Hi, Some report on the meet-up last Saturday (20090207) at Grappas in Greenbelt 3.
7 people attended the meet-up ( a geospatial researcher, a computer hardware engineer, an IT/real property consultant, an IT security consultant and his relation, a travel site/webcam/python hacker, and a java programmer ). Mostly geeky (not the looks) but all are free map lover. The pizza was good and the micro-brewed beer was excellent. On the way to Makati, I turned-on my GPS to test my new update of Openstreetmap data for Garmin. The data for EDSA is quite good for my GPS, I did found a few bugs (missing flyover). Just in front of Grappas is the PowerMac center so I opened openstreetbugs and reported the missing flyover I passed by ;). The transcript below some of the things discussed (please fill in missing things): On forming an organization: We had a previous mail discussion on "should we have a formal organization representing OSM Philippines" so this was a main discussion point in Grappas. Basically two points were raised: 1. There is a need to create a "legal personality" for OSM Philippines to be able to represent the group to various institutions and to be able to access funding support if needed. There are a 3 options to choose from: as a foundation, as a non-profit or as an NGO. The minimum requirements would be a SEC registration and an annual reporting. The pros for this is, we as a group can engage in formal tie-ups, sponsorships and project grants. If we can access such opportunities, we can greatly expand OSM Philippines advocacy. 2. Do we need one already (as in ngayon na)? Creating a formal org needs a lot of work specifically paper work. Is there anybody here committed to take on such task? Many of us would rather just do mapping (fun) than do organizing and coordinating (not so fun, but maybe fun to others). Judging by the number of people in the meet-up, we guess just not yet. But the prospect of having an org is a good proposition and we are leaving the options open. We hope someone can take on the challenge and help us. As matter of "urgency", one of us shared an incident where a local volunteer group just doesn't see a need to formally organize and yet after six months, they need a formal org to attend and represent the group to some event. On the the GPStoGO program: I brought the GPS units with me to show to the group. Many thanks to those who pitched in and share the load to cover the custom duties. Currently, 3 units are with me. One is with Michael Cole. Anybody can request a reservation via this mailinglist and the wikipage: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Philippines/GPStogo_program Possible collaboration with the realtors and property brokers/appraisers: One attendee is a member of a "federation or real property appraisers/brokers" (can't remember the exact name of the federation). He raised the problem with geographic data of Phil. real properties and sees an oppurtunity to collaborate with OSM. I see this as a good opportunity for the group and perhaps we coud think of ways we can help them. No specifics for now, but I hope we can discuss them here. On helping new mappers: A concern was raised on how we can help new mappers. I am seeing a lot of contributors lately and we should make it a point to help newbies. An important lesson was while some of the "little things" maybe obvious to "seasoned mappers", it may not be so for newbies. In short, we should make it a point to welcome new mappers and point them towards the appropriate documentation/guide/wikipage to get them started the right way. Overall, the group was a great bunch and perhaps we could meet again (hopefully bigger). On other things: I was also invited by a local car group the Subaru Club of the Philippines last wednesday (2000204) to talk about OSM and GPS. I think I gave a fair amount of overview of what our project is all about, but I think it was too much info overload for the group (too much geeky stuff in my slides ;)). They like Openstreetmap very much because they can use it for their GPS and and is willing to contribute data. Collborations with other local groups like this can greatly expand our reach especially to end-users of the data. There will be another round of discussions with them and will post details. Hope you can also join. -- cheers, maning ------------------------------------------------------ "Freedom is still the most radical idea of all" -N.Branden wiki: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/ blog: http://epsg4253.wordpress.com/ ------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ talk-ph mailing list talk-ph@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-ph