical. >> >> To sell, I fear the GPSes make it cost prohibitive. >> >> To lend, I suspect the GPSes make it hard to seed. >> >> But hey I'd love to be proven wrong. > > If we were to have regular mapping parties in the DC region (or NY), I'm > sure that Wikimedia DC (or NYC) could fund a kit for the Mapping DC folks. > > I'm not sure about sending them across the country to lend out. We could > lend out within our region and maybe somewhat beyond.
What is preventing us from having more DC or NY mapping parties? Is it the lack of a mapping kit? I don't recall many people saying that they would organize and host a mapping party, if only they had a MPKit. I suggest, rather, that it is a lack of "round tuits". The lack of a kit makes it easier to say, "Well, if we had a kit, NewPerson in SomeTown could host a Mapping Party." Having a MPKit makes the mapping party "somebody else's problem". When the alternative might be to say, "Now _I'm_ going to host a Mapping Party in MyTown." Most everybody in this thread has hosted or attended a mapping party, so I don't intend to criticize. And, if I'm pointing, I'm definitely pointing at myself as much as at anybody else. I just don't think that a MPKit is the blocker here. :-( There are alternatives. Mappy Hours and talks are two alternatives. I'm down on Mapping Parties. Part of this is because of my phenomenally bad relationship with the weather during my Mapping Parties. :-) That doesn't mean that you have to be down on Mapping Parties, of course. I like having a goal of "acquire new mappers who continue to contribute", rather than, "map this area, today." I find that I feel more successful at that goal by hosting Mappy Hours and doing "Intro to OSM" talks for groups. And I find those events less of a burden to organize, and much less weather dependent. It means that I do have to drop the goal of, "map this area, today." You may find that goal too attractive to abandon. We've dragged this thread a long way from flyers. Sorry. I think flyers are cool. And thanks, tons, to Serge for providing me with some from his trip to London. I'm still handing them out. :-) Best regards, Richard, who realizes that he hasn't hosted a MP in 2012. :-( _______________________________________________ Talk-us mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us
