Barend, Thanks for raising the issue. Belgium is indeed a complicated country [1]. I have two feelings on this: 1) I'm really happy this event is organised in Brussels and I believe it supports the goals of OSGeo. 2) Rather than having a problem with the fact that the event is only in French, I think an event called FOSS4G-* or OSGeo-* should give opportunity to local OSGeo contributors to participate, eg by having a call for papers/workshops. These type of local events are one of the few opportunities individuals/companies contributing to OSGeo have to reach out to (potential) customers.
Feeling 1 is bigger than feeling 2 for me, so I support the name this time, but I think we should definitely sit together after the event, to make sure that if a next event is organised we can do so jointly. Actually, I think we should form a local Belgian chapter. For me being part of the Dutch (language) chapter does not make sense that much. Many/Most of our users/clients are either Bilingual or French. They are much more likely to attend an event in Brussels than in the Netherlands/France. And people can still choose to join a language chapter if they prefer that. Johan [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceg6NQKHd70 On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 12:40 AM, <b.j.kob...@utwente.nl> wrote: > Nasty question from a Dutch (Netherlands) member of OSGEO.nl: Have you > consulted the Flemish OSGEO community about claiming the .be (=Belgium) > suffix for a French/Wallonic speaking event...? > > Sorry, but I feel it has to be asked... > > Barend > > -- > Barend Köbben > Senior Lecturer ITC-University of Twente > PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede (Netherlands) > @barendkobben > > > > > > On 01-09-2014 17:16, "Vincent Picavet" <vincent...@oslandia.com> wrote: > >>Hello all, >> >>As far as OSGeo-fr is concerned, we have been consulted and are happy to >>see >>that event taking shape. We will support the event as much as we can. >> >>Vincent >> >>Le lundi 1 septembre 2014 17:57:58, Maelle Vercauteren a écrit : >>> Dear, >>> >>> I am contacting you about the potential use of the name ³FOSS4G-Be² and >>> about the participation of OSGeo-fr for a future freeGIS day in Belgium >>> (Website and Event): >>> >>> We want to organize a French OSGeo event (the so called FOSS4G-Be) in >>>early >>> November 2014, in relation with the GIS courses and masterclass held at >>>the >>> Université Libre de Bruxelles, IGEAT research Unit: >>> It will be a one day event. There will be a selection of plenary >>> communication related to free SIG use in public or private environment >>>and >>> 2 or 3 practical workshops. >>> >>> This event will cover the following 3 topics: >>> >>> 1) FOSS4G tools/software: Establishment/creation or storage of >>> infrastructure and web sharing of spatial data >>> 2) Data & Services: Presentation on the freely available data and >>>services >>> 3) Applications: use of Open GIS (also with guest speakers from the >>>South) >>> >>> >>> Would you be willing to support us and work together on this project and >>> could we use the name ³FOSS4G-Be²? >>> >>> Could the event be co-organized by the ULB and OSGeo-fr? >>> If so, it would be nice to have an OSGeo-fr stand with a representative >>>of >>> the association and of its activities (as well as a plenary >>>presentation if >>> you are interested in). >>> >>> >>> Feel free to contact me if you have questions or if you would like to >>>share >>> your suggestions. >>> >>> >>> Thank you in advance for your reply, >>> >>> >>> Kind regards, >>> Maë//e >>_______________________________________________ >>Discuss mailing list >>Discuss@lists.osgeo.org >>http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
