Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
The residential areas and suburbs of *any* town aren't places you'd normally go unless you had to, but we do to map them. Mapping Berry Hill or Ladybrook wouldn't be any different to mapping a suburb in any other town in the UK. To be fair it can be quite pleasant mapping the nicer residential areas in spring and early summer when the flowers are out in the gardens, etc. Nick ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
Hi, Nick Whitelegg wrote: To be fair it can be quite pleasant mapping the nicer residential areas in spring and early summer when the flowers are out in the gardens, etc. I'm sort of missing the obvious reference to girls and the length of their skirts but I guess that was supposed to be part of the etc. ;-) Bye Frederik ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
David Earl wrote: Sent: 17 February 2010 6:10 PM To: Jonathan Bennett Cc: talk-gb@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties On 17/02/2010 18:07, Jonathan Bennett wrote: The residential areas and suburbs of *any* town aren't places you'd normally go unless you had to, but we do to map them. I started getting nervous in King's Lynn when I found ordinary residential streets, albeit very shabby looking, were being monitored by very prominent CCTV cameras! Welcome to Birmingham ;-) Cheers Andy ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
A few comments and observations from setting up some of the previous parties. The location doesn't really seem to matter. People will come if it's advertised well and a core group agree to attend. Then things seem to click. Having a novel idea, like a mini bus, canal boat, cottage, bbq, hot tub (you get the idea) seems to add an extra incentive and help add some fun factor. Saturdays were always the best attended days of general mapping weekends. I'd suggest that some events are focused just on the one day. The obsessive mapper will always come in early or leave on the Sunday if they want to anyway. You do however get the occasional local family who will come along to a Sunday, but they generally on attend for a couple of hours in the morning or after lunch. Where there is a local social group, even if its only three mappers who get together now and again, then you have the makings of a good Saturday morning mapping party. Those of us in the Midlands will be doing a few of those this year to knock off areas of the Black Country and hopefully complete Dudley and its surrounds this year. Meeting around 10am on a Sat and then doing a couple of hours of mapping before lunch in the pub, goes down well and then those that want to carry on mapping for another couple of hours afterwards can do so before heading home. No venue is needed, no wifi, etc. Just somewhere to meet at the start (coffee shop etc) and an idea for a pub (sometimes we see who finds one while mapping before lunch). Obviously this format doesn't really work for newcomers, we get around that by inviting newcomers to a social evening or one of the occasional workshops. Of course newcomers can always tag along with someone to be shown the ropes. It also only works within reasonable travelling distance for the local group. I think Peter's idea of having a sponsor column is excellent. The sponsor might not necessarily be financial, it might just be the group arranging things. Laying on food and drink at lunchtime appears to go down very well. Big parties (Manchester and Milton Keynes were two of the best attended events I've been too) where there are 20+ mappers are excellent but not so easy to manage. These ones do need some funding and a good venue. Not all the 20+ are productive though, some OSMer's like to sit around and socialise while connected via wifi, which is cool and helps build relationships and communication, but does't increase the mapping in the locality, though it might help fix some code or develop something else, so linking a hack event and a party may work. Plenty of advertising to the OSM community and good consensus support for the location and actual weekend chosen are key. Certainly the London folks should be considering one of these big ones and I'd suggest Luton would perhaps be logical, but as I've said before the location isn't that critical in my experience. We also should think themes. Presently our mapping parties have principally been focused on the map. If on the other hand you set up a mapping party for a particular group of people, then you can map something of common interest. The roads will get done as a by product. In this way we reach out to some new groups. These events don't always need to be on the ground either, some, like our West Midlands gritting routes, just needed communication and a social or two to work. My wish list for the future (and therefore support for) includes: A party for cyclists A party for hillwalkers (like the Lakes one Nick W set up a couple of years ago) An OSM MAP DAY where everyone is focused on doing some mapping which culminates in a mass meet-up at some location(s). Top of a hill, pub, border crossing.. An OSM MapCamp where we literally take over a campsite and have fun (plus some mapping). You will see that most of what I'm suggesting above is focused more on the social fun side of things than having to get a dull place mapped. As I said at the start, my experience is that even the most apparent dull place rarely is. We all thought Sunderland would be a bit difficult but for me it turned out to be one of the best and most interesting. If everyone is having fun then things just seem to get mapped anyway. Cheers Andy -Original Message- From: talk-gb-boun...@openstreetmap.org [mailto:talk-gb- boun...@openstreetmap.org] On Behalf Of Peter Miller Sent: 18 February 2010 9:38 AM To: li...@humanleg.org.uk Cc: talk-gb@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties On 17 Feb 2010, at 20:55, Robert Scott wrote: On Wednesday 17 February 2010, Andy Allan wrote: I think it would be great[1] if we had at least two dozen mapping parties this summer around the UK. So I'm looking for volunteers to help organise them, and ideas for locations. Here's some handy suggestions for places I've found on the wiki: ( ;-P ) http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Priorities http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Secondary_Priorities
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
I would also suggest that anyone attending a conference arrange a mapping party around it. I did that at the AGI GeoCommunity last year and we made some decent progress in Stratford-upon-Avon, and raised a lot of awareness with conference attendees. Most attendees didn't take part, but the next day when several presenters showed what progress had been made in a few hours, the message sank home about small scale, self-organised mapping events being able to make a big difference. -- Christopher Osborne www.itoworld.com ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
Dave F. [mailto:dave...@madasafish.com] wrote: Sent: 18 February 2010 2:27 PM To: Andy Robinson (blackadder-lists) Cc: talk-gb@openstreetmap.org Subject: Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties Andy Robinson (blackadder-lists) wrote: A few comments and observations from setting up some of the previous parties. snip This is useful info, thanks. Do you split up into smaller groups of say, 2 or 3 or do you walk around on mass? Slit the area to be mapped up into useful chunks (the cake) and then go it alone before meeting up. Newcommers will often get grouped in pairs or with an experienced mapper. Are there any printable leaflets that explain what OSM is about to hand out to people who are inquisitive about what we're doing? It would help pacify convince them that we're not 'casing their joint for a rob'. Yes there are. Try here: http://svn.openstreetmap.org/misc/pr_material/ Cheers Andy ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
Hi Andy, Had a couple in mind, firstly a mini-party for Haslemere (surrey) which is partly complete but not totally. I could also do Andover from the priority list as it's quite local to me. Thirdly I'd like to do a larger-scale countryside event in the summer down here in the south somewhere, for footpath mapping - haven't decided where yet though. Nick Andy Allan gravityst...@gmail.com Sent by: talk-gb-boun...@openstreetmap.org 17/02/2010 12:11 To Talk-GB talk-gb@openstreetmap.org cc Subject [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties I think it would be great[1] if we had at least two dozen mapping parties this summer around the UK. So I'm looking for volunteers to help organise them, and ideas for locations. Here's some handy suggestions for places I've found on the wiki: ( ;-P ) http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Priorities http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Secondary_Priorities Currently we have two mapping parties planned, so that's almost 10% of the way to the the first two-dozen. Who wants to start pencilling in dates and locations? Anyone thinking about running a party but is looking for some help? Cheers, Andy [1] See http://www.gravitystorm.co.uk/shine/archives/2010/02/17/finishing-the-uk-road-network/ ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
On 17 Feb 2010, at 14:06, Someoneelse wrote: Andy Allan wrote: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Priorities http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Secondary_Priorities That's really UK Urban Mapping Priorities though, isn't it? Personally I'd rather know which rural pubs were still open* around the towns concerned than the full map of all of the backstreets. I suspect that the problem is that the places on this list tend not to be places that you'd actively choose to visit in summer. I live not far from Mansfield, so taking that as an example (to avoid being disrespectful to anyone else's home town!), it isn't somewhere that you'd normally go to unless you absolutely had to. Lowestoft is by the sea and on the end of the East Suffolk Line and needs mapping; lots of nice countryside around. ITO would be happy to sponsor pizzas and beer for that one (or whatever)! There are some other smaller towns in Suffolk which are both pretty and need a bit of TLC. I will take a look for some more in the area Regards, Peter Miller ITO World Ltd ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
On 17/02/2010 14:06, Someoneelse wrote: I suspect that the problem is that the places on this list tend not to be places that you'd actively choose to visit in summer. I live not far from Mansfield, so taking that as an example (to avoid being disrespectful to anyone else's home town!), it isn't somewhere that you'd normally go to unless you absolutely had to. Careful. I was born in Mansfield. The residential areas and suburbs of *any* town aren't places you'd normally go unless you had to, but we do to map them. Mapping Berry Hill or Ladybrook wouldn't be any different to mapping a suburb in any other town in the UK. If you were organising a Mansfield mapping party you'd need to ensure that there was a decent venue available, but that would be the trickiest part, I think. -- Jonathan (Jonobennett) ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Re: [Talk-GB] Two dozen mapping parties
On Wednesday 17 February 2010, Andy Allan wrote: I think it would be great[1] if we had at least two dozen mapping parties this summer around the UK. So I'm looking for volunteers to help organise them, and ideas for locations. Here's some handy suggestions for places I've found on the wiki: ( ;-P ) http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Priorities http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_Mapping_Secondary_Priorities Currently we have two mapping parties planned, so that's almost 10% of the way to the the first two-dozen. Who wants to start pencilling in dates and locations? Anyone thinking about running a party but is looking for some help? Luton certainly needs some attention. Though I'm relatively nearby, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to organise anything as I don't know what I'll be doing / where I will be by then. robert. ___ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
