OSGeo - User contributions [en]

User:JoCook

2024-10-28T14:49:21Z

Jocook:

{{OSGeo Member
|Name=Jo Cook
|JobTitle=Data Officer
|Company=[https://eiti.org Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative]
|Country=UK
|Coordinate=51.332637, -0.271971
|LocalChapter=OSGeo UK https://uk.osgeo.org
|Email=jo.k.cook@gmail.com
|Website=[https://www.archaeogeek.com https://www.archaeogeek.com]
|Photo=Dec_2017.jpg
|Info=Data Officer at [https://eiti.org Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative].
}}
{{OSGeo Experience
|User=Yes
|Committee=Yes
|Board=No
|Coder=No
|Translate=No
|PSC=No
|ExBoard=Yes
|Charter=Yes
|Chair=No
|SolKatz=No
|Committer=Yes
}}
;OSGeo Experience
* Board Member (2011-2012)
* Charter Member (2010-present)
* UK Local Chapter Founder and Chair (2007-2021)
* Deputy-chair of FOSS4G 2013
* Chair of FOSS4GUK 2016
* Incubation Committee (2018-present)
* Google Season of Docs administrator and mentor (2019)

;Contact:
: Email: jocook AT astuntechnology.com
:[http://twitter.com/#!/archaeogeek Twitter]

;Profile last updated: 28th October 2024

[[Category:OSGeo Advocate]]

2019-06-21T11:19:20Z

Jocook:

User:JoCook

2019-06-21T11:18:44Z

Jocook:

{{OSGeo Member
|Name=Jo Cook
|JobTitle=Geospatial Consultant
|Company=Astun Technology Limited
|Country=UK
|Coordinate=51.332637, -0.271971
|LocalChapter=OSGeo UK
|Email=jocook AT astuntechnology.com
|Website=https://www.archaeogeek.com
|Photo=Dec_2017.jpg
|Info=Consultant for [http://astuntechnology.com/ Astun Technology] - who provide internet mapping products based the OSGeo technology stack. Charter Member, founder and official representative of the UK local chapter and a Board Member for OSGeo (2011-2012). Available for seminars, workshops, and presentations about OSGeo or about open source GIS, with a focus on spreading the word to new users, both personal and enterprise. Quelling myths about proprietary vs open source are a speciality. Creator of [https://portablegis.xyz Portable GIS]- Open Source GIS on a USB stick for windows. Find out more at [http://www.archaeogeek.com Archaeogeek] or [http://about.me/jocook about.me].
}}
{{OSGeo Experience
|User=Yes
|Committee=Yes
|Board=No
|Coder=No
|Translate=No
|PSC=No
|ExBoard=Yes
|Charter=Yes
|Chair=No
|SolKatz=No
|Committer=Yes
}}
;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]]
* Board Member (2011-2012)
* Charter Member (2010-present)
* UK Local Chapter Founder and Official Representative (2007-present)
* Deputy-chair of FOSS4G 2013
* Chair of FOSS4GUK 2016
* Incubation Committee (2018-present)
* Google Season of Docs administrator and mentor (2019)

;Contact:
: Email: jocook AT astuntechnology.com
:[http://twitter.com/#!/archaeogeek Twitter]

;Profile last updated: 24th January 2018

[[Category:OSGeo Advocate]]

Season of Docs Ideas 2019

2019-05-27T18:00:56Z

Jocook: /* Best practice templates */

OSGeo's [[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

''From simple to grandiose writing tasks which will improve OSGeo projects, and open source in general. It includes ideas and first steps for tech writers, software users and those participating in Google’s [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/ Season-of-Docs].''

We, the communities behind the [https://www.osgeo.org/ OSGeo Foundation’s] open source geospatial projects, are positioned to help solve big documentation challenges faced by all open source projects. We can achieve this by continuing as we are doing now, with ordinary people, gifting small bursts of effort, toward discrete and achievable tasks, to collectively achieve an extraordinary impact.

=Leveraging Google’s Season-of-Docs=

Google’s [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/ Season-of-Docs] is an initiative to bring open source and technical writer communities together to write documentation. The OSGeo Foundation will be allocated one paid tech writer, which we are [#People_keen_to_take_part matching with multiple volunteers]. We propose we use this initiative as a focal point to attract a collaborative community to pilot big ideas. In particular:
* Open source projects face sustainability challenges. How will docs developed during Season-Of-Docs be maintained long term?
* Can a writer’s expertise be amplified to help community users and developers write good docs more effectively and efficiently?
* Could best practices developed in one project be applied to the greater open source eco-system?

We propose to focus on one (or more) writing initiatives, for one of our leading OSGeo projects. Goals should focus on:
* Being directly applicable for the project.
* Be captured as a template, which can be easily applied to other OSGeo projects. Ideally, this will grow into an initiative which is of value to all open source projects.

==Key roles sought==
Our OSGeo foundation can absorb many more writers than the one writer who will be paid by Google. Want to join us?

* '''Volunteer Writer''': As someone keen to give back to open source through docs, volunteer to work with like-minded people. Mentor and be mentored. Tackle anything from simple fixes through to world-leading thought leadership.
* '''Volunteer Technical Mentor''': As an experienced project team member, provide [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/mentor-guide technical mentorship] toward a writing initiative.
* '''Volunteer Learning Expert''': Help shape documentation templates and guides by linking back to educational theory. (This role is highly valued).
* '''Volunteer Administrator''': As an engaged OSGeo community member, act as a [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide Season-of-Docs administrator].
* '''Paid Senior Writer''': Lead the writing aspects of our initiative, including empowering other participants. [https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019#Selection_criteria_for_paid_role Selection Criteria].

==Interested?==

If you are considering volunteering, or maybe just want to learn a bit more, then please reach out to us on our [https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs email list]. If keen, then add yourself to the list below. ''(Be concise: Name, brief background, how you’d like to contribute.)''

==People keen to take part==
# '''Cameron Shorter [Admin and Mentor]:''' Geospatial business analyst. Co-founder of OSGeoLive. Co-editor of OSGeoLive doc templates; reviewer of most of the 50 Project Overview and Quickstart documents. Ex-board member of OSGeo Foundation. Keen to provide connections to our community and to be practically involved in writing initiatives.
# '''Jo Cook [Admin and Mentor]:''' Geospatial Consultant and metadata lead at [http://astuntechnology.com Astun Technology]. Chair and founder of the [http://uk.osgeo.org OSGeo UK Local Chapter], chair of FOSS4GUK 2016, vice-chair of FOSS4G 2013, and previous OSGeo board member. Keen to mentor technical writers and generally reduce the barriers for non-coders to contribute to projects, using documentation as a way in.
# '''Matteo Ghetta [Admin and Mentor]:''' Geospatial Software Developer, Writer, and Trainer with Faunalia consulting company in Italy. QGIS doc team coordinator, as well as being sponsored to upgrade docs, such as upgrading training manual to QGIS version 3.x, and writing processing algorithm help files.
# '''María Arias de Reyna [Mentor]:''' GeoNetwork maintainer. President of OSGeo Foundation. Open Source Advocator and Women in Technology activist. Software Engineer with more than a decade of experience in the spatial field. I would like to mentor someone to improve GeoNetwork documentation to make sure both users and developers have a good reference manual.
# '''Nick Bearman [Mentor]:''' Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis (University College London) and GIS Trainer & Consultant (Geospatial Training Solutions). Contributed to QGIS documentation. Write and deliver GIS training courses to a variety of participants. Keen to learn how to contribute more effectively, particularly to QGIS documentation. Also looking to run a workshop on how to contribute to open source documentation at upcoming FOSS4G UK event in Edinburgh, UK in September 2019.
# '''Astrid Emde [Mentor]''': Senior GIS consultant at WhereGroup in Bonn, Germany. OSGeo board member and secretary. Awarded the Sol Katz award for leadership and longtime contributions to open source geospatial communities. Contributor to OSGeoLive, the OSGeo marketing committee and co-coordinator of meetups, code-sprints, and the annual German-speaking open source geospatial conference. She likes documentation and teaching people OSGeo Software. Keen to provide connections to our community and to be practically involved in writing initiatives.
# '''Nicolas Roelandt [Mentor]:''' Geospatial engineer at the French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks. OSGeo charter member and OSGeoLive Project Steering Committee (PSC) member. Works on OSGeoLive documentation and translation build process (using the Transifex platform). Keen to support others in the use of these tools.
# '''Johanna Boltman''': Ex-English teacher, IT admin, and user of open source software as a geospatial officer at a local council. Keen to be mentored in writing docs.
# '''Andrew Jeffrey''': Spatial Consultant in Bathurst, NSW, Australia, involved in QGIS training and support. Involved in the Australian QGIS user group, have contributed to QGIS documentation, and have a keen interest in improving the community and access to information for users. Out of the Google Summer of Docs, I am interested in being mentored to improve my QGIS documentation contributions, and learn of any best practices that can facilitate a good delivery of information.
# '''Adam Steer''': Independent geospatial consultant, scientist, community builder. Board member of OSGeo Oceania; charter member of OSGeo and OGC representative. Sometimes occupying all the chairs of coder/writer/analyst/manager - sometimes all at once; keen to contribute my experience to both document and training material writing; and mentoring new contributors. Also keen to learn and improve my own practices in contributing to OSGeo projects.
# '''Belinda Baker''': Background in writing process documentation and user of open source software as a GIS Consultant at a software company. Keen to be mentored in writing docs.
# '''Liam Turner''': GIS Specialist for NSW Government (Australia), previously a high school physics teacher. User of open source technical documentation, keen to make a contribution.
# '''Luca Delucchi:''' Geographer; OSGeo and Open Street Map contributor and advocate. Core developer and translator of the GRASS GIS project; main developer of pyModis library; OSGeoLive and ZOO-Project contributor; president of the Italian OSGeo local chapter. Willing to help improve Jupyter interactive notebook documents in line with a developed template and writing instructions, if one is developed and committed to.
# '''Sara Ratner:''' MEd (Masters of Education). Researched, developed and embedded educational theory in school, tertiary and corporate contexts. PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne, Australia, exploring the automation of industry / future of work and its impact on the purpose of schooling. Keen to contribute toward building documentation templates which link back to educational theory and absorbing information effectively.
# '''Phillip Davis''': Professor of Computer Science in Corpus Christi, Texas USA. Longtime open source geospatial advocate, rabble-rousing troublemaker all over the world. Project manager and maniac behind the 2012-2015 build of the US GeoAcademy. Created five Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) as project manager and major funder from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and US Departement of Labour (DOL). Interested in helping to promote and develop any geospatial open source educations resource. Potential NSF and DOL US Federal grant writer and Principal Investigator.
# '''Charlie Schweik''': Professor of Environmental Conservation and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Advocate of open educational resources and continues to be interested in developing collective action in GeoForAll and OSGeo toward developing a collaborative effort around educational materials. I'd welcome the opportunity to mentor somebody (especially if there were from my university) to write for this effort.
# '''Chris Pettit:''' Professor of Urban Science, City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, Australia. Advisory Board member for the [https://www.osgeo.org/initiatives/geo-for-all/ OSGeo GeoforAll] initiative and open source advocate. Passionate about how city analytics can support smart city planning and policy-making. Interested to mentor a writer in developing open source geospatial education materials relevant to city analytics and data-driven decision making to support the realization of sustainable, productive, smart, resilient and liveable cities.
# '''Piers Higgs:''' CEO Gaia Resources. Interested in contributing our Environmental QGIS training course toward QGIS writing initiatives, and also to provide a little mentorship toward future development of this and related material.
* ... add your name here

== Selection criteria for paid role ==
For the paid [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/tech-writer-guide senior technical writer role], we are looking for someone to help us reach our goals of being impactful, sustainable and effective.

About you:
* You likely have had years of experience working as a senior technical writer or equivalent. You are familiar with various style guides, writing styles, information design, writing tools, etc.
* It will be helpful if you understand the basics of software development, including:
** Installing software on Linux, windows and mac, from the command line
** Using basic git and github functionality to update documentation
** Writing in wiki, markdown and restructured text formats
* You are motivated by more than the paid stipend. You intend to stick around and amplify the long term impact of your contributions.
* You are nice and friendly, in line with our [https://www.osgeo.org/code_of_conduct/ code-of-conduct].

In responding, consider:
* How will your contributions be valuable beyond the SeasonOfDocs period, beyond the initiative you take on, beyond the specific project(s) you help?
* How will you be helping others become more effective? Look at profiles of volunteers interested so far.
* How would you suggest we shape our communication strategy?
* Will you be able to help us find and then become involved in best practice documentation communities? You might already be part of such communities.
* Google offers standard-length (3 months) and long-running (6 months) options (for the same stipend funds). The longer timeframe is better suited to working with volunteers and our goal of sustainability.
* It will be challenging for us to have the bandwidth to assess whether you are both competent and will sustain your involvement long term. Are you able to reference your volunteer involvement in other communities? How can you concisely reference your communication expertise?
* Involvement in writing communities, such as [https://www.writethedocs.org/ WriteTheDocs] would be considered valuable or worth referencing.

Does all this sound exciting, but you suspect you don’t have the bandwidth or expertise for the paid senior technical writer role? Why not join our volunteers?

=The back story=

For background on the value of communicators, along with ideas on the sort of communities that have proven to be successful in the past, we suggest starting with [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html this article on inspiring techies to become great writers].

=Ideas=

==Best practice templates==

Good documentation benefits from access to cross-disciplinary skills. Expertise is typically spread across developers, users, domain experts, teachers, technical writers, graphic artists, and translators. Ramp-up time is high for any group attempting to learn another’s skill-set. This creates a significant barrier to entry.

Our OSGeoLive initiative has [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html achieved] sustained, cross-domain collaboration by capturing writer’s expertise within templates with clear and punchy writing instructions. These templates were then provided to developers and domain experts. By using an outline/write/review/translate/publish process we’ve achieved significant efficiencies by allowing experts to focus only on the areas they know best. However, OSGeoLive has only tackled the Project Overview and Quickstarts. Geospatial projects which have tacked harder documentation types haven’t addressed cross-project consistency.

How can we align our OSGeoLive writing initiatives with other projects and help build best practice templates for key documentation types? This will be valuable if addressed across our all our OSGeo geospatial projects. It will be significantly more valuable if extended to an international, cross-domain level. (It will be challenging to attract momentum, but good groundwork is in place, and if implemented it would have a huge positive impact.)

Potential resources:
* [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html Inspiring great technical docs, using templates]. Vision as a presentation - 8 min read.
* Daniele Procida’s [https://www.divio.com/blog/documentation/ What nobody tells you about documentation]. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azf6yzuJt54 videoed at PyCon 2017]).
* [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html Document type definitions].
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Writing instructions for OSGeoLive Project Overviews and Quickstarts].
* The [https://www.writethedocs.org/about/stay-connected/ Write-The-Docs community] are a likely source of potential co-contributors and defacto owners of such templates.
* [https://www.cebm.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Blooms-Taxonomy-Teacher-Planning-Kit.pdf Bloom’s Taxonomy: Teacher Planning Kit] is helpful for selecting language for training.
* [https://github.com/mdyd-dev/nearme-documentation/tree/master/marketplace_builder/views/pages/doc-templates Nearme writing templates] with [https://www.platform-os.com/blog/post/blog/building-our-documentation-site-on-platformos-part-2-content-production-and-layouts accompanying blog post].
* Someone has suggested ISO standards, but you need to pay to use them, and they appear overly verbose: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_JTC_1/SC_7#Published_standards ISO/IEC/IEEE 26511, 25612, 25613, 25614, 25615].
* [https://dev.to/marcuscreo/the-4-letter-word-word-that-makes-my-blood-boil Words NOT to use in your documentation]
* [https://dev.to/eli/3-essential-components-of-great-documentation-2cih 3 essential components of great documentation]
* [https://twitter.com/sapinker/status/1084490338629242880 Twitter thread on good writing that can equally be applied to technical documentation]
* [https://twitter.com/JessTelford/status/992756386160234497 Another twitter thread on words to avoid when writing documentation]

==Other doc types for OSGeoLive==

To date, our OSGeoLive community have been sustainably maintaining two of the easier documentation types: Project Overviews and Quickstarts. Established OSGeo projects also have documentation, in various stages of currency, completion, relevance, verbosity, and quality.

I believe we are ready to extend our consistency and best practices to some of the harder documentation types - such as tutorials, workshops and howtos. We should start by focusing on one of OSGeo’s flagship projects, such as QGIS or PostGIS. Join the project’s existing documentation initiatives. Provide feedback and improvements as required. Build templates and writing instructions which can be adopted by other projects. Integrate these with the OSGeoLive publishing and translation pipeline.

Resources:
* To help position training with other courses, it helps to link back to a Body of Knowledge, such as the [https://gistbok.ucgis.org/ Body of Knowledge for Geographic Information Science and Technologies (GIS&T)].

==QGIS==
[https://www.qgis.org QGIS], a desktop GIS application, is one of the OSGeo Foundation’s flagship projects with a broad developer and documentation community. QGIS's core documentation is comprehensive and there is a diverse ecosystem of organisations and people who have created QGIS workshops and training courses. However, it is challenging for documenters to keep up with QGIS’s rapid innovation and to sustainably keep the breadth of documentation current, consistent, and targetted.

Season of Docs ideas for QGIS include:
* Get assistance from writers to create a simple and clear "quickstart".
: WHY? Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000032.html Andrew Jeffrey]: "Because 11 of the 26 threads started in 2019 on the Australian user group are related to getting started, loading and exporting data. People indicate that they have referred to the documentation but are still lost."
* Review the structure of current documentation and provide clear separation of tasks.
: WHY? Because there is a "Getting started" section in the user manual and also a separate documentation section on "Getting started with GIS" - Which route does a new user take? And is the best place for Getting started material to be nested in other material? A writer could assist with by defining the best practice structure.
* Writers to review the language and readability of the [https://docs.qgis.org/3.4/en/docs/documentation_guidelines/first_contribution.html QGIS Step by Step contribution] (This is documentation for making documentation contributions).
: WHY? This guide walks a user through making a contribution to the QGIS documentation. The process for maintaining documentation probably won't change soon, so let's reduce the contributor’s barrier to entry by making this section so accurate and clear that anyone can pick it up.
* Define a documentation vision, strategy and schedule.
: WHY? Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000041.html Harrissou]: "I've been contributing to QGIS docs for years and one thing I miss is ... a direction. What are the priorities? ... [We should better] define schedules, plan when releases should be done. We do it well with the application, it could be nice to have the same for docs."
* Triage and then manage [https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Documentation/issues QGIS's documentation issue tracker]. Audit the status of QGIS documentation. Publicly share status, strategy, and vision. This will help volunteers know how to engage, and what impact they can provide.
: WHY? Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000041.html Harrissou]: "Most of our 400 issue reports are automatically generated by commits in QGIS code so we directly have what we should write about in the doc repo. But this becomes a weakness when:
:* there's not enough people to write (increasing number of issues),
:* there's no cleanup for duplicate issues (because of backports) or unrelated issues (eg API matters) --- we try to fix these ones
:* or the commit message is not clear enough for writers (who may not have the same technical knowledge as the developer). If we can get some clues on how to make devs write more detailed description in noob language, big +1.
: I think that triaging the issue tracker and setting priorities and deadlines may greatly help in telling where a senior writer can help (in writing, I mean). I'm not sure any of us (at least me, I do not) have the actual big picture of the issue reports and can categorize them. We already have the necessary tags but now we need to use them. So this would be my task 1."
* Consolidate core QGIS training material
: WHY? There are a number of geospatial training courses which cover a range of topics. Merging all these courses into a central source is not practical or desirable. However, there would be value in consolidating basics into a central base. This will be challenging, but valuable, and would require excellent skills in coordination, community building, and writing. Some of the content authors are already committed to sharing and supporting such an initiative. Others will likely come on board once momentum grows.
: Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000004.html Jo Cook]: "I think there's a really big need for standard training materials- and also if possible the kind of training materials that could be used for schools, to try to break the monopoly that certain proprietary companies have on that area."
* Develop some modular "open educational resource" (OER) training material (e.g., lab exercises) that can be rapidly adopted by faculty in universities to help them with their courses. This could be especially helpful for new, junior faculty in geography, geosciences, or other fields where they are being asked to create and teach new course preparations in the early days of their career and also trying to build and develop their research programs. Having available open access material and available datasets for adoption could lead to rapid adoption. Once a faculty develops a first cut at a course, that content is often used for many years afterward. It would be useful to identify some standard courses that new faculty might be trying to build. A decision would need to be made on the correct Creative Commons license (I'd vote for CC BY-SA -- Attribution-Share-Alike).
:* The [http://spatialquerylab.com/foss4g-academy-curriculum/ Geoacademy group did this for several courses] and perhaps contacting them and seeing if that material can be updated (if needed), and made modular -- think buffet style for instructors to pick and choose labs for their courses -- could be a good set of content for a start. Introduction
:* Other, more advanced lab modules could be helpful too, particularly in areas such as advanced spatial analysis methods or new and quickly growing areas. I'm in the process of developing material for an Applications in Unmanned Aerial Systems course (geared toward use for environmental management). I have 5-6 labs and data already developed and they use QGIS. I'd welcome another collaborator on this in an effort to develop a specialized set of lab modules or an OSGeo published lab manual and data on UAS-based data analysis. -- Charlie Schweik

Resources:
* [https://www.qgis.org/en/docs/index.html QGIS Documentation]
* [https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Documentation/issues QGIS Documentation Issues]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eWpqmZHFiuoUhcCPcf9VTFrs2ol53A-Ha9in8sbiwlU/edit?usp=sharing Contribute to QGIS Docs - Notes recorded from a contribution]
* Perspectives on the state of QGIS docs, from [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000041.html Harrissou], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000032.html Andrew Jeffrey], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000033.html Nick Bearman], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000004.html Jo Cook], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000034.html Richard Duivenvoorde].
* [http://spatialquerylab.com/foss4g-academy-curriculum/ University-level lectures and labs, created by GeoAcademy] (based on the older QGIS 2.18)
* [https://www.gaiaresources.com.au/qgis-vids/ Environmental QGIS training and videos] from Gaia Resources (based on the older QGIS 2.18)
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eWpqmZHFiuoUhcCPcf9VTFrs2ol53A-Ha9in8sbiwlU/edit?usp=sharing Andrew Jeffry's additional tips for newbie QGIS writers]

==GeoNetwork==

[https://geonetwork-opensource.org/ GeoNetwork] is the leading open source metadata catalog for spatial data, and is an OSGeo Foundation project. It has read-the-docs style documentation separated by user, administrator, maintainer, and contribution guides. There is additional documentation within the GeoNetwork source code that could be replicated or incorporated into the main documentation. Documentation is primarily written by developers, many who have English as a second language. Consequently, there is a great opportunity to improve language, readability and structure.

Documentation hasn't kept up with feature development. Some functionality has dated instructions and screenshots, and in places there is only placeholder text or no documentation at all. This impacts user experience and leads to more questions on our user and developer mailing lists.

We'd like to reduce the barrier to entry to adding documentation. We have started tagging "easy to resolve" issues in our github repository but this has not gained much traction yet.

Season of Docs ideas for GeoNetwork include:
* Geonetwork team to scope and create issues for incomplete documentation (drawing from doc review and pull requests).
* Geonetwork team to reach out to, encourage and support co-contributions to documentation from user base.
* Writer to reorganize documentation to clearly separate user, administrator and developer sections, removing duplicated content.
* Writer to provide templates and writing instructions to help reduce barrier-to-entry and improve quality of developer's contributing content.
* Writers to review language and readability.
* Writers to follow existing quickstarts, upgrade and improve.
* Writers to work through documentation issue list.

Resources:
* Source code of existing docs: https://github.com/geonetwork/doc
* Existing docs: https://geonetwork-opensource.org/docs.html
* Extra developer docs: https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/wiki#documentation

==Other OSGeo Project Docs ==
There are 50+ open source geospatial (OSGeo) projects which are related and good candidates for joining this initiative.

Resources:
* OSGeoLive [http://live.osgeo.org/en/overview/overview.html list of ~ 50 Project Overviews and Quickstarts], along with [http://live.osgeo.org/en/metrics.html activity metrics]
* [https://www.osgeo.org/foundation-news/2019-osgeo-un-committee-educational-challenge/ OSGeo UN Education Challenge]:
** Update training material for PostGIS and other applications
** Timeframe: May - Dec 2019, (work between August and November)

==Improve OSGeoLive writing instructions==

We’ve recently updated our OSGeoLive process for generating documentation, and have moved our documentation repository from MediaWiki to trac. We appear to have introduced a few gaps in the move. In particular, the new docs don’t reference our specific writing instructions which are embedding in [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/master/doc/overview/postgis_overview.rst Project Overview] and [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/master/doc/quickstart/udig_quickstart.rst Quickstart] reference documents. A nice discrete task would be to review the old and new processes, and update the new docs to ensure they still contain relevant information, and are easy to follow.

Resources:
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Old, OSGeoLive documentation processes]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/wiki/How%20to%20document%20a%20project New (incomplete) processes]

==New OSGeoLive Quickstarts and Overviews:==

For our 2019 OSGeoLive release we hope to attract a number of projects which have recently signed up as OSGeo Foundation Community projects. These projects will need help writing their Project Overviews and Quickstarts. Existing project documentation also needs to be updated to align with the latest releases. (Reviewing 50 Quickstarts to ensure they still work is a time-consuming exercise).

Resources:
* Ask OSGeoLive team about which new projects are joining OSGeoLive
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Old, OSGeoLive documentation processes]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/wiki/How%20to%20document%20a%20project New (incomplete) processes]

==Simplify OSGeoLive’s doc writing process==

Like most open source projects, OSGeoLive templates and content have primarily been created by developers (and a few users), without access to the insights provided by trained technical writers and teachers.

Johanna Botman explains the challenges our approach has introduced. She started her working career as an English teacher, then moved into IT, website design, and is now uses geospatial software, as a geospatial officer at a local council. She observed:

:: Some of the issues relating to getting started [with writing project documentation] are about bridging the gap between developers and writers. Developers write code in coding tools. They collaborate, they are used to versioning and are at home with unformatted raw text and automation tools. Writers? They work on Windows machines in Word - maybe in Google Docs if they are lucky. They don’t know about running build scripts, running Linux variants, Github, chat programs, HTML, RST formats, wikis and the variants of markup languages.
:: It’s one thing to work with the open source software, another to write about it, and a third thing to work out how to write it so that it fits in with the project. It seems as if the developers have created the writing system in a way that they are used to working, not necessarily in a way that works for writers.

There are many ways we can help solve this problem, from small to large:
* Technical writers can try using our existing writing guides, and document anything that is difficult to understand, and help us fix it.
* We can revisit and potentially improve the tools and processes we use. [https://www.gitbook.com/ Gitbook] looks promising. We have already adopted [https://www.transifex.com/ Transifex] for translations. Some research into options and what others are doing would help here.
* Processes, tools and howto-write guides could both draw from international initiatives, and if we find ourselves to be world leading, then we should feed our insights back into international best practices.

==Define an authoritative style guide==

It would be great if there was a compact, authoritative style guide (with different configurations), which could be selected in a similar manner to the [https://creativecommons.org/choose/ selection of a Creative Commons license]. It should be freely available, and coordinated by a non-profit community. (One version might be too idealistic, maybe we need a few).

Benefits provided:
* Reduced time learning and maintaining multiple style guides.
* Improved documentation quality and consistency, resulting in improved reader comprehension.
* Easier for writing tools to support the guide(s).
* Make it easier for projects to set and apply writing standards.

Resources:
* [https://developers.google.com/style/ Google developer documentation style guide].
* [https://docs.geoserver.org/latest/en/docguide/style.html GeoServer style guide] (also referenced by GeoNode)
* The Australian government [https://www.themandarin.com.au/102797-the-first-new-edition-of-the-commonwealth-style-manual-since-2002-is-in-the-works/?utm_campaign=TheJuice&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter has announced] that we are updating our style guide. [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/01/toward-universal-style-manual.html I’ve suggested collaboration].
* TBD: What other style guides should we mention?

==OSGeoLive to apply a style guide==

To date, the OSGeoLive team haven’t selected a style guide. It would be good to get advice from technical writers on which we should choose. We potentially should retrospectively clean up our public facing documentation in line with the selected guide. I’m aware there are tools for auto-checking documentation quality. What options are available for open source projects?

==Open Source Geospatial Introductory Workshop==

It wouldn’t take much to create a practical 3-hour introductory workshop introducing ~ six to eight of the leading Open Source geospatial applications. It would be a valuable contribution to many spatial conferences. It could use the existing OSGeoLive distribution along with installed data, and can draw upon existing Quickstarts.

The workshop should make use of best practice template structure for presenting, and set up a template which can be expanded out to other OSGeo projects.

Resources:
* [http://live.osgeo.org/en/overview/overview.html OSGeoLive Quickstarts].
* Nicolas Roelandt, Astrid Emde are proposing such a workshop for the Free and Open Source for Geospatial conference (FOSS4G).

==Define an authoritative Code of Conduct==

Most conferences and open source communities adopt a Code of Conduct and/or a Diversity Statement. It would be great of the multiple variants were consolidated, and selectable via a tick-box selection process, (like the [https://creativecommons.org/choose/ selection of a Creative Commons license]).

Resources:
* I [https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Diversity&oldid=84020 reviewed numerous Code of Conducts] when co-authoring the [https://www.osgeo.org/code_of_conduct/ The OSGeo Foundation’s Code of Conduct].
* [https://www.contributor-covenant.org/ Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct], which has attracted a lot of projects.

==Jupyter Notebooks as an OSGeoLive documentation type==

Jupyter Notebook is a web application that allows you to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations and explanatory text. It is a useful communication medium for explaining technical concepts. We included Jupyter Notebooks on prior OSGeoLive releases, but we didn’t have a maintainer to bring the documentation up to the standards we expect for OSGeoLive documents.

It would be good to:
# Have Project Overviews and Quickstarts updated to our quality standards, so we can re-introduce Jupyter Notebooks.
# Consider using Jupyter Notebooks as another documentation type supported by OSGeoLive - which would mean developing templates for its use by other OSGeo projects, and attracting maintainers from these projects to create material.

Resources:
* OSGeoLive 11.0 was the latest release which includes [https://live.osgeo.org/archive/11.0/en/overview/jupyter_overview.html Jupyter Notebook docs]
* [https://github.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-Notebooks OSGeoLive repository of Jupyter Notebooks]

==Tweak the OSGeoLive Presentation==

We maintain [https://live.osgeo.org/en/presentation.html#/ a lightning presentation of the ~ 50 projects on OSGeoLive]. It is a challenge to keep this presentation concise enough to fit within a conference presentation time-slot and could do with tweaking.

[[Category: Season of Docs]]

Season of Docs Ideas 2019

2019-05-07T14:55:19Z

Jocook: /* Best practice templates */

OSGeo's [[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

''From simple to grandiose writing tasks which will improve OSGeo projects, and open source in general. It includes ideas and first steps for tech writers, software users and those participating in Google’s [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/ Season-of-Docs].''

We, the communities behind the [https://www.osgeo.org/ OSGeo Foundation’s] open source geospatial projects, are positioned to help solve big documentation challenges faced by all open source projects. We can achieve this by continuing as we are doing now, with ordinary people, gifting bursts of effort, toward small, discrete and achievable tasks, to collectively achieve an extraordinary impact.

=Leveraging Google’s Season-of-Docs=

Google’s [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/ Season-of-Docs] is an initiative to bring open source and technical writer communities together to write documentation. The OSGeo Foundation is one of the selected projects, and we propose we use this initiative as a focal point to attract a collaborative community to pilot big ideas. In particular:
* Open source projects face sustainability challenges. How will docs developed during Season-Of-Docs be maintained long term?
* Can a writer’s expertise be amplified to help community users and developers write good docs more effectively and efficiently?
* Could best practices developed in one project be applied to the greater open source eco-system?

We propose to focus on one (or more) writing initiatives, for one of our leading OSGeo projects. Goals should focus on:
* Being directly applicable for the project.
* Be captured as a template, which can be easily applied to other OSGeo projects. Ideally this will grow into an initiative which is of value to all open source projects.
* Engages a Season-of-Docs sponsored writer, along with volunteers from project and writing communities.

==Key roles sought==
* '''Mentor''': As an experienced project team member, provide technical mentorship toward a writing initiative.
* '''Writer''': As someone keen to give back to open source through docs, volunteer to be mentored and tackle our OSGeo writing initiatives.
* '''Senior writer''': Drive the writing aspects of an initiative, including empowering other participants. (Eligible for a stipend from Google).
* '''Learning expert''': Help shape documentation templates and guides by linking back to educational theory. (This role is highly prized).
* '''Administrator''': As an engaged OSGeo community member, act as a Season-of-Docs administrator.

==Interested?==

If you are considering helping, or maybe just want to learn a bit more, then please reach out to us on our [https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs email list]. If keen, then add yourself to the list below. ''(Be concise: Name, brief background, how you’d like to contribute.)''

==People keen to take part==
# '''Cameron Shorter [Admin and Mentor]:''' Geospatial business analyst. Co-founder of OSGeoLive. Co-editor of OSGeoLive doc templates; reviewer of most of the 50 Project Overview and Quickstart documents. Ex-board member of OSGeo Foundation. Keen to provide connections to our community and to be practically involved in writing initiatives.
# '''Jo Cook [Admin and Mentor]:''' Geospatial Consultant and metadata lead at [http://astuntechnology.com Astun Technology]. Chair and founder of the [http://uk.osgeo.org OSGeo UK Local Chapter], chair of FOSS4GUK 2016, vice-chair of FOSS4G 2013, and previous OSGeo board member. Keen to mentor technical writers and generally reduce the barriers for non-coders to contribute to projects, using documentation as a way in.
# '''Matteo Ghetta [Admin and Mentor]:''' Geospatial Software Developer, Writer, and Trainer with Faunalia consulting company in Italy. QGIS doc team coordinator, as well as being sponsored to upgrade docs, such as upgrading training manual to QGIS version 3.x, and writing processing algorithm help files.
# '''María Arias de Reyna [Mentor]:''' GeoNetwork maintainer. President of OSGeo Foundation. Open Source Advocator and Women in Technology activist. Software Engineer with more than a decade of experience in the spatial field. I would like to mentor someone to improve GeoNetwork documentation to make sure both users and developers have a good reference manual.
# '''Nick Bearman [Mentor]:''' Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis (University College London) and GIS Trainer & Consultant (Geospatial Training Solutions). Contributed to QGIS documentation. Write and deliver GIS training courses to a variety of participants. Keen to learn how to contribute more effectively, particularly to QGIS documentation. Also looking to run a workshop on how to contribute to open source documentation at upcoming FOSS4G UK event in Edinburgh, UK in September 2019.
# '''Astrid Emde [Mentor]''': Senior GIS consultant at WhereGroup in Bonn, Germany. OSGeo board member and secretary. Awarded the Sol Katz award for leadership and longtime contributions to open source geospatial communities. Contributor to OSGeoLive, the OSGeo marketing committee and co-coordinator of meetups, code-sprints, and the annual German-speaking open source geospatial conference. She likes documentation and teaching people OSGeo Software. Keen to provide connections to our community and to be practically involved in writing initiatives.
# '''Nicolas Roelandt [Mentor]:''' Geospatial engineer at the French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks. OSGeo charter member and OSGeoLive Project Steering Committee (PSC) member. Works on OSGeoLive documentation and translation build process (using the Transifex platform). Keen to support others in the use of these tools.
# '''Johanna Boltman''': Ex-English teacher, IT admin, and user of open source software as a geospatial officer at a local council. Keen to be mentored in writing docs.
# '''Andrew Jeffrey''': Spatial Consultant in Bathurst, NSW, Australia, involved in QGIS training and support. Involved in the Australian QGIS user group, have contributed to QGIS documentation, and have a keen interest in improving the community and access to information for users. Out of the Google Summer of Docs, I am interested in being mentored to improve my QGIS documentation contributions, and learn of any best practices that can facilitate a good delivery of information.
# '''Adam Steer''': Independent geospatial consultant, scientist, community builder. Board member of OSGeo Oceania; charter member of OSGeo and OGC representative. Sometimes occupying all the chairs of coder/writer/analyst/manager - sometimes all at once; keen to contribute my experience to both document and training material writing; and mentoring new contributors. Also keen to learn and improve my own practices in contributing to OSGeo projects.
# '''Belinda Baker''': Background in writing process documentation and user of open source software as a GIS Consultant at a software company. Keen to be mentored in writing docs.
# '''Liam Turner''': GIS Specialist for NSW Government (Australia), previously a high school physics teacher. User of open source technical documentation, keen to make a contribution.
# '''Luca Delucchi:''' Geographer; OSGeo and Open Street Map contributor and advocate. Core developer and translator of the GRASS GIS project; main developer of pyModis library; OSGeoLive and ZOO-Project contributor; president of the Italian OSGeo local chapter. Willing to help improve Jupyter interactive notebook documents in line with a developed template and writing instructions, if one is developed and committed to.
# '''Sara Ratner:''' MEd (Masters of Education). Researched, developed and embedded educational theory in school, tertiary and corporate contexts. PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne, Australia, exploring the automation of industry / future of work and its impact on the purpose of schooling. Keen to contribute toward building documentation templates which link back to educational theory and absorbing information effectively.
# '''Phillip Davis''': Professor of Computer Science in Corpus Christi, Texas USA. Longtime open source geospatial advocate, rabble-rousing troublemaker all over the world. Project manager and maniac behind the 2012-2015 build of the US GeoAcademy. Created five Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) as project manager and major funder from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and US Departement of Labour (DOL). Interested in helping to promote and develop any geospatial open source educations resource. Potential NSF and DOL US Federal grant writer and Principal Investigator.
# '''Charlie Schweik''': Professor of Environmental Conservation and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Advocate of open educational resources and continues to be interested in developing collective action in GeoForAll and OSGeo toward developing a collaborative effort around educational materials. I'd welcome the opportunity to mentor somebody (especially if there were from my university) to write for this effort.
# '''Chris Pettit:''' Professor of Urban Science, City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, Australia. Advisory Board member for the [https://www.osgeo.org/initiatives/geo-for-all/ OSGeo GeoforAll] initiative and open source advocate. Passionate about how city analytics can support smart city planning and policy-making. Interested to mentor a writer in developing open source geospatial education materials relevant to city analytics and data-driven decision making to support the realization of sustainable, productive, smart, resilient and liveable cities.
# '''Piers Higgs:''' CEO Gaia Resources. Interested in contributing our Environmental QGIS training course toward QGIS writing initiatives, and also to provide a little mentorship toward future development of this and related material.
* ... add your name here

=The back story=

For background on the value of communicators, along with ideas on the sort of communities that have proven to be successful in the past, we suggest starting with [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html this article on inspiring techies to become great writers].

=Ideas=

==Best practice templates==

Good documentation benefits from access to cross-disciplinary skills. Expertise is typically spread across developers, users, domain experts, teachers, technical writers, graphic artists, and translators. Ramp-up time is high for any group attempting to learn another’s skill-set. This creates a significant barrier to entry.

Our OSGeoLive initiative has [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html achieved] sustained, cross-domain collaboration by capturing writer’s expertise within templates with clear and punchy writing instructions. These templates were then provided to developers and domain experts. By using an outline/write/review/translate/publish process we’ve achieved significant efficiencies by allowing experts to focus only on the areas they know best. However, OSGeoLive has only tackled the Project Overview and Quickstarts. Geospatial projects which have tacked harder documentation types haven’t addressed cross-project consistency.

How can we align our OSGeoLive writing initiatives with other projects and help build best practice templates for key documentation types? This will be valuable if addressed across our all our OSGeo geospatial projects. It will be significantly more valuable if extended to an international, cross-domain level. (It will be challenging to attract momentum, but good groundwork is in place, and if implemented it would have a huge positive impact.)

Potential resources:
* Daniele Procida’s [https://www.divio.com/blog/documentation/ What nobody tells you about documentation].
* [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html Document type definitions].
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Writing instructions for OSGeoLive Project Overviews and Quickstarts].
* The [https://www.writethedocs.org/about/stay-connected/ Write-The-Docs community] are a likely source of potential co-contributors and defacto owners of such templates.
* [https://www.cebm.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Blooms-Taxonomy-Teacher-Planning-Kit.pdf Bloom’s Taxonomy: Teacher Planning Kit] is helpful for selecting language for training.
* [https://github.com/mdyd-dev/nearme-documentation/tree/master/marketplace_builder/views/pages/doc-templates Nearme writing templates] with [https://www.platform-os.com/blog/post/blog/building-our-documentation-site-on-platformos-part-2-content-production-and-layouts accompanying blog post].
* Someone has suggested ISO standards, but you need to pay to use them, and they appear overly verbose: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_JTC_1/SC_7#Published_standards ISO/IEC/IEEE 26511, 25612, 25613, 25614, 25615].
* [https://dev.to/marcuscreo/the-4-letter-word-word-that-makes-my-blood-boil Words NOT to use in your documentation]

==Other doc types for OSGeoLive==

To date, our OSGeoLive community have been sustainably maintaining two of the easier documentation types: Project Overviews and Quickstarts. Established OSGeo projects also have documentation, in various stages of currency, completion, relevance, verbosity, and quality.

I believe we are ready to extend our consistency and best practices to some of the harder documentation types - such as tutorials, workshops and howtos. We should start by focusing on one of OSGeo’s flagship projects, such as QGIS or PostGIS. Join the project’s existing documentation initiatives. Provide feedback and improvements as required. Build templates and writing instructions which can be adopted by other projects. Integrate these with the OSGeoLive publishing and translation pipeline.

Resources:
* To help position training with other courses, it helps to link back to a Body of Knowledge, such as the [https://gistbok.ucgis.org/ Body of Knowledge for Geographic Information Science and Technologies (GIS&T)].

==QGIS==
[https://www.qgis.org QGIS], a desktop GIS application, is one of the OSGeo Foundation’s flagship projects with a broad developer and documentation community. QGIS's core documentation is comprehensive and there is a diverse ecosystem of organisations and people who have created QGIS workshops and training courses. However, it is challenging for documenters to keep up with QGIS’s rapid innovation and to sustainably keep the breadth of documentation current, consistent, and targetted.

Season of Docs ideas for QGIS include:
* Get assistance from writers to create a simple and clear "quickstart".
: WHY? Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000032.html Andrew Jeffrey]: "Because 11 of the 26 threads started in 2019 on the Australian user group are related to getting started, loading and exporting data. People indicate that they have referred to the documentation but are still lost."
* Review the structure of current documentation and provide clear separation of tasks.
: WHY? Because there is a "Getting started" section in the user manual and also a separate documentation section on "Getting started with GIS" - Which route does a new user take? And is the best place for Getting started material to be nested in other material? A writer could assist with by defining the best practice structure.
* Writers to review the language and readability of the [https://docs.qgis.org/3.4/en/docs/documentation_guidelines/first_contribution.html QGIS Step by Step contribution] (This is documentation for making documentation contributions).
: WHY? This guide walks a user through making a contribution to the QGIS documentation. The process for maintaining documentation probably won't change soon, so let's reduce the contributor’s barrier to entry by making this section so accurate and clear that anyone can pick it up.
* Define a documentation vision, strategy and schedule.
: WHY? Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000041.html Harrissou]: "I've been contributing to QGIS docs for years and one thing I miss is ... a direction. What are the priorities? ... [We should better] define schedules, plan when releases should be done. We do it well with the application, it could be nice to have the same for docs."
* Triage and then manage [https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Documentation/issues QGIS's documentation issue tracker]. Audit the status of QGIS documentation. Publicly share status, strategy, and vision. This will help volunteers know how to engage, and what impact they can provide.
: WHY? Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000041.html Harrissou]: "Most of our 400 issue reports are automatically generated by commits in QGIS code so we directly have what we should write about in the doc repo. But this becomes a weakness when:
:* there's not enough people to write (increasing number of issues),
:* there's no cleanup for duplicate issues (because of backports) or unrelated issues (eg API matters) --- we try to fix these ones
:* or the commit message is not clear enough for writers (who may not have the same technical knowledge as the developer). If we can get some clues on how to make devs write more detailed description in noob language, big +1.
: I think that triaging the issue tracker and setting priorities and deadlines may greatly help in telling where a senior writer can help (in writing, I mean). I'm not sure any of us (at least me, I do not) have the actual big picture of the issue reports and can categorize them. We already have the necessary tags but now we need to use them. So this would be my task 1."
* Consolidate core QGIS training material
: WHY? There are a number of geospatial training courses which cover a range of topics. Merging all these courses into a central source is not practical or desirable. However, there would be value in consolidating basics into a central base. This will be challenging, but valuable, and would require excellent skills in coordination, community building, and writing. Some of the content authors are already committed to sharing and supporting such an initiative. Others will likely come on board once momentum grows.
: Quoting [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000004.html Jo Cook]: "I think there's a really big need for standard training materials- and also if possible the kind of training materials that could be used for schools, to try to break the monopoly that certain proprietary companies have on that area."

Resources:
* [https://www.qgis.org/en/docs/index.html QGIS Documentation]
* [https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Documentation/issues QGIS Documentation Issues]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eWpqmZHFiuoUhcCPcf9VTFrs2ol53A-Ha9in8sbiwlU/edit?usp=sharing Contribute to QGIS Docs - Notes recorded from a contribution]
* Perspectives on the state of QGIS docs, from [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000041.html Harrissou], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000032.html Andrew Jeffrey], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000033.html Nick Bearman], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000004.html Jo Cook], [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/2019-April/000034.html Richard Duivenvoorde].
* [http://spatialquerylab.com/foss4g-academy-curriculum/ University-level lectures and labs, created by GeoAcademy] (based on the older QGIS 2.18)
* [https://www.gaiaresources.com.au/qgis-vids/ Environmental QGIS training and videos] from Gaia Resources (based on the older QGIS 2.18)

==GeoNetwork==

[https://geonetwork-opensource.org/ GeoNetwork] is the leading open source metadata catalog for spatial data, and is an OSGeo Foundation project. It has read-the-docs style documentation separated by user, administrator, maintainer, and contribution guides. There is additional documentation within the GeoNetwork source code that could be replicated or incorporated into the main documentation. Documentation is primarily written by developers, many who have English as a second language. Consequently, there is a great opportunity to improve language, readability and structure.

Documentation hasn't kept up with feature development. Some functionality has dated instructions and screenshots, and in places there is only placeholder text or no documentation at all. This impacts user experience and leads to more questions on our user and developer mailing lists.

We'd like to reduce the barrier to entry to adding documentation. We have started tagging "easy to resolve" issues in our github repository but this has not gained much traction yet.

Season of Docs ideas for GeoNetwork include:
* Geonetwork team to scope and create issues for incomplete documentation (drawing from doc review and pull requests).
* Geonetwork team to reach out to, encourage and support co-contributions to documentation from user base.
* Writer to reorganize documentation to clearly separate user, administrator and developer sections, removing duplicated content.
* Writer to provide templates and writing instructions to help reduce barrier-to-entry and improve quality of developer's contributing content.
* Writers to review language and readability.
* Writers to follow existing quickstarts, upgrade and improve.
* Writers to work through documentation issue list.

Resources:
* Source code of existing docs: https://github.com/geonetwork/doc
* Existing docs: https://geonetwork-opensource.org/docs.html
* Extra developer docs: https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/wiki#documentation

==Other OSGeo Project Docs ==
There are 50+ open source geospatial (OSGeo) projects which are related and good candidates for joining this initiative.

Resources:
* OSGeoLive [http://live.osgeo.org/en/overview/overview.html list of ~ 50 Project Overviews and Quickstarts], along with [http://live.osgeo.org/en/metrics.html activity metrics]

==Improve OSGeoLive writing instructions==

We’ve recently updated our OSGeoLive process for generating documentation, and have moved our documentation repository from MediaWiki to trac. We appear to have introduced a few gaps in the move. In particular, the new docs don’t reference our specific writing instructions which are embedding in [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/master/doc/overview/postgis_overview.rst Project Overview] and [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/master/doc/quickstart/udig_quickstart.rst Quickstart] reference documents. A nice discrete task would be to review the old and new processes, and update the new docs to ensure they still contain relevant information, and are easy to follow.

Resources:
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Old, OSGeoLive documentation processes]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/wiki/How%20to%20document%20a%20project New (incomplete) processes]

==New OSGeoLive Quickstarts and Overviews:==

For our 2019 OSGeoLive release we hope to attract a number of projects which have recently signed up as OSGeo Foundation Community projects. These projects will need help writing their Project Overviews and Quickstarts. Existing project documentation also needs to be updated to align with the latest releases. (Reviewing 50 Quickstarts to ensure they still work is a time-consuming exercise).

Resources:
* Ask OSGeoLive team about which new projects are joining OSGeoLive
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Old, OSGeoLive documentation processes]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/wiki/How%20to%20document%20a%20project New (incomplete) processes]

==Simplify OSGeoLive’s doc writing process==

Like most open source projects, OSGeoLive templates and content have primarily been created by developers (and a few users), without access to the insights provided by trained technical writers and teachers.

Johanna Botman explains the challenges our approach has introduced. She started her working career as an English teacher, then moved into IT, website design, and is now uses geospatial software, as a geospatial officer at a local council. She observed:

:: Some of the issues relating to getting started [with writing project documentation] are about bridging the gap between developers and writers. Developers write code in coding tools. They collaborate, they are used to versioning and are at home with unformatted raw text and automation tools. Writers? They work on Windows machines in Word - maybe in Google Docs if they are lucky. They don’t know about running build scripts, running Linux variants, Github, chat programs, HTML, RST formats, wikis and the variants of markup languages.
:: It’s one thing to work with the open source software, another to write about it, and a third thing to work out how to write it so that it fits in with the project. It seems as if the developers have created the writing system in a way that they are used to working, not necessarily in a way that works for writers.

There are many ways we can help solve this problem, from small to large:
* Technical writers can try using our existing writing guides, and document anything that is difficult to understand, and help us fix it.
* We can revisit and potentially improve the tools and processes we use. [https://www.gitbook.com/ Gitbook] looks promising. We have already adopted [https://www.transifex.com/ Transifex] for translations. Some research into options and what others are doing would help here.
* Processes, tools and howto-write guides could both draw from international initiatives, and if we find ourselves to be world leading, then we should feed our insights back into international best practices.

==Define an authoritative style guide==

It would be great if there was a compact, authoritative style guide (with different configurations), which could be selected in a similar manner to the [https://creativecommons.org/choose/ selection of a Creative Commons license]. It should be freely available, and coordinated by a non-profit community. (One version might be too idealistic, maybe we need a few).

Benefits provided:
* Reduced time learning and maintaining multiple style guides.
* Improved documentation quality and consistency, resulting in improved reader comprehension.
* Easier for writing tools to support the guide(s).
* Make it easier for projects to set and apply writing standards.

Resources:
* [https://developers.google.com/style/ Google developer documentation style guide].
* [https://docs.geoserver.org/latest/en/docguide/style.html GeoServer style guide] (also referenced by GeoNode)
* The Australian government [https://www.themandarin.com.au/102797-the-first-new-edition-of-the-commonwealth-style-manual-since-2002-is-in-the-works/?utm_campaign=TheJuice&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter has announced] that we are updating our style guide. [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/01/toward-universal-style-manual.html I’ve suggested collaboration].
* TBD: What other style guides should we mention?

==OSGeoLive to apply a style guide==

To date, the OSGeoLive team haven’t selected a style guide. It would be good to get advice from technical writers on which we should choose. We potentially should retrospectively clean up our public facing documentation in line with the selected guide. I’m aware there are tools for auto-checking documentation quality. What options are available for open source projects?

==Open Source Geospatial Introductory Workshop==

It wouldn’t take much to create a practical 3-hour introductory workshop introducing ~ six to eight of the leading Open Source geospatial applications. It would be a valuable contribution to many spatial conferences. It could use the existing OSGeoLive distribution along with installed data, and can draw upon existing Quickstarts.

The workshop should make use of best practice template structure for presenting, and set up a template which can be expanded out to other OSGeo projects.

Resources:
* [http://live.osgeo.org/en/overview/overview.html OSGeoLive Quickstarts].
* Nicolas Roelandt, Astrid Emde are proposing such a workshop for the Free and Open Source for Geospatial conference (FOSS4G).

==Define an authoritative Code of Conduct==

Most conferences and open source communities adopt a Code of Conduct and/or a Diversity Statement. It would be great of the multiple variants were consolidated, and selectable via a tick-box selection process, (like the [https://creativecommons.org/choose/ selection of a Creative Commons license]).

Resources:
* I [https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Diversity&oldid=84020 reviewed numerous Code of Conducts] when co-authoring the [https://www.osgeo.org/code_of_conduct/ The OSGeo Foundation’s Code of Conduct].
* [https://www.contributor-covenant.org/ Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct], which has attracted a lot of projects.

==Jupyter Notebooks as an OSGeoLive documentation type==

Jupyter Notebook is a web application that allows you to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations and explanatory text. It is a useful communication medium for explaining technical concepts. We included Jupyter Notebooks on prior OSGeoLive releases, but we didn’t have a maintainer to bring the documentation up to the standards we expect for OSGeoLive documents.

It would be good to:
# Have Project Overviews and Quickstarts updated to our quality standards, so we can re-introduce Jupyter Notebooks.
# Consider using Jupyter Notebooks as another documentation type supported by OSGeoLive - which would mean developing templates for its use by other OSGeo projects, and attracting maintainers from these projects to create material.

Resources:
* OSGeoLive 11.0 was the latest release which includes [https://live.osgeo.org/archive/11.0/en/overview/jupyter_overview.html Jupyter Notebook docs]
* [https://github.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-Notebooks OSGeoLive repository of Jupyter Notebooks]

==Tweak the OSGeoLive Presentation==

We maintain [https://live.osgeo.org/en/presentation.html#/ a lightning presentation of the ~ 50 projects on OSGeoLive]. It is a challenge to keep this presentation concise enough to fit within a conference presentation time-slot and could do with tweaking.

[[Category: Season of Docs]]

Season of Docs Application 2019

2019-04-18T14:29:38Z

Jocook: /* What previous experience have you had mentoring individuals? * */

[[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

=OSGeo Application for 2019 Season of Docs=
* ''Answers to [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrEq5yKmadgn7LEPC8nN811-6DNmYvus5uXv_JY5BX7CH-Bg/viewform Google's Application for the 2019 Season of Docs]''.
* Refer also to Google's [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide Admin Guide].
* ''These draw inspiration from OSGeo's prior applications for [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_Application_2019 Google's Summer of Code].''

Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

If you are interested in having your open source organization participate in Season of Docs, first familiarize yourself with the organization administrator guide at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide and the organization administrator and mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

Next, fill out this application for your open source organization to participate in the 2019 Season of Docs program. For guidance on filling out this form, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/organization-application-hints.

You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered on this page in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you if there are any issues with the form entry.

===Email address===
: Cameron Shorter's email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization.

===Open source organization's email address *===
This email address is used for contacting your open source organization about Season of Docs and is published on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Google program administrators and technical writer participants to contact your organization. You are strongly advised not to use a personal email address as the email address for contacting your open source organization.

: season-of-docs-discuss@googlegroups.com

===Open source project name *===
Enter the name of the open source project that is participating in the Season of Docs.

: Open Source Geospatial Foundation

===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.

: https://www.osgeo.org/

===Open source project description *===

This description is published on the Season of Docs website.

: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organization serving as an umbrella organization for the Open Source Geospatial community. It represents 24 mature (graduated) projects, 13 office community projects, and other non-official projects. It also covers topic and regional community groups, along with the thousands of developers, users, and educators. Within Season of Docs, we propose to focus on a couple of initiatives and projects: OSGeoLive, QGIS, GeoNetwork and maybe one or two others. The OSGeoLive project provides a Linux distribution with ~ 50 open source geospatial applications, along with sample data, project overviews and quick starts, which have been translated into multiple languages. QGIS is a desktop geospatial client and is one of OSGeo flagship projects. GeoNetwork is a Content Management System for Geospatial data. We propose to tackle a small set of documentation challenges as pilots within QGIS and GeoNetwork, and build into templates ready to be used by OSGeoLive for other OSGeo projects.

===Link to your organization’s page about Season of Docs===

If your organization has a web page or blog post dedicated to Season of Docs, enter the URL here. You can supply this link later too.

: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_Of_Docs_2019

==Optional stipend==
Indicate whether your organization wants to receive a mentor stipend for this year’s program. For more information, see stipends for mentor organizations at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/org-payments.
===Does your organization want to accept the mentor stipend? *===
: Yes

==Organization Application for 2019 Season of Docs==
*Required

===Organization administrators===
You must have at least two organization administrators to manage your organization's participation in Season of Docs. For more information about the organization application phase, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide#organization_application_phase.

===Primary organization administrator===
The primary organization administrator is responsible for communicating with Season of Docs program administrators and managing tasks for their organization related to the Season of Docs program.

===Primary administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the primary organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Cameron Shorter

===Primary administrator's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Cameron Shorter
===Primary administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.
: Cameron Shorter's email address

===Are you participating as a mentor in Season of Docs? *===
If you are participating as a mentor, you must agree to the terms of the mentor participant agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms.
: Yes. I agree to this Participant Agreement.

===Alternative organization administrator===
The alternative organization administrator is the secondary contact if the primary organization administrator is unavailable.
DIRECT THE ALTERNATIVE ADMINISTRATOR TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/tsEsiNYB57WG4Ebz6.

===Alternative administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the alternative organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Matteo Ghetta

===Alternative administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to program communications and to share program resources on the website.
: Matteo Ghetta's email address

==Organization's previous experience==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your open source organization's previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.

===What previous experience has your organization had in documentation or collaborating with technical writers?===
If you or any of your mentors have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeoLive core writer team have written Quickstart and Project Overview templates and then mentored techies from ~ 50 projects to write to these templates, and then helped the docs be translated into multiple languages. More details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html. Cameron Shorter, Astrid Emde, and Nicolas Rolandt are mentors on the OSGeoLive team. Cameron Shorter has worked professionally as an information architect and technical writer; more details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html. The documentation team within the QGIS project has produced comprehensive docs. Further, there is an ecosystem of organisations and people who have created various workshops and training courses. Challenges for us to address are around improving quality over quantity and improving sustainability. People who have signed up as QGIS mentors include Matteo De Stefano, QGIS documentation lead and trainer; Nick Bearman, a Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis and contributor to QGIS documentation. The GeoNetwork project has some documentation, but it has holes which need to be filled. Jo Cook has signed up as a GeoNetwork mentor and is a power GeoNetwork user, as well as being a leading Open Source Geosaptial community builder and advocate. We additionally have geospatial software users with varying experience in documentation, keen to contribute and be mentored. More at: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019#People_keen_to_take_part

===What previous experience has your organization had mentoring individuals?===
If you or any of your mentors have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program that mentors individuals, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeo Foundation has over a decade's experience mentoring students as part of Google's Summer of Code, and more recently with the Google Code In. Our OSGeo projects which have our stringent incubation criteria, which usually takes years to complete, have each demonstrated a healthy and sustainable community (which pretty much guarantees internal mentoring is in place). We plan to focus much of our energy on our OSGeoLive and QGIS communities. OSGeoLive packages ~ 50 projects into a linux distrubution. We mentor representatives from each project in the development and maintenance of an install script for each project, along with Project Overview and Quickstart documentation, and mentoring translators into multiple languages.
: TBC: What statement can we make about QGIS mentoring?

==Mentoring capacity==
Your organization must have at least two open source mentors for each technical writing project/technical writer that you plan to accept for this year's Season of Docs. You need the mentors to help during the technical writer exploration and application phases, as well as during doc development.

Season of Docs 2019 plans to allocate one or two technical writers per organization. Your request for one or two technical writers won't affect whether we choose your organization, but we need to know how many technical writers your organization wants to mentor so that we can accept the correct number of organizations to fill all the available technical writing slots.

Mentors who are not also organization administrators must register independently.

DIRECT THE MENTORS TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/a1x26WQGzURLerv66.

===How many technical writers does your organization want to mentor this year? *===
Option of 1 or 2
: 2

==Technical writing project ideas==
Work with your mentors to create a project ideas list. This list should include one or more documentation projects that you'd like a technical writer to tackle during this year's Season of Docs. You should publish your project ideas on a public web page, in a blog post, or in some other publicly visible document and include a link to the document in this section.

See the detailed guidelines on creating your project ideas list at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/project-ideas.

===Link to project ideas list *===
Enter the URL of a publicly accessible list of your organization's project ideas.
: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019

==Organization Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the organization participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/organization-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to the Organization Agreement.
: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

=2019 Season of Docs: Mentor Registration=
Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

Familiarize yourself with the mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

If your organization is applying to Season of Docs and you are a mentor, fill out this form.

***You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.***

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.

*Required

===Email address===
: Your email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization and match your registration with that application.

===Open source project name *===
Open source organizations often host multiple projects. Enter the name of the specific project that is participating in the Season of Docs.
: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.
: https://www.osgeo.org/

==Mentor's information==
You are registering to mentor a technical writer on behalf of your open source organization and project.
===Mentor's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and you. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Your name
===Mentor's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Your name

==Previous experience as a mentor==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.
===What previous experience have you had creating documentation or collaborating with technical writers? *===
If you have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.

Jo's answer:

: In my professional capacity over almost 20 years, as a GIS consultant for Astun Technology (https://www.astuntechnology.com) and previously as a GIS Project Officer for Oxford Archaeology (https://www.oxfordarchaeology.com), I have needed to write high-quality documentation, for both technical and non-technical audiences, for a range of professional publications, internal use, websites and other communications.

: In my current role I work with a technical writer to create new and improve existing documentation for my company's software, generally using Confluence. Either I create documentation and our technical writer reviews and publishes it, or she creates it and I review it. This process ensures that our company documentation is not only high quality and accessible, but that the "look and feel" throughout is consistent, making it easier for users to follow.

: I have helped create documentation for the Scottish Spatial Data Infrastructure portal (https://spatialdata.gov.scot), in Read the Docs (http://scottish-sdi-metadata-portal.readthedocs.io/), and established a workflow by which non-technical users could make changes using the github gui and have them published automatically in readthedocs. 

: I actively seek to contribute documentation enhancements to many of the open source projects that I work with, focusing mainly on Geonetwork. Here I flag up missing documentation and create github issues for it, marked as "good first issue" to try and persuade non-coders to take part.

: I have also run workshops at conferences (FOSS4GUK 2016 for one) coaching people in using GitHub to contribute to open source projects, particularly focused on documentation contributions.

: I believe this will all help me engage with a technical writer as part of this project- I will bring enthusiasm and prior experience to the process, as well as an understanding of the different aspects of producing documentation, from the technical side of things, through the review process, to publication. 

: Your story

===What previous experience have you had mentoring individuals? *===
If you have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.

Jo's answer:

: Throughout almost 20 years working in GIS I have mentored many junior colleagues and clients, either in using software, or in writing clear and concise copy. I am passionate that software documentation should be clear, accessible, and easy to understand for non-coders. I understand how frustrating it is to be stopped at the first hurdle when using a new package, because the documentation is incomplete or so overly technical that it is not even possible to get started. Furthermore, I believe that the very language used when giving instructions can be extremely off-putting, making assumptions about knowledge and background that are not necessarily correct or appropriate. Since I consider myself to be one of those non-coders, I will bring this "beginners mindset" into my mentoring, focusing on accessibility and lowering barriers for use.

: Your story

==Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the mentor participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to this Participant Agreement.

: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

Season of Docs Application 2019

2019-04-18T14:29:20Z

Jocook: /* What previous experience have you had creating documentation or collaborating with technical writers? * */

[[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

=OSGeo Application for 2019 Season of Docs=
* ''Answers to [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrEq5yKmadgn7LEPC8nN811-6DNmYvus5uXv_JY5BX7CH-Bg/viewform Google's Application for the 2019 Season of Docs]''.
* Refer also to Google's [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide Admin Guide].
* ''These draw inspiration from OSGeo's prior applications for [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_Application_2019 Google's Summer of Code].''

Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

If you are interested in having your open source organization participate in Season of Docs, first familiarize yourself with the organization administrator guide at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide and the organization administrator and mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

Next, fill out this application for your open source organization to participate in the 2019 Season of Docs program. For guidance on filling out this form, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/organization-application-hints.

You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered on this page in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you if there are any issues with the form entry.

===Email address===
: Cameron Shorter's email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization.

===Open source organization's email address *===
This email address is used for contacting your open source organization about Season of Docs and is published on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Google program administrators and technical writer participants to contact your organization. You are strongly advised not to use a personal email address as the email address for contacting your open source organization.

: season-of-docs-discuss@googlegroups.com

===Open source project name *===
Enter the name of the open source project that is participating in the Season of Docs.

: Open Source Geospatial Foundation

===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.

: https://www.osgeo.org/

===Open source project description *===

This description is published on the Season of Docs website.

: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organization serving as an umbrella organization for the Open Source Geospatial community. It represents 24 mature (graduated) projects, 13 office community projects, and other non-official projects. It also covers topic and regional community groups, along with the thousands of developers, users, and educators. Within Season of Docs, we propose to focus on a couple of initiatives and projects: OSGeoLive, QGIS, GeoNetwork and maybe one or two others. The OSGeoLive project provides a Linux distribution with ~ 50 open source geospatial applications, along with sample data, project overviews and quick starts, which have been translated into multiple languages. QGIS is a desktop geospatial client and is one of OSGeo flagship projects. GeoNetwork is a Content Management System for Geospatial data. We propose to tackle a small set of documentation challenges as pilots within QGIS and GeoNetwork, and build into templates ready to be used by OSGeoLive for other OSGeo projects.

===Link to your organization’s page about Season of Docs===

If your organization has a web page or blog post dedicated to Season of Docs, enter the URL here. You can supply this link later too.

: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_Of_Docs_2019

==Optional stipend==
Indicate whether your organization wants to receive a mentor stipend for this year’s program. For more information, see stipends for mentor organizations at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/org-payments.
===Does your organization want to accept the mentor stipend? *===
: Yes

==Organization Application for 2019 Season of Docs==
*Required

===Organization administrators===
You must have at least two organization administrators to manage your organization's participation in Season of Docs. For more information about the organization application phase, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide#organization_application_phase.

===Primary organization administrator===
The primary organization administrator is responsible for communicating with Season of Docs program administrators and managing tasks for their organization related to the Season of Docs program.

===Primary administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the primary organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Cameron Shorter

===Primary administrator's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Cameron Shorter
===Primary administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.
: Cameron Shorter's email address

===Are you participating as a mentor in Season of Docs? *===
If you are participating as a mentor, you must agree to the terms of the mentor participant agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms.
: Yes. I agree to this Participant Agreement.

===Alternative organization administrator===
The alternative organization administrator is the secondary contact if the primary organization administrator is unavailable.
DIRECT THE ALTERNATIVE ADMINISTRATOR TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/tsEsiNYB57WG4Ebz6.

===Alternative administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the alternative organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Matteo Ghetta

===Alternative administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to program communications and to share program resources on the website.
: Matteo Ghetta's email address

==Organization's previous experience==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your open source organization's previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.

===What previous experience has your organization had in documentation or collaborating with technical writers?===
If you or any of your mentors have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeoLive core writer team have written Quickstart and Project Overview templates and then mentored techies from ~ 50 projects to write to these templates, and then helped the docs be translated into multiple languages. More details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html. Cameron Shorter, Astrid Emde, and Nicolas Rolandt are mentors on the OSGeoLive team. Cameron Shorter has worked professionally as an information architect and technical writer; more details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html. The documentation team within the QGIS project has produced comprehensive docs. Further, there is an ecosystem of organisations and people who have created various workshops and training courses. Challenges for us to address are around improving quality over quantity and improving sustainability. People who have signed up as QGIS mentors include Matteo De Stefano, QGIS documentation lead and trainer; Nick Bearman, a Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis and contributor to QGIS documentation. The GeoNetwork project has some documentation, but it has holes which need to be filled. Jo Cook has signed up as a GeoNetwork mentor and is a power GeoNetwork user, as well as being a leading Open Source Geosaptial community builder and advocate. We additionally have geospatial software users with varying experience in documentation, keen to contribute and be mentored. More at: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019#People_keen_to_take_part

===What previous experience has your organization had mentoring individuals?===
If you or any of your mentors have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program that mentors individuals, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeo Foundation has over a decade's experience mentoring students as part of Google's Summer of Code, and more recently with the Google Code In. Our OSGeo projects which have our stringent incubation criteria, which usually takes years to complete, have each demonstrated a healthy and sustainable community (which pretty much guarantees internal mentoring is in place). We plan to focus much of our energy on our OSGeoLive and QGIS communities. OSGeoLive packages ~ 50 projects into a linux distrubution. We mentor representatives from each project in the development and maintenance of an install script for each project, along with Project Overview and Quickstart documentation, and mentoring translators into multiple languages.
: TBC: What statement can we make about QGIS mentoring?

==Mentoring capacity==
Your organization must have at least two open source mentors for each technical writing project/technical writer that you plan to accept for this year's Season of Docs. You need the mentors to help during the technical writer exploration and application phases, as well as during doc development.

Season of Docs 2019 plans to allocate one or two technical writers per organization. Your request for one or two technical writers won't affect whether we choose your organization, but we need to know how many technical writers your organization wants to mentor so that we can accept the correct number of organizations to fill all the available technical writing slots.

Mentors who are not also organization administrators must register independently.

DIRECT THE MENTORS TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/a1x26WQGzURLerv66.

===How many technical writers does your organization want to mentor this year? *===
Option of 1 or 2
: 2

==Technical writing project ideas==
Work with your mentors to create a project ideas list. This list should include one or more documentation projects that you'd like a technical writer to tackle during this year's Season of Docs. You should publish your project ideas on a public web page, in a blog post, or in some other publicly visible document and include a link to the document in this section.

See the detailed guidelines on creating your project ideas list at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/project-ideas.

===Link to project ideas list *===
Enter the URL of a publicly accessible list of your organization's project ideas.
: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019

==Organization Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the organization participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/organization-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to the Organization Agreement.
: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

=2019 Season of Docs: Mentor Registration=
Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

Familiarize yourself with the mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

If your organization is applying to Season of Docs and you are a mentor, fill out this form.

***You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.***

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.

*Required

===Email address===
: Your email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization and match your registration with that application.

===Open source project name *===
Open source organizations often host multiple projects. Enter the name of the specific project that is participating in the Season of Docs.
: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.
: https://www.osgeo.org/

==Mentor's information==
You are registering to mentor a technical writer on behalf of your open source organization and project.
===Mentor's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and you. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Your name
===Mentor's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Your name

==Previous experience as a mentor==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.
===What previous experience have you had creating documentation or collaborating with technical writers? *===
If you have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.

Jo's answer:

: In my professional capacity over almost 20 years, as a GIS consultant for Astun Technology (https://www.astuntechnology.com) and previously as a GIS Project Officer for Oxford Archaeology (https://www.oxfordarchaeology.com), I have needed to write high-quality documentation, for both technical and non-technical audiences, for a range of professional publications, internal use, websites and other communications.

: In my current role I work with a technical writer to create new and improve existing documentation for my company's software, generally using Confluence. Either I create documentation and our technical writer reviews and publishes it, or she creates it and I review it. This process ensures that our company documentation is not only high quality and accessible, but that the "look and feel" throughout is consistent, making it easier for users to follow.

: I have helped create documentation for the Scottish Spatial Data Infrastructure portal (https://spatialdata.gov.scot), in Read the Docs (http://scottish-sdi-metadata-portal.readthedocs.io/), and established a workflow by which non-technical users could make changes using the github gui and have them published automatically in readthedocs. 

: I actively seek to contribute documentation enhancements to many of the open source projects that I work with, focusing mainly on Geonetwork. Here I flag up missing documentation and create github issues for it, marked as "good first issue" to try and persuade non-coders to take part.

: I have also run workshops at conferences (FOSS4GUK 2016 for one) coaching people in using GitHub to contribute to open source projects, particularly focused on documentation contributions.

: I believe this will all help me engage with a technical writer as part of this project- I will bring enthusiasm and prior experience to the process, as well as an understanding of the different aspects of producing documentation, from the technical side of things, through the review process, to publication. 

: Your story

===What previous experience have you had mentoring individuals? *===
If you have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.

Jo's answer:

Throughout almost 20 years working in GIS I have mentored many junior colleagues and clients, either in using software, or in writing clear and concise copy. I am passionate that software documentation should be clear, accessible, and easy to understand for non-coders. I understand how frustrating it is to be stopped at the first hurdle when using a new package, because the documentation is incomplete or so overly technical that it is not even possible to get started. Furthermore, I believe that the very language used when giving instructions can be extremely off-putting, making assumptions about knowledge and background that are not necessarily correct or appropriate. Since I consider myself to be one of those non-coders, I will bring this "beginners mindset" into my mentoring, focusing on accessibility and lowering barriers for use.

: Your story

==Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the mentor participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to this Participant Agreement.

: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

Season of Docs Application 2019

2019-04-18T14:29:05Z

Jocook: /* What previous experience have you had mentoring individuals? * */

[[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

=OSGeo Application for 2019 Season of Docs=
* ''Answers to [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrEq5yKmadgn7LEPC8nN811-6DNmYvus5uXv_JY5BX7CH-Bg/viewform Google's Application for the 2019 Season of Docs]''.
* Refer also to Google's [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide Admin Guide].
* ''These draw inspiration from OSGeo's prior applications for [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_Application_2019 Google's Summer of Code].''

Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

If you are interested in having your open source organization participate in Season of Docs, first familiarize yourself with the organization administrator guide at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide and the organization administrator and mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

Next, fill out this application for your open source organization to participate in the 2019 Season of Docs program. For guidance on filling out this form, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/organization-application-hints.

You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered on this page in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you if there are any issues with the form entry.

===Email address===
: Cameron Shorter's email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization.

===Open source organization's email address *===
This email address is used for contacting your open source organization about Season of Docs and is published on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Google program administrators and technical writer participants to contact your organization. You are strongly advised not to use a personal email address as the email address for contacting your open source organization.

: season-of-docs-discuss@googlegroups.com

===Open source project name *===
Enter the name of the open source project that is participating in the Season of Docs.

: Open Source Geospatial Foundation

===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.

: https://www.osgeo.org/

===Open source project description *===

This description is published on the Season of Docs website.

: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organization serving as an umbrella organization for the Open Source Geospatial community. It represents 24 mature (graduated) projects, 13 office community projects, and other non-official projects. It also covers topic and regional community groups, along with the thousands of developers, users, and educators. Within Season of Docs, we propose to focus on a couple of initiatives and projects: OSGeoLive, QGIS, GeoNetwork and maybe one or two others. The OSGeoLive project provides a Linux distribution with ~ 50 open source geospatial applications, along with sample data, project overviews and quick starts, which have been translated into multiple languages. QGIS is a desktop geospatial client and is one of OSGeo flagship projects. GeoNetwork is a Content Management System for Geospatial data. We propose to tackle a small set of documentation challenges as pilots within QGIS and GeoNetwork, and build into templates ready to be used by OSGeoLive for other OSGeo projects.

===Link to your organization’s page about Season of Docs===

If your organization has a web page or blog post dedicated to Season of Docs, enter the URL here. You can supply this link later too.

: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_Of_Docs_2019

==Optional stipend==
Indicate whether your organization wants to receive a mentor stipend for this year’s program. For more information, see stipends for mentor organizations at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/org-payments.
===Does your organization want to accept the mentor stipend? *===
: Yes

==Organization Application for 2019 Season of Docs==
*Required

===Organization administrators===
You must have at least two organization administrators to manage your organization's participation in Season of Docs. For more information about the organization application phase, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide#organization_application_phase.

===Primary organization administrator===
The primary organization administrator is responsible for communicating with Season of Docs program administrators and managing tasks for their organization related to the Season of Docs program.

===Primary administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the primary organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Cameron Shorter

===Primary administrator's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Cameron Shorter
===Primary administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.
: Cameron Shorter's email address

===Are you participating as a mentor in Season of Docs? *===
If you are participating as a mentor, you must agree to the terms of the mentor participant agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms.
: Yes. I agree to this Participant Agreement.

===Alternative organization administrator===
The alternative organization administrator is the secondary contact if the primary organization administrator is unavailable.
DIRECT THE ALTERNATIVE ADMINISTRATOR TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/tsEsiNYB57WG4Ebz6.

===Alternative administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the alternative organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Matteo Ghetta

===Alternative administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to program communications and to share program resources on the website.
: Matteo Ghetta's email address

==Organization's previous experience==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your open source organization's previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.

===What previous experience has your organization had in documentation or collaborating with technical writers?===
If you or any of your mentors have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeoLive core writer team have written Quickstart and Project Overview templates and then mentored techies from ~ 50 projects to write to these templates, and then helped the docs be translated into multiple languages. More details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html. Cameron Shorter, Astrid Emde, and Nicolas Rolandt are mentors on the OSGeoLive team. Cameron Shorter has worked professionally as an information architect and technical writer; more details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html. The documentation team within the QGIS project has produced comprehensive docs. Further, there is an ecosystem of organisations and people who have created various workshops and training courses. Challenges for us to address are around improving quality over quantity and improving sustainability. People who have signed up as QGIS mentors include Matteo De Stefano, QGIS documentation lead and trainer; Nick Bearman, a Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis and contributor to QGIS documentation. The GeoNetwork project has some documentation, but it has holes which need to be filled. Jo Cook has signed up as a GeoNetwork mentor and is a power GeoNetwork user, as well as being a leading Open Source Geosaptial community builder and advocate. We additionally have geospatial software users with varying experience in documentation, keen to contribute and be mentored. More at: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019#People_keen_to_take_part

===What previous experience has your organization had mentoring individuals?===
If you or any of your mentors have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program that mentors individuals, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeo Foundation has over a decade's experience mentoring students as part of Google's Summer of Code, and more recently with the Google Code In. Our OSGeo projects which have our stringent incubation criteria, which usually takes years to complete, have each demonstrated a healthy and sustainable community (which pretty much guarantees internal mentoring is in place). We plan to focus much of our energy on our OSGeoLive and QGIS communities. OSGeoLive packages ~ 50 projects into a linux distrubution. We mentor representatives from each project in the development and maintenance of an install script for each project, along with Project Overview and Quickstart documentation, and mentoring translators into multiple languages.
: TBC: What statement can we make about QGIS mentoring?

==Mentoring capacity==
Your organization must have at least two open source mentors for each technical writing project/technical writer that you plan to accept for this year's Season of Docs. You need the mentors to help during the technical writer exploration and application phases, as well as during doc development.

Season of Docs 2019 plans to allocate one or two technical writers per organization. Your request for one or two technical writers won't affect whether we choose your organization, but we need to know how many technical writers your organization wants to mentor so that we can accept the correct number of organizations to fill all the available technical writing slots.

Mentors who are not also organization administrators must register independently.

DIRECT THE MENTORS TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/a1x26WQGzURLerv66.

===How many technical writers does your organization want to mentor this year? *===
Option of 1 or 2
: 2

==Technical writing project ideas==
Work with your mentors to create a project ideas list. This list should include one or more documentation projects that you'd like a technical writer to tackle during this year's Season of Docs. You should publish your project ideas on a public web page, in a blog post, or in some other publicly visible document and include a link to the document in this section.

See the detailed guidelines on creating your project ideas list at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/project-ideas.

===Link to project ideas list *===
Enter the URL of a publicly accessible list of your organization's project ideas.
: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019

==Organization Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the organization participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/organization-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to the Organization Agreement.
: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

=2019 Season of Docs: Mentor Registration=
Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

Familiarize yourself with the mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

If your organization is applying to Season of Docs and you are a mentor, fill out this form.

***You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.***

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.

*Required

===Email address===
: Your email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization and match your registration with that application.

===Open source project name *===
Open source organizations often host multiple projects. Enter the name of the specific project that is participating in the Season of Docs.
: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.
: https://www.osgeo.org/

==Mentor's information==
You are registering to mentor a technical writer on behalf of your open source organization and project.
===Mentor's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and you. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Your name
===Mentor's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Your name

==Previous experience as a mentor==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.
===What previous experience have you had creating documentation or collaborating with technical writers? *===
If you have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.

: Jo's answer:

: In my professional capacity over almost 20 years, as a GIS consultant for Astun Technology (https://www.astuntechnology.com) and previously as a GIS Project Officer for Oxford Archaeology (https://www.oxfordarchaeology.com), I have needed to write high-quality documentation, for both technical and non-technical audiences, for a range of professional publications, internal use, websites and other communications.

: In my current role I work with a technical writer to create new and improve existing documentation for my company's software, generally using Confluence. Either I create documentation and our technical writer reviews and publishes it, or she creates it and I review it. This process ensures that our company documentation is not only high quality and accessible, but that the "look and feel" throughout is consistent, making it easier for users to follow.

: I have helped create documentation for the Scottish Spatial Data Infrastructure portal (https://spatialdata.gov.scot), in Read the Docs (http://scottish-sdi-metadata-portal.readthedocs.io/), and established a workflow by which non-technical users could make changes using the github gui and have them published automatically in readthedocs. 

: I actively seek to contribute documentation enhancements to many of the open source projects that I work with, focusing mainly on Geonetwork. Here I flag up missing documentation and create github issues for it, marked as "good first issue" to try and persuade non-coders to take part.

: I have also run workshops at conferences (FOSS4GUK 2016 for one) coaching people in using GitHub to contribute to open source projects, particularly focused on documentation contributions.

: I believe this will all help me engage with a technical writer as part of this project- I will bring enthusiasm and prior experience to the process, as well as an understanding of the different aspects of producing documentation, from the technical side of things, through the review process, to publication. 

: Your story

===What previous experience have you had mentoring individuals? *===
If you have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.

Jo's answer:

Throughout almost 20 years working in GIS I have mentored many junior colleagues and clients, either in using software, or in writing clear and concise copy. I am passionate that software documentation should be clear, accessible, and easy to understand for non-coders. I understand how frustrating it is to be stopped at the first hurdle when using a new package, because the documentation is incomplete or so overly technical that it is not even possible to get started. Furthermore, I believe that the very language used when giving instructions can be extremely off-putting, making assumptions about knowledge and background that are not necessarily correct or appropriate. Since I consider myself to be one of those non-coders, I will bring this "beginners mindset" into my mentoring, focusing on accessibility and lowering barriers for use.

: Your story

==Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the mentor participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to this Participant Agreement.

: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

Season of Docs Application 2019

2019-04-18T14:27:34Z

Jocook: /* What previous experience have you had creating documentation or collaborating with technical writers? * */

[[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

=OSGeo Application for 2019 Season of Docs=
* ''Answers to [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrEq5yKmadgn7LEPC8nN811-6DNmYvus5uXv_JY5BX7CH-Bg/viewform Google's Application for the 2019 Season of Docs]''.
* Refer also to Google's [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide Admin Guide].
* ''These draw inspiration from OSGeo's prior applications for [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_Application_2019 Google's Summer of Code].''

Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

If you are interested in having your open source organization participate in Season of Docs, first familiarize yourself with the organization administrator guide at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide and the organization administrator and mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

Next, fill out this application for your open source organization to participate in the 2019 Season of Docs program. For guidance on filling out this form, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/organization-application-hints.

You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered on this page in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you if there are any issues with the form entry.

===Email address===
: Cameron Shorter's email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization.

===Open source organization's email address *===
This email address is used for contacting your open source organization about Season of Docs and is published on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Google program administrators and technical writer participants to contact your organization. You are strongly advised not to use a personal email address as the email address for contacting your open source organization.

: season-of-docs-discuss@googlegroups.com

===Open source project name *===
Enter the name of the open source project that is participating in the Season of Docs.

: Open Source Geospatial Foundation

===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.

: https://www.osgeo.org/

===Open source project description *===

This description is published on the Season of Docs website.

: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organization serving as an umbrella organization for the Open Source Geospatial community. It represents 24 mature (graduated) projects, 13 office community projects, and other non-official projects. It also covers topic and regional community groups, along with the thousands of developers, users, and educators. Within Season of Docs, we propose to focus on a couple of initiatives and projects: OSGeoLive, QGIS, GeoNetwork and maybe one or two others. The OSGeoLive project provides a Linux distribution with ~ 50 open source geospatial applications, along with sample data, project overviews and quick starts, which have been translated into multiple languages. QGIS is a desktop geospatial client and is one of OSGeo flagship projects. GeoNetwork is a Content Management System for Geospatial data. We propose to tackle a small set of documentation challenges as pilots within QGIS and GeoNetwork, and build into templates ready to be used by OSGeoLive for other OSGeo projects.

===Link to your organization’s page about Season of Docs===

If your organization has a web page or blog post dedicated to Season of Docs, enter the URL here. You can supply this link later too.

: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_Of_Docs_2019

==Optional stipend==
Indicate whether your organization wants to receive a mentor stipend for this year’s program. For more information, see stipends for mentor organizations at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/org-payments.
===Does your organization want to accept the mentor stipend? *===
: Yes

==Organization Application for 2019 Season of Docs==
*Required

===Organization administrators===
You must have at least two organization administrators to manage your organization's participation in Season of Docs. For more information about the organization application phase, see https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-guide#organization_application_phase.

===Primary organization administrator===
The primary organization administrator is responsible for communicating with Season of Docs program administrators and managing tasks for their organization related to the Season of Docs program.

===Primary administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the primary organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Cameron Shorter

===Primary administrator's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Cameron Shorter
===Primary administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.
: Cameron Shorter's email address

===Are you participating as a mentor in Season of Docs? *===
If you are participating as a mentor, you must agree to the terms of the mentor participant agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms.
: Yes. I agree to this Participant Agreement.

===Alternative organization administrator===
The alternative organization administrator is the secondary contact if the primary organization administrator is unavailable.
DIRECT THE ALTERNATIVE ADMINISTRATOR TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/tsEsiNYB57WG4Ebz6.

===Alternative administrator's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and the alternative organization administrator. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Matteo Ghetta

===Alternative administrator's email address *===
This email is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used to program communications and to share program resources on the website.
: Matteo Ghetta's email address

==Organization's previous experience==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your open source organization's previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.

===What previous experience has your organization had in documentation or collaborating with technical writers?===
If you or any of your mentors have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeoLive core writer team have written Quickstart and Project Overview templates and then mentored techies from ~ 50 projects to write to these templates, and then helped the docs be translated into multiple languages. More details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html. Cameron Shorter, Astrid Emde, and Nicolas Rolandt are mentors on the OSGeoLive team. Cameron Shorter has worked professionally as an information architect and technical writer; more details at http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html. The documentation team within the QGIS project has produced comprehensive docs. Further, there is an ecosystem of organisations and people who have created various workshops and training courses. Challenges for us to address are around improving quality over quantity and improving sustainability. People who have signed up as QGIS mentors include Matteo De Stefano, QGIS documentation lead and trainer; Nick Bearman, a Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis and contributor to QGIS documentation. The GeoNetwork project has some documentation, but it has holes which need to be filled. Jo Cook has signed up as a GeoNetwork mentor and is a power GeoNetwork user, as well as being a leading Open Source Geosaptial community builder and advocate. We additionally have geospatial software users with varying experience in documentation, keen to contribute and be mentored. More at: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019#People_keen_to_take_part

===What previous experience has your organization had mentoring individuals?===
If you or any of your mentors have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program that mentors individuals, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.
: The OSGeo Foundation has over a decade's experience mentoring students as part of Google's Summer of Code, and more recently with the Google Code In. Our OSGeo projects which have our stringent incubation criteria, which usually takes years to complete, have each demonstrated a healthy and sustainable community (which pretty much guarantees internal mentoring is in place). We plan to focus much of our energy on our OSGeoLive and QGIS communities. OSGeoLive packages ~ 50 projects into a linux distrubution. We mentor representatives from each project in the development and maintenance of an install script for each project, along with Project Overview and Quickstart documentation, and mentoring translators into multiple languages.
: TBC: What statement can we make about QGIS mentoring?

==Mentoring capacity==
Your organization must have at least two open source mentors for each technical writing project/technical writer that you plan to accept for this year's Season of Docs. You need the mentors to help during the technical writer exploration and application phases, as well as during doc development.

Season of Docs 2019 plans to allocate one or two technical writers per organization. Your request for one or two technical writers won't affect whether we choose your organization, but we need to know how many technical writers your organization wants to mentor so that we can accept the correct number of organizations to fill all the available technical writing slots.

Mentors who are not also organization administrators must register independently.

DIRECT THE MENTORS TO REGISTER AT https://forms.gle/a1x26WQGzURLerv66.

===How many technical writers does your organization want to mentor this year? *===
Option of 1 or 2
: 2

==Technical writing project ideas==
Work with your mentors to create a project ideas list. This list should include one or more documentation projects that you'd like a technical writer to tackle during this year's Season of Docs. You should publish your project ideas on a public web page, in a blog post, or in some other publicly visible document and include a link to the document in this section.

See the detailed guidelines on creating your project ideas list at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/project-ideas.

===Link to project ideas list *===
Enter the URL of a publicly accessible list of your organization's project ideas.
: https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs_Ideas_2019

==Organization Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the organization participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/organization-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to the Organization Agreement.
: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

=2019 Season of Docs: Mentor Registration=
Welcome to the 2019 Season of Docs!

The goals of Season of Docs are to give technical writers an opportunity to gain experience in contributing to open source projects, and to give open source projects an opportunity to engage the technical writing community.

Familiarize yourself with the mentor responsibilities at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/admin-mentor-responsibilities.

If your organization is applying to Season of Docs and you are a mentor, fill out this form.

***You can continue updating the information on this form until the end of the application deadline.***

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 23, 2019 at 20:00 UTC

For more information on Season of Docs program dates and deadlines, see the official timeline at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline.

The email address entered in this form is not displayed on the Season of Docs website. It is used by the Season of Docs program administrators to communicate with you and to share program resources on the website.

*Required

===Email address===
: Your email address.

==Open source organization information==
The information in this section enables the program administrators to properly identify your open source organization and match your registration with that application.

===Open source project name *===
Open source organizations often host multiple projects. Enter the name of the specific project that is participating in the Season of Docs.
: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
===Link to the open source project *===

Enter the URL of your open source website or repository.
: https://www.osgeo.org/

==Mentor's information==
You are registering to mentor a technical writer on behalf of your open source organization and project.
===Mentor's full name *===
This name is used in communications between the Season of Docs program administrators and you. It is not published on the Season of Docs website.
: Your name
===Mentor's display name *===
This name is displayed publicly on the Season of Docs website. You are strongly advised not to use your real name as your display name. You may use your GitHub, Twitter, or community handle as your display name.
: Your name

==Previous experience as a mentor==
This section provides the Season of Docs program administrators with information on your previous experience with mentorship and working with documentation or technical writers.
===What previous experience have you had creating documentation or collaborating with technical writers? *===
If you have worked with technical writers before, or have developed documentation, mention this in your answer. Describe the documentation that you produced and the ways in which you worked with the technical writer. For example, describe any review processes that you used, or how the technical writer's skills were useful to your project. Explain how this previous experience may help you to work with a technical writer in Season of Docs.

: Jo's answer:

: In my professional capacity over almost 20 years, as a GIS consultant for Astun Technology (https://www.astuntechnology.com) and previously as a GIS Project Officer for Oxford Archaeology (https://www.oxfordarchaeology.com), I have needed to write high-quality documentation, for both technical and non-technical audiences, for a range of professional publications, internal use, websites and other communications.

: In my current role I work with a technical writer to create new and improve existing documentation for my company's software, generally using Confluence. Either I create documentation and our technical writer reviews and publishes it, or she creates it and I review it. This process ensures that our company documentation is not only high quality and accessible, but that the "look and feel" throughout is consistent, making it easier for users to follow.

: I have helped create documentation for the Scottish Spatial Data Infrastructure portal (https://spatialdata.gov.scot), in Read the Docs (http://scottish-sdi-metadata-portal.readthedocs.io/), and established a workflow by which non-technical users could make changes using the github gui and have them published automatically in readthedocs. 

: I actively seek to contribute documentation enhancements to many of the open source projects that I work with, focusing mainly on Geonetwork. Here I flag up missing documentation and create github issues for it, marked as "good first issue" to try and persuade non-coders to take part.

: I have also run workshops at conferences (FOSS4GUK 2016 for one) coaching people in using GitHub to contribute to open source projects, particularly focused on documentation contributions.

: I believe this will all help me engage with a technical writer as part of this project- I will bring enthusiasm and prior experience to the process, as well as an understanding of the different aspects of producing documentation, from the technical side of things, through the review process, to publication. 

: Your story

===What previous experience have you had mentoring individuals? *===
If you have taken part in Google Summer of Code or a similar program, mention this in your answer. Describe your achievements in that program. Explain how this experience may influence the way you work in Season of Docs.
: Your story

==Participation Agreement==
By clicking on the "Submit" button, you agree to the terms of the program rules at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/program-rules and the mentor participation agreement at https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/terms/mentor-terms, shown on the Season of Docs website.
===Acceptance of terms *===
: [x] I agree to this Participant Agreement.

: [x] Send me a copy of my responses.

Season of Docs Ideas 2019

2019-04-16T11:35:14Z

Jocook: /* People keen to take part */

[[Season_Of_Docs_2019|Season of Docs]] home page.

''From simple to grandiose writing tasks which will improve OSGeo projects, and open source in general. It includes ideas and first steps for tech writers, software users and those participating in Google’s [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/ Season-of-Docs].''

We, the communities behind the [https://www.osgeo.org/ OSGeo Foundation’s] open source geospatial projects, are positioned to help solve big documentation challenges faced by all open source projects. We can achieve this by continuing as we are doing now, with ordinary people, gifting bursts of effort, toward small, discrete and achievable tasks, to collectively achieve an extraordinary impact.

=Leveraging Google’s Season-of-Docs=

Google’s [https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/ Season-of-Docs] is an initiative to bring open source and technical writer communities together to write documentation. We propose we use this initiative as a focal point to attract a collaborative community to pilot big ideas. In particular:
* Open source projects face sustainability challenges. How will docs developed during Season-Of-Docs be maintained long term?
* Can a writer’s expertise be amplified to help community users and developers write good docs more effectively and efficiently?
* Could best practices developed in one project be applied to the greater open source eco-system?

We propose to focus on one (or more) writing initiatives, for one of our leading OSGeo projects. Goals should focus on:
* Being directly applicable for the project.
* Be captured as a template, which can be easily applied to other OSGeo projects. Ideally this will grow into an initiative which is of value to all open source projects.
* Engages a Season-of-Docs sponsored writer, along with volunteers from project and writing communities.

==Key roles sought==
* '''Mentor''': As an experienced project team member, provide technical mentorship toward a writing initiative.
* '''Writer''': As someone keen to give back to open source through docs, volunteer to be mentored and tackle our OSGeo writing initiatives.
* '''Senior writer''': Drive the writing aspects of an initiative, including empowering other participants. (Eligible for a stipend from Google).
* '''Learning expert''': Help shape documentation templates and guides by linking back to educational theory. (This role is highly prized).
* '''Administrator''': As an engaged OSGeo community member, act as a Season-of-Docs administrator.

==Interested?==

If you are considering helping, or maybe just want to learn a bit more, then please reach out to us on our [https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs email list]. If keen, then add yourself to the list below. ''(Be concise: Name, brief background, how you’d like to contribute.)''

==People keen to take part==
* '''Cameron Shorter''': Geospatial business analyst. Co-founder of OSGeoLive. Co-editor of OSGeoLive doc templates; reviewer of most of the 50 Project Overview and Quickstart documents. Ex-board member of OSGeo Foundation. Keen to provide connections to our community and to be practically involved in writing initiatives.
* '''Astrid Emde''': Senior GIS consultant at WhereGroup in Bonn, Germany. OSGeo board member and secretary. Awarded the Sol Katz award for leadership and longtime contributions to open source geospatial communities. Contributor to OSGeoLive, the OSGeo marketing committee and co-coordinator of meetups, code-sprints, and the annual German-speaking open source geospatial conference. She likes documentation and teaching people OSGeo Software. Keen to provide connections to our community and to be practically involved in writing initiatives.
* '''Johanna Boltman''': Ex-English teacher, IT admin, and user of open source software as a geospatial officer at a local council. Keen to be mentored in writing docs.
* '''Andrew Jeffrey''': Spatial Consultant in Bathurst, NSW, Australia, involved in QGIS training and support. Involved in the Australian QGIS user group, have contributed to QGIS documentation, and have a keen interest in improving the community and access to information for users. Out of the Google Summer of Docs, I am interested in being mentored to improve my QGIS documentation contributions, and learn of any best practices that can facilitate a good delivery of information.
* '''Adam Steer''': Independent geospatial consultant, scientist, community builder. Board member of OSGeo Oceania; charter member of OSGeo and OGC representative. Sometimes occupying all the chairs of coder/writer/analyst/manager - sometimes all at once; keen to contribute my experience to both document and training material writing; and mentoring new contributors. Also keen to learn and improve my own practices in contributing to OSGeo projects.
* '''Belinda Baker''': Background in writing process documentation and user of open source software as a GIS Consultant at a software company. Keen to be mentored in writing docs.
* '''Liam Turner''': GIS Specialist for NSW Government (Australia), previously a high school physics teacher. User of open source technical documentation, keen to make a contribution.
* '''Nicolas Roelandt:''' Geospatial engineer at the French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks. OSGeo charter member and OSGeoLive Project Steering Committee (PSC) member. Works on OSGeoLive documentation and translation build process (using the Transifex platform). Keen to support others in the use of these tools.
* '''Luca Delucchi:''' Geographer; OSGeo and Open Street Map contributor and advocate. Core developer and translator of the GRASS GIS project; main developer of pyModis library; OSGeoLive and ZOO-Project contributor; president of the Italian OSGeo local chapter. Willing to help improve Jupyter interactive notebook documents in line with a developed template and writing instructions, if one is developed and committed to.
* '''Nick Bearman: '''Teaching Fellow in Geospatial Analysis (University College London) and GIS Trainer & Consultant (Geospatial Training Solutions). Contributed to QGIS documentation. Write and deliver GIS training courses to a variety of participants. Keen to learn how to contribute more effectively, particularly to QGIS documentation. Also looking to run a workshop on how to contribute to open source documentation at upcoming FOSS4G UK event in Edinburgh, UK in September 2019.
* '''Phillip Davis''': Professor of Computer Science in Corpus Christi, Texas USA. Longtime open source geospatial advocate, rabble-rousing troublemaker all over the world. Project manager and maniac behind the 2012-2015 build of the US GeoAcademy. Created five Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) as project manager and major funder from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and US Departement of Labour (DOL). Interested in helping to promote and develop any geospatial open source educations resource. Potential NSF and DOL US Federal grant writer and Principal Investigator.
* '''Charlie Schweik''': Professor of Environmental Conservation and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Advocate of open educational resources and continues to be interested in developing collective action in GeoForAll and OSGeo toward developing a collaborative effort around educational materials. I'd welcome the opportunity to mentor somebody (especially if there were from my university) to write for this effort.
* '''Sergio Acosta y Lara:''' Architect (Universidad de la República/UdelaR) working with Geographic Information Technologies for nearly 30 years. In charge of the Department of Geomatics (Ministry of Transport and Public Works) and member of several Working Groups for Technical Specifications of the IDEuy (Spatial Data Infrastructure of Uruguay). Charter Member of the OSGeo Foundation (Open Geospatial Foundation) and member of the Advisory Board of the Geo4all initiative, Regional chair for Iberoamerica and co-editor of its newsletter. Coordinator for gvSIG Batoví (design and development of a GIS applied to educational environments for the Plan Ceibal (OLPC initiative for Uruguay) based on gvSIG. Co-coordinator of the gvSIG Uruguay Community (web) and of its blog.
* '''Jo Cook''': Geospatial Consultant and metadata lead at [http://astuntechnology.com Astun Technology]. Chair and founder of the [http://uk.osgeo.org OSGeo UK Local Chapter], chair of FOSS4GUK 2016, vice-chair of FOSS4G 2013, and previous OSGeo board member. Keen to mentor technical writers and generally reduce the barriers for non-coders to contribute to projects, using documentation as a way in.

=The back story=

For background on the value of communicators, along with ideas on the sort of communities that have proven to be successful in the past, we suggest starting with [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html this article on inspiring techies to become great writers].

=Ideas=

==Best practice templates==

Good documentation benefits from access to cross-disciplinary skills. Expertise is typically spread across developers, users, domain experts, teachers, technical writers, graphic artists, and translators. Ramp-up time is high for any group attempting to learn another’s skill-set. This creates a significant barrier to entry.

Our OSGeoLive initiative has [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/02/inspiring-techies-to-become-great.html achieved] sustained, cross-domain collaboration by capturing writer’s expertise within templates with clear and punchy writing instructions. These templates were then provided to developers and domain experts. By using an outline/write/review/translate/publish process we’ve achieved significant efficiencies by allowing experts to focus only on the areas they know best. However, OSGeoLive has only tackled the Project Overview and Quickstarts. Projects which have tacked harder documentation types haven’t addressed cross-project consistency.

How can we align our OSGeoLive writing initiatives with other projects and help build best practice templates for key documentation types? This will be valuable if addressed at an OSGeo level. It will be significantly more valuable if extended to an international, cross-domain level. (It will be challenging to attract momentum, but good groundwork is in place, and if implemented it would have a huge positive impact.)

Potential resources:
* Daniele Procida’s [https://www.divio.com/blog/documentation/ What nobody tells you about documentation].
* [https://github.com/mdyd-dev/nearme-documentation/tree/master/marketplace_builder/views/pages/doc-templates Nearme writing templates] with [https://www.platform-os.com/blog/post/blog/building-our-documentation-site-on-platformos-part-2-content-production-and-layouts accompanying blog post].
* [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2018/06/technical-documentation-writing.html Document type definitions].
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Writing instructions for OSGeoLive Project Overviews and Quickstarts].
* The [https://www.writethedocs.org/about/stay-connected/ Write-The-Docs community] are a likely source of potential co-contributors and defacto owners of such templates.
* [https://www.cebm.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Blooms-Taxonomy-Teacher-Planning-Kit.pdf Bloom’s Taxonomy: Teacher Planning Kit] is helpful for selecting language for training.
* Someone has suggested ISO standards, but you need to pay to use them, and they appear overly verbose: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_JTC_1/SC_7#Published_standards ISO/IEC/IEEE 26511, 25612, 25613, 25614, 25615].

==Other doc types for OSGeoLive==

To date, our OSGeoLive community have been sustainably maintaining two of the easier documentation types: Project Overviews and Quickstarts. Established OSGeo projects also have documentation, in various stages of currency, completion, relevance, verbosity, and quality.

I believe we are ready to extend our consistency and best practices to some of the harder documentation types - such as tutorials, workshops and howtos. We should start by focusing on one of OSGeo’s flagship projects, such as QGIS or PostGIS. Join the project’s existing documentation initiatives. Provide feedback and improvements as required. Build templates and writing instructions which can be adopted by other projects. Integrate these with the OSGeoLive publishing and translation pipeline.

Resources:
* To help position training with other courses, it helps to link back to a Body of Knowledge, such as the [https://gistbok.ucgis.org/ Body of Knowledge for Geographic Information Science and Technologies (GIS&T)].

==QGIS Documentation==

QGIS, a desktop GIS application, is one of the OSGeo Foundation’s flagship projects with a broad developer and documentation community.

* Pyqgis cookbook code snipped are now automatically tested, meaning that every new contribution will be rock solid and code snippets can be taken "as they are" and pasted in QGIS
* Change the doc style to the more readable Read-The-Docs vanilla theme (fully supported by sphinx). A live example here [https://qgis.org/test/en/ https://qgis.org/test/en/].
* Besides from contents, writing documentation isn't easy because of the complex framework (sphinx, git, github, etc). Improving the WYSIWYG github editor would be a great enhancement
* Cleaning the issue tracker in github (> 400 issue now) in many different ways: verifying issues, closing duplicates, make order in the labels, etc

Resources:
* [https://www.qgis.org/en/docs/index.html QGIS Documentation]
* [https://github.com/qgis/QGIS-Documentation/issues QGIS Documentation Issues]
* [http://spatialquerylab.com/foss4g-academy-curriculum/ University-level lectures and labs, created by GeoAcademy] (based on the older QGIS 2.18)

==Other OSGeo Project Docs ==

TBD: Are there other projects that are at a tipping point - that could achieve the QGIS momentum if they get a push?

==Improve OSGeoLive writing instructions==

We’ve recently updated our OSGeoLive process for generating documentation, and have moved our documentation repository from MediaWiki to trac. We appear to have introduced a few gaps in the move. In particular, the new docs don’t reference our specific writing instructions which are embedding in [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/master/doc/overview/postgis_overview.rst Project Overview] and [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/master/doc/quickstart/udig_quickstart.rst Quickstart] reference documents. A nice discrete task would be to review the old and new processes, and update the new docs to ensure they still contain relevant information, and are easy to follow.

Resources:
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Old, OSGeoLive documentation processes]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/wiki/How%20to%20document%20a%20project New (incomplete) processes]

==New OSGeoLive Quickstarts and Overviews:==

For our 2019 OSGeoLive release we hope to attract a number of projects which have recently signed up as OSGeo Foundation Community projects. These projects will need help writing their Project Overviews and Quickstarts. Existing project documentation also needs to be updated to align with the latest releases. (Reviewing 50 Quickstarts to ensure they still work is a time-consuming exercise).

Resources:
* Ask OSGeoLive team about which new projects are joining OSGeoLive
* [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeoLive_AddProject#Documentation Old, OSGeoLive documentation processes]
* [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/wiki/How%20to%20document%20a%20project New (incomplete) processes]

==Simplify OSGeoLive’s doc writing process==

Like most open source projects, OSGeoLive templates and content have primarily been created by developers (and a few users), without access to the insights provided by trained technical writers and teachers.

Johanna Botman explains the challenges our approach has introduced. She started her working career as an English teacher, then moved into IT, website design, and is now uses geospatial software, as a geospatial officer at a local council. She observed:

:: Some of the issues relating to getting started [with writing project documentation] are about bridging the gap between developers and writers. Developers write code in coding tools. They collaborate, they are used to versioning and are at home with unformatted raw text and automation tools. Writers? They work on Windows machines in Word - maybe in Google Docs if they are lucky. They don’t know about running build scripts, running Linux variants, Github, chat programs, HTML, RST formats, wikis and the variants of markup languages.
:: It’s one thing to work with the open source software, another to write about it, and a third thing to work out how to write it so that it fits in with the project. It seems as if the developers have created the writing system in a way that they are used to working, not necessarily in a way that works for writers.

There are many ways we can help solve this problem, from small to large:* Technical writers can try using our existing writing guides, and document anything that is difficult to understand, and help us fix it.
* We can revisit and potentially improve the tools and processes we use. [https://www.gitbook.com/ Gitbook] looks promising. We have already adopted [https://www.transifex.com/ Transifex] for translations. Some research into options and what others are doing would help here.
* Processes, tools and howto-write guides could both draw from international initiatives, and if we find ourselves to be world leading, then we should feed our insights back into international best practices.

==Define an authoritative style guide==

It would be great if there was a compact, authoritative style guide (with different configurations), which could be selected in a similar manner to the [https://creativecommons.org/choose/ selection of a Creative Commons license]. It should be freely available, and coordinated by a non-profit community. (One version might be too idealistic, maybe we need a few).

Benefits provided:
* Reduced time learning and maintaining multiple style guides.
* Improved documentation quality and consistency, resulting in improved reader comprehension.
* Easier for writing tools to support the guide(s).
* Make it easier for projects to set and apply writing standards.

Resources:
* [https://developers.google.com/style/ Google developer documentation style guide].
* [https://docs.geoserver.org/latest/en/docguide/style.html GeoServer style guide] (also referenced by GeoNode)
* The Australian government [https://www.themandarin.com.au/102797-the-first-new-edition-of-the-commonwealth-style-manual-since-2002-is-in-the-works/?utm_campaign=TheJuice&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter has announced] that we are updating our style guide. [http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2019/01/toward-universal-style-manual.html I’ve suggested collaboration].
* TBD: What other style guides should we mention?

==OSGeoLive to apply a style guide==

To date, the OSGeoLive team haven’t selected a style guide. It would be good to get advice from technical writers on which we should choose. We potentially should retrospectively clean up our public facing documentation in line with the selected guide. I’m aware there are tools for auto-checking documentation quality. What options are available for open source projects?

==Open Source Geospatial Introductory Workshop==

It wouldn’t take much to create a practical 3-hour introductory workshop introducing ~ six to eight of the leading Open Source geospatial applications. It would be a valuable contribution to many spatial conferences. It could use the existing OSGeoLive distribution along with installed data, and can draw upon existing Quickstarts.

The workshop should make use of best practice template structure for presenting, and set up a template which can be expanded out to other OSGeo projects.

Resources:
* [http://live.osgeo.org/en/overview/overview.html OSGeoLive Quickstarts].
* Nicolas Roelandt, Astrid Emde are proposing such a workshop for the Free and Open Source for Geospatial conference (FOSS4G).

==Define an authoritative Code of Conduct==

Most conferences and open source communities adopt a Code of Conduct and/or a Diversity Statement. It would be great of the multiple variants were consolidated, and selectable via a tick-box selection process, (like the [https://creativecommons.org/choose/ selection of a Creative Commons license]).

Resources:
* I [https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Diversity&oldid=84020 reviewed numerous Code of Conducts] when co-authoring the [https://www.osgeo.org/code_of_conduct/ The OSGeo Foundation’s Code of Conduct].
* [https://www.contributor-covenant.org/ Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct], which has attracted a lot of projects.

==Jupyter Notebooks as an OSGeoLive documentation type==

Jupyter Notebook is a web application that allows you to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations and explanatory text. It is a useful communication medium for explaining technical concepts. We included Jupyter Notebooks on prior OSGeoLive releases, but we didn’t have a maintainer to bring the documentation up to the standards we expect for OSGeoLive documents.

It would be good to:
# Have Project Overviews and Quickstarts updated to our quality standards, so we can re-introduce Jupyter Notebooks.
# Consider using Jupyter Notebooks as another documentation type supported by OSGeoLive - which would mean developing templates for its use by other OSGeo projects, and attracting maintainers from these projects to create material.

Resources:
* OSGeoLive 11.0 was the latest release which includes [https://live.osgeo.org/archive/11.0/en/overview/jupyter_overview.html Jupyter Notebook docs]
* [https://github.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-Notebooks OSGeoLive repository of Jupyter Notebooks]

==Tweak the OSGeoLive Presentation==

We maintain [https://live.osgeo.org/en/presentation.html#/ a lightning presentation of the ~ 50 projects on OSGeoLive]. It is a challenge to keep this presentation concise enough to fit within a conference presentation time-slot and could do with tweaking.

[[Category: Season of Docs]]

OSGeo Community Projects

2019-01-07T10:54:33Z

Jocook: /* Community Projects */

== Community Projects ==

The following projects are listed with the community projects [[Category:OSGeo Labs|program]]:

* [[Geoinformatica]]
* [[GeoWebCache]]
* [[MapProxy]]
* [[pgRouting]]
* [http://portablegis.xyz Portable GIS]
* [[Postal Address Geo-Coder]]
* [[Proj4php]]
* [https://github.com/ahhz/raster Pronto Raster]
* [[Virtual Terrain Project]]
* [https://github.com/AstunTechnology/Loader Loader]

==Member Project History==
The following projects have now graduated from incubation:
* [[pycsw]]

There is an archive of the old OSGeo Technology Projects page at [[OSGeo Labs Page Archive]].

== About OSGeo Community Projects==
OSGeo Community Projects are software projects that:

* Have an open source license.
* Welcome new contributors.
* Are in the process of building their developer and user communities.
* Are in the process of working on project governance, documentation, and marketing.

OSGeo Community Projects may not yet have an active developer and user community. They may be benevolent dictatorships or feature experimental and unstable technology.

==How OSGeo Community Projects Are Related To OSGeo Incubation==
There are two ways for an open source software project to join OSGeo. The first way is through the regular incubation process. This is best for projects that already have an established community of developers and users. (This community should be diverse. This means that developers should come from more than one organization or group.)

If a project doesn't yet have an active and diverse community, it can join OSGeo as an OSGeo Community Project. OSGeo Community Projects get help from the incubation committee with things like choosing an open source license, setting up project governance, promoting the project, and building the project community).

The same volunteers that help software projects through the OSGeo Incubation Process also help OSGeo Community Projects.

== Purpose ==

The purpose of OSGeo Community Projects is to provide a home at OSGeo for projects that don't qualify for our normal incubation process. This allows them to get help from the volunteers on the OSGeo Incubation Committee and to become familiar with the guidelines and operation of OSGeo as an organization. Most OSGeo Community Projects are working to qualify for the normal incubation process, but this isn't a requirement.

The normal OSGeo incubation process requires that software projects meet a high standard for things like project governance. Working through the normal incubation process can involve a lot of work. in contrast, we want the process to become and OSGeo Community Project to be as painless as possible. That allows projects to build community strength before they enter incubation.

==Qualifying As An OSGeo Community Project==

We would like to make joining OSGeo as an OSGeo Community Project as simple and painless as possible. If you would like your software project to become an OSGeo Community Project, please send a description of your project to the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator OSGeo Incubation Committee Mailing List].

Your software project needs to meet the following criteria to be an OSGeo Community Project:

# The technology in your software project should be geospatial (or directly support geospatial applications).
# Your project should be open source and welcomes new contributions. If you don't have a license selected, we can help with that.

=== Comparison with Incubation and OSGeo website ===

As shown below there is some overlap requirements for an OSGeo projects (as defined by the [http://www.osgeo.org/incubator/process/project_graduation_checklist.html incubation process] graduation checklist).

{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" width="310" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Responsibility
! scope="col" width="155" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Website Listing
! scope="col" width="155" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | OSGeo Community Projects
! scope="col" width="155" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | OSGeo Project
|-
| Geospatial
| X
| X
| X
|-
| Open Source / License 
- See LICENSE.md
| X
| X
| X
|-
| Open Source / Check headers
|
| X
| X
|-
| Open Source / Providence Review
|
|
| X
|-
| Participatory 
- See CONTRIBUTING.md
| X
| X
| X
|-
| Open Community 
- communication channel 
- decision making process
|
|
| X
|-
| Active Healthy Community 
- user and developer collaboration 
- long term viability
|
|
| X
|-
| Development Process 
- version control 
- issue tracker 
- leadership open to new members 
- transparent decision making
|
|
| X
|-
| Documentation 
- user documentation 
- developer documentation
|
|
| X
|-
| Release Procedure 
- release process 
- documented testing process 
|
|
| X
|-
| style="font-weight: bold;" | Foundation Resources
! scope="col" width="155" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Website Listing
| style="font-weight: bold;" | Technology
| style="font-weight: bold;" | Project
|-
| Representation
|
| incubation chair
| project officer
|-
| infrastructure and facilities
|
| X
| X
|-
| promotion & marketing
|
| X
| X
|-
| budget
|
| incubation committee
| project budget
|-
| fundraising
|
| X
| X
|}

Community projects do not have a direct budget from the OSGeo board, budget is available via incubation committee outreach and innovation mandate. The incubation process establishes a project as a full fledged OSGeo committee, with a project project officer, with direct access to OSGeo treasurer, and reporting to the board during annual general meeting.

Available branding:

{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" width="310" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Community
! scope="col" width="310" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Project
|-
| [[File:OSGeo community.png|frameless|OSGeo Community Project]]
| [[File:OSGeo project.png|frameless|OSGeo Project]]
|}

==Getting Started==
Once your software project has been accepted as an OSGeo Community Project, the Incubation Committee will assign you personal mentor. This mentor will help your project withcommunity building and other tasks. First steps for an OSGeo Community Project include:

# Creation a home page for the project. The OSGeo wiki is recommended for this page.
# Selection of an open source license (if the project hasn't already done this).
# Announcement and discussion of the project on the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss OSGeo Discuss] OSGeo Discussion mailing list.
# Set-up of project infrastructure (mailing list, source code repository, doc repository).
# Creation of plans for software development, marketing and documentation.

== Volunteers Needed ==
Please let us know on the [https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator Incubation Committee Mailing List] if you would like to help with OSGeo Community Projects. Here is the type of help we need:
* Project marketing.
* Development of user and programmer communities.
* Establishment of programs and policies for project documentation, copyright assignment, and licensing.
* Establishment of programs and policies for software development. This includes version tracking, bug tracking, and feature request tracking, creation of a development road map, and organization of code sprints/events.
* Establishment of project governance programs and policies.
* Collaboration on technical standards, data formats, and code sharing with other open source geospatial software projects.
* Utilization of software development infrastructure like mailing lists, bug trackers, version control software/hosting, and web hosting.

== OSGeo Community Projects Checklist ==
This will be coming soon!

== OSGeo Community Project Stages==
OSGeo Comminity Projects are assigned a "stage" that helps interested developers and users understand their maturity. Here are the different stages, in a profession from least mature to most mature:

* '''Research Project''': This project is in the conceptual stage. There may be some source code written, but it is incomplete or very experiemental. The project may lack deliverables, community support, project infrastructure, project governance, community activity, or marketing and outreach.

* '''New Project''': This project is moving beyond the conceptual stage with some concrete code. However the code is still experimental and isn't stable. Projects at this status level could still experience a lot of change in their code base. This project should start to have some project infrastructure and some basic documentation.

* '''Stable Project''': This project has functional source code, although it may not be "mature and feature rich". For example, the code may only be usable as a programming library or a command line tool instead of featuring a GUI. The project has started to support users and programmers with communication tools, trackers, and documentation. The project has started to think about project governance and marketing, perhaps creating plans in these areas that are not fully implemented.

* '''Established Project''': This project has a usable and user friendly deliverable, like an executable program or a stable and well-deocumented programming library. The project is supporting users and programmers with communication tools, trackers, and documentation. It has started the initial phases of incubation. This includes addressing issues of copyright, licensing, and project governance. The project also has a marketing and community growth plan and has started to implement the plan.

==Available Branding==
Once they are approved by the Incubation Committee, OSGeo Community Projects can use the following logo:
https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/File:OSGeo_community.png

Rfp-Possible-Improvements

2013-10-01T08:26:50Z

Jocook:

Improvements to the RFP process:

* not mentioned that OSGeo expects a complimentary booth in the exhibition space (Nottingham)
* not mentioned that the LOC needs to have an entity (such as a professional conference organising company) in place for handling the bank part of the conference organising (Portland)
* OSGeo should provide guidance on whether "key people" from projects should have free passes to the event, how many, and how they should be allocated
* OSGeo should be responsible for providing marketing materials and staff for their exhibition booth (this can be delegated to the LOC where possible but the prime responsibility should be OSGeo)

User:JoCook

2013-09-09T08:29:08Z

Jocook: /* Jo Cook */

===[[User:JoCook|Jo Cook]]===

[[File:Jocook.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Jo Cook]]

Geospatial Consultant, Astun Technology Limited

Location: UK

Consultant for [http://astuntechnology.com/ Astun Technology] - who provide internet mapping products based the OSGeo technology stack. From 2011 to 2012, a Board Member for OSGeo, and also Charter Member, and founder and official representative of the UK local chapter (from 2006 to 2012). Available for seminars, workshops, and presentations about OSGeo or about open source GIS, with a focus on spreading the word to new users, both personal and enterprise. Quelling myths about proprietary vs open source are a speciality. Creator of Portable GIS- Open Source GIS on a USB stick for windows. Find out more at [http://www.archaeogeek.com Archaeogeek] or [http://uk.linkedin.com/in/joannecook LinkedIn].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]]
* Board Member (2011-2012)
* Charter Member (2010-present)
* UK Local Chapter Founder and Representative (2006-2012)
* Deputy-chair of FOSS4G 2013 Local Organising Committee
* Marketing Committee Member

;Contact:
: Email: jocook AT astuntechnology.com
:[http://twitter.com/#!/archaeogeek Twitter]

;Profile last updated: 9th September 2013

User:JoCook

2013-07-25T10:01:36Z

Jocook: /* Jo Cook */

===[[User:JoCook|Jo Cook]]===

[[File:Jocook.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Jo Cook]]

Geospatial Consultant, Astun Technology Limited

Location: UK

Consultant for [http://astuntechnology.com/ Astun Technology] - who provide internet mapping products based the OSGeo technology stack. From 2011 to 2012, a Board Member for OSGeo, and also Charter Member, and founder and official representative of the UK local chapter (from 2006 to 2012). Available for seminars, workshops, and presentations about OSGeo or about open source GIS, with a focus on spreading the word to new users, both personal and enterprise. Quelling myths about proprietary vs open source are a speciality. Creator of Portable GIS- Open Source GIS on a USB stick for windows. Find out more at [http://www.archaeogeek.com Archaeogeek] or [http://uk.linkedin.com/in/joannecook LinkedIn].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_board.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Board_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_chair.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]]
* Board Member (2011-2012)
* Charter Member (2010-present)
* UK Local Chapter Founder and Representative (2006-2012)
* Deputy-chair of FOSS4G 2013 Local Organising Committee
* Marketing Committee Member

;Contact:
: Email: jocook AT astuntechnology.com
:[http://twitter.com/#!/archaeogeek Twitter]

;Profile last updated: 25 July 2013

User:JoCook

2013-07-25T09:57:52Z

Jocook: /* Jo Cook */

===[[User:JoCook|Jo Cook]]===

[[File:Jocook.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Jo Cook]]

Geospatial Consultant, Astun Technology Limited

Location: UK

Consultant for [http://astuntechnology.com/ Astun Technology] - who provide internet mapping products based the OSGeo technology stack. From 2011 to 2012, a Board Member for OSGeo, and also Charter Member, and founder and official representative of the UK local chapter (from 2006 to 2012). Available for seminars, workshops, and presentations about OSGeo or about open source GIS, with a focus on spreading the word to new users, particularly in the UK. Creator of Portable GIS- Open Source GIS on a USB stick for windows. Find out more at [http://www.archaeogeek.com Archaeogeek] or [http://uk.linkedin.com/in/joannecook LinkedIn].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_board.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Board_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_chair.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]]
* Board Member (2011-2012)
* Charter Member (2010-present)
* UK Local Chapter Founder and Representative (2006-2012)
* Deputy-chair of FOSS4G 2013 Local Organising Committee
* Marketing Committee Member

;Contact:
: Email: jocook AT astuntechnology.com
:[http://twitter.com/#!/archaeogeek Twitter]

;Profile last updated: 25 July 2013

OSGeo Advocate

2013-07-25T09:57:06Z

Jocook: /* Europe:United Kingdom */

__FORCETOC__

= Introduction =

OSGeo Advocates are authoritative OSGeo personalities who have volunteered to talk on behalf of the [http://osgeo.org OSGeo foundation]. Advocates should be able to speak well, even better if they are entertaining.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of conferences around the world which have an interest in seeing presentations from authoritative speakers, with deep insights into topics related to Open Source Geospatial Software. Luckily, OSGeo is fortunate to draw extensive membership from around the world, and has access to such authoritative figures within most countries.

= Advocates =

== Advocate Map ==


{{#umAllUserMap:}}

== Africa:Ghana ==

== Africa:South Africa ==
=== Gavin Fleming ===
{{User:Gfleming}}

== Asia:India ==

== Asia:Japan ==
===[http://cse.niaes.affrc.go.jp/niwasaki/ Nobusuke Iwasaki]===

[[File:Iwasaki.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Nobusuke Iwasaki]]

Senior Researcher, [http://www.niaes.affrc.go.jp/index_e.html National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences]

Location: Tsukuba, Japan

Nobusuke Iwasaki is researcher of land use change and rural planning and extensively using FOSS4G. Also, he is one of the main organizers of FOSS4G-Japan event and proactively commits promotion and dissemination of FOSS4G, especially academic sector. He strongly contributes [http://www.osgeo.jp/foss4g-mext/ some academic project which aims utilization of satellite image and FOSS4G for beginners and non-specialist user].
The major his product is [http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp Historical Agro-Environmental Browsing System (HABS)], which is commended [http://psgsv2.gsi.go.jp/koukyou/G-award/list_award1.html the first Cyber Japan Award].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]:
:* [http://www.osgeo.jp/ OSGeo Japan Chapter] Board member since 2008
:* member of [http://www.gisa-japan.org/ GIS Assosiation of JAPAN]
:* member of [https://sites.google.com/site/foss4gsig/ FOSS4G special interest group] in GIS Assosiation of JAPAN

;Contact:
: Email: wata909 AT gmail DOT com
: Skype: wata909

;Profile last updated
:2013-07-11

== Asia:Korea ==
{{User:Sanghee}}

==Asia:Philippines==

== Australia ==
{{User:camerons}}
{{User:NathanW}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Dmorissette}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==

== Europe:France ==

=== [[User:Djay|Gérald Fenoy]] ===
[[Image:Gérald Fenoy.jpg|thumb|right|100px]]

Founder and CEO of [http://www.geolabs.fr GeoLabs SARL].

Location: Lattes, France.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_translate.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_coder.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]][[File:OSGeo_psc.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]][[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]]

* [http://www.zoo-project.org ZOO-Project] Developper and PSC Chair,
* Creator of the original [http://www.postgis.fr french web site for PostGIS],
* Provide training, use and develop (WEB-)GIS applications based on OSGeo Libraries / Applications,
* Active in the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Senegalease OSGeo Senegal Local chapter],
* Provide Gentoo packaging and patches for proj, geos, postgis, pgRouting, mapserver and gpsbabel,
* Active at all FOSS4G international events since 2006.

;Contacts

: Phone: +33670082539
: Skype: gfenoy
: Mail: gerald DOT fenoy AT geolabs DOT fr
: IRC: djay

[[Category:OSGeo Charter Member]]
[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Pebau}}

== Europe:Greece ==

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Madi}}
{{User:Lucadelu}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Ticheler}}
{{User:BarendKobben}}
{{User:Just}}

== Europe:Portugal==

== Europe:Romania ==

== Europe:Spain ==
{{User:Lluís}}
{{User:vehrka}}
{{User:Michogar}}
{{User:Delawen}}
{{User:Adiez}}
{{User:Jsanz}}

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ian}}
{{User:JoCook}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==

== Latin America:Brazil ==

== Latin America:Chile ==

== Latin America: Colombia ==

== Latin America:Mexico ==

== United States ==
{{User:EliL}}

=== [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com/printingpress/landon-blakes-bio/ Landon Blake] (AKA - The Sunburned Surveyor) ===

[[File:landon_blake_portrait.jpg|100px|thumb|right|Landon Blake]]

Owner, [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com Redefined Horizons]

Location: Stockton, California, United States of America

Landon Blake is a land surveyor and GIS programmer with a focus on OpenJUMP and CAD customization.

* Web Page: [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com]
* Blog: [http://www.redefinedhorizonsblog.com]
* Twitter: [https://twitter.com/mapit4u]
* LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/landonblake]

;OSGeo Experience
* Volunteer Editor of the OSGeo Journal
* Board Representative for the OSGeo California Chapter

;Contact:
: Email: sunburned dot surveyor at gmail dot com
: Phone (Home): 209-464-2612
: Phone (Cell): 209-298-7521
: Skype:

;Profile last updated: 07 14 2013

= Past OSGeo Advocates =
This section lists prior listed Advocates who have not recently updated their profiles.

== Africa:Ghana ==
{{User:Eyedol}}

== Africa:South Africa ==
{{User:Sokolic}}
{{User:Timlinux}}

== Asia:India ==
{{User:ravivundavalli}}

== Asia:Japan ==
{{User:Yoichi}}

== Asia:Korea ==

==Asia:Philippines==
{{User:Maning}}

== Australia ==
{{User:jive}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Aross}}
{{User:Gzeiss}}
{{User:Mdavis}}
{{User:Pwramsey3}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==
{{User:Jachym}}
{{User:KarelCharvat}}

== Europe:France ==
{{User:Djay}}
{{User:JRM}}
{{User:grizonnetm}}
{{User:NBozon}}
{{User:volaya}}

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Astrid_Emde}}
{{User:misev}}
{{User:Stefan_A._Tzeggai}}
{{User:Thomas_Baschetti}}

== Europe:Greece ==
{{User:Kalxas}}
{{User:ArArgyridis}}
{{User:kotzino}}

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Aaime}}
{{User:Aghisla}}
{{User:Lucadelu}}
{{User:Madi}}
{{User:Maxi71}}
{{User:epifanio}}
{{User:Moovida}}
{{Talk:Markus_Neteler}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Just}}
{{User:Milovanderlinden}}
{{User:Genuchten}}

== Europe:Portugal==
{{User:Lutra}}

== Europe:Romania ==
{{User:Vasile}}

== Europe:Spain ==

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ianturton}}
{{User:Stevenfeldman}}
{{User:Sanand}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==
{{User:Maurimiranda}}

== Latin America:Brazil ==
{{User:Fsc7}}

== Latin America:Chile ==
{{User:Perriger}}

== Latin America: Colombia ==
{{User:Eamado}}

== Latin America:Mexico ==
{{User:Aborrell}}

== United States ==
{{User:Alex Mandel}}
{{User:Brian Hamlin}}
{{User:Dnewcomb}}
{{User:Amyonthemap}}
{{User:warmerda}}
{{User:Helena}}
{{User:Surveyor}}
{{User:Mark Lucas}}
{{User:mpg}}
{{User:pmbatty}}
{{User:Rburhum}}
{{User:Sdlime}}
{{User:Woodbri}}

= Understanding OSGeo roles =

Below is an explanation of roles which Advocates might have been involved in as part of OSGeo:

====[[File:OSGeo_board.png]] [[File:OSGeo_exboard.png]] OSGeo Board Members====
: We only have 9 active OSGeo board members in the world, which have been peer selected based upon their outstanding leadership in the greater OSGeo community.

====[[File:OSGeo_charter.png]] OSGeo Charter Members====
: Charter membership is obtained through a strongly contested selection process. Members tend to be developers and leaders in one or more OSGeo projects, and/or OSGeo business leaders, and have a deep understanding in many of the OSGeo projects and principles of Open Source.

==== [[File:SolKatz.png]] Sol Katz Award ====
: Every year, OSGeo presents the prestigious [http://www.osgeo.org/solkatz Sol Katz Award] to one individual who has demonstrated leadership and contributed significantly to advance open source ideals in the geospatial realm.

====[[File:OSGeo_chair.png]] [[File:OSGeo_psc.png]] Voted position in an OSGeo community====
: These people hold a position of responsibility within one of the OSGeo sub-communities. This may be a chair of an OSGeo committee or board member of a Regional Chapter, or a member of a project's Project Steering Committee (PSC).

====[[File:OSGeo_coder.png]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png]] Developers and Committee Members====
: This is where the real work gets done developing and coordinating development of OSGeo Software.

====[[File:OSGeo_user.png]] OSGeo Community Members====
: These people are actively involved in one or more OSGeo communities, acting as practitioners, users, promoters or supporters of OSGeo software. These people tend to have a practical understanding about how OSGeo software works.

====[[File:OSGeo_translate.png]] OSGeo Translators====
: These people have translated documentation for OSGeo-Live, and/or OSGeo projects. They usually have an established understanding of OSGeo topics and can present them in local languages.

= Process for becoming an OSGeo Advocate =

Anyone fitting one of the [[OSGeo_Advocate#Understanding_OSGeo_roles|OSGeo Advocate categories]], may put themselves forward as an OSGeo Advocate. To do so, you will need to:
* Create an OSGeo wiki account, to edit this wiki (See "login" link in top right of this page).
* Add a portrait photo of yourself using the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Special:Upload Upload file] link in left margin in each page.
* Create a new wiki page http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:YourOSGeoWikiUserName, and populate as per [[User:Template]], (copy and paste from the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=User:Template&action=edit source] so that you see comments in the template).
* You can then add your profile on [[OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Advocates|this wiki page]], under your Region:Country, names ordered alphabetically by First name, using the following:
{{User:<YourOSGeoWikiUserName>}}

= Annual Refresh of Advocate list =
* The list of OSGeo Advocates will be refreshed annually, after the annual voting of OSGeo Charter Members. This will be achieved by removing lapsed Advocates, then moving all Current Advocates into the Past Advocate section. All Advocates will be invited to update their profile, and move their profile back into the current Advocates section.

= Expenses =

This OSGeo Advocate list has been designed to help event organisors find local authoritative speakers. Events wishing to import keynote speakers should anticipate covering expenses of these speakers. Note that OSGeo is a volunteer driven organisation without paid positions of authority and OSGeo doesn't budget to cover travel expenses. Note also that unlike proprietary companies, a company promoting Open Source software don't earn license fees when a delegate is convinced to start using the free software.

When budgeting for keynote speakers expect to cover the following expenses:
* Travel, typically including:
** airfare
** visa
** travel insurance (including overseas medical, trip disruption, lost luggage, etc)
** meals during travel
** transit costs to local and host airports
* Accommodation
** standard 3 or 4 star hotel within walking distance of the event
** high speed internet
* Per diem costs
** 3 meals a day
* Speakers fee
** typically $US 1000 per day. (Note that OSGeo volunteer speakers usually have a full time job and will be loosing wages for the duration of the event)

For a rough guide of travel costs refer to the [http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp US Department of State costs]

Individual speakers may waive any of these costs if attracted to the event for other reasons, and final costs are to be negotiated with the selected speaker.

= Other Resources =
Links to other organizations running a similar process.
* http://www.ogcnetwork.net/node/1585

OSGeo Advocate

2013-07-25T09:56:37Z

Jocook: /* Europe:United Kingdom */

__FORCETOC__

= Introduction =

OSGeo Advocates are authoritative OSGeo personalities who have volunteered to talk on behalf of the [http://osgeo.org OSGeo foundation]. Advocates should be able to speak well, even better if they are entertaining.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of conferences around the world which have an interest in seeing presentations from authoritative speakers, with deep insights into topics related to Open Source Geospatial Software. Luckily, OSGeo is fortunate to draw extensive membership from around the world, and has access to such authoritative figures within most countries.

= Advocates =

== Advocate Map ==


{{#umAllUserMap:}}

== Africa:Ghana ==

== Africa:South Africa ==
=== Gavin Fleming ===
{{User:Gfleming}}

== Asia:India ==

== Asia:Japan ==
===[http://cse.niaes.affrc.go.jp/niwasaki/ Nobusuke Iwasaki]===

[[File:Iwasaki.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Nobusuke Iwasaki]]

Senior Researcher, [http://www.niaes.affrc.go.jp/index_e.html National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences]

Location: Tsukuba, Japan

Nobusuke Iwasaki is researcher of land use change and rural planning and extensively using FOSS4G. Also, he is one of the main organizers of FOSS4G-Japan event and proactively commits promotion and dissemination of FOSS4G, especially academic sector. He strongly contributes [http://www.osgeo.jp/foss4g-mext/ some academic project which aims utilization of satellite image and FOSS4G for beginners and non-specialist user].
The major his product is [http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp Historical Agro-Environmental Browsing System (HABS)], which is commended [http://psgsv2.gsi.go.jp/koukyou/G-award/list_award1.html the first Cyber Japan Award].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]:
:* [http://www.osgeo.jp/ OSGeo Japan Chapter] Board member since 2008
:* member of [http://www.gisa-japan.org/ GIS Assosiation of JAPAN]
:* member of [https://sites.google.com/site/foss4gsig/ FOSS4G special interest group] in GIS Assosiation of JAPAN

;Contact:
: Email: wata909 AT gmail DOT com
: Skype: wata909

;Profile last updated
:2013-07-11

== Asia:Korea ==
{{User:Sanghee}}

==Asia:Philippines==

== Australia ==
{{User:camerons}}
{{User:NathanW}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Dmorissette}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==

== Europe:France ==

=== [[User:Djay|Gérald Fenoy]] ===
[[Image:Gérald Fenoy.jpg|thumb|right|100px]]

Founder and CEO of [http://www.geolabs.fr GeoLabs SARL].

Location: Lattes, France.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_translate.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_coder.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]][[File:OSGeo_psc.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]][[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]]

* [http://www.zoo-project.org ZOO-Project] Developper and PSC Chair,
* Creator of the original [http://www.postgis.fr french web site for PostGIS],
* Provide training, use and develop (WEB-)GIS applications based on OSGeo Libraries / Applications,
* Active in the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Senegalease OSGeo Senegal Local chapter],
* Provide Gentoo packaging and patches for proj, geos, postgis, pgRouting, mapserver and gpsbabel,
* Active at all FOSS4G international events since 2006.

;Contacts

: Phone: +33670082539
: Skype: gfenoy
: Mail: gerald DOT fenoy AT geolabs DOT fr
: IRC: djay

[[Category:OSGeo Charter Member]]
[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Pebau}}

== Europe:Greece ==

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Madi}}
{{User:Lucadelu}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Ticheler}}
{{User:BarendKobben}}
{{User:Just}}

== Europe:Portugal==

== Europe:Romania ==

== Europe:Spain ==
{{User:Lluís}}
{{User:vehrka}}
{{User:Michogar}}
{{User:Delawen}}
{{User:Adiez}}
{{User:Jsanz}}

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ian}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==

== Latin America:Brazil ==

== Latin America:Chile ==

== Latin America: Colombia ==

== Latin America:Mexico ==

== United States ==
{{User:EliL}}

=== [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com/printingpress/landon-blakes-bio/ Landon Blake] (AKA - The Sunburned Surveyor) ===

[[File:landon_blake_portrait.jpg|100px|thumb|right|Landon Blake]]

Owner, [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com Redefined Horizons]

Location: Stockton, California, United States of America

Landon Blake is a land surveyor and GIS programmer with a focus on OpenJUMP and CAD customization.

* Web Page: [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com]
* Blog: [http://www.redefinedhorizonsblog.com]
* Twitter: [https://twitter.com/mapit4u]
* LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/landonblake]

;OSGeo Experience
* Volunteer Editor of the OSGeo Journal
* Board Representative for the OSGeo California Chapter

;Contact:
: Email: sunburned dot surveyor at gmail dot com
: Phone (Home): 209-464-2612
: Phone (Cell): 209-298-7521
: Skype:

;Profile last updated: 07 14 2013

= Past OSGeo Advocates =
This section lists prior listed Advocates who have not recently updated their profiles.

== Africa:Ghana ==
{{User:Eyedol}}

== Africa:South Africa ==
{{User:Sokolic}}
{{User:Timlinux}}

== Asia:India ==
{{User:ravivundavalli}}

== Asia:Japan ==
{{User:Yoichi}}

== Asia:Korea ==

==Asia:Philippines==
{{User:Maning}}

== Australia ==
{{User:jive}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Aross}}
{{User:Gzeiss}}
{{User:Mdavis}}
{{User:Pwramsey3}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==
{{User:Jachym}}
{{User:KarelCharvat}}

== Europe:France ==
{{User:Djay}}
{{User:JRM}}
{{User:grizonnetm}}
{{User:NBozon}}
{{User:volaya}}

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Astrid_Emde}}
{{User:misev}}
{{User:Stefan_A._Tzeggai}}
{{User:Thomas_Baschetti}}

== Europe:Greece ==
{{User:Kalxas}}
{{User:ArArgyridis}}
{{User:kotzino}}

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Aaime}}
{{User:Aghisla}}
{{User:Lucadelu}}
{{User:Madi}}
{{User:Maxi71}}
{{User:epifanio}}
{{User:Moovida}}
{{Talk:Markus_Neteler}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Just}}
{{User:Milovanderlinden}}
{{User:Genuchten}}

== Europe:Portugal==
{{User:Lutra}}

== Europe:Romania ==
{{User:Vasile}}

== Europe:Spain ==

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ianturton}}
{{User:Stevenfeldman}}
{{User:Sanand}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==
{{User:Maurimiranda}}

== Latin America:Brazil ==
{{User:Fsc7}}

== Latin America:Chile ==
{{User:Perriger}}

== Latin America: Colombia ==
{{User:Eamado}}

== Latin America:Mexico ==
{{User:Aborrell}}

== United States ==
{{User:Alex Mandel}}
{{User:Brian Hamlin}}
{{User:Dnewcomb}}
{{User:Amyonthemap}}
{{User:warmerda}}
{{User:Helena}}
{{User:Surveyor}}
{{User:Mark Lucas}}
{{User:mpg}}
{{User:pmbatty}}
{{User:Rburhum}}
{{User:Sdlime}}
{{User:Woodbri}}

= Understanding OSGeo roles =

Below is an explanation of roles which Advocates might have been involved in as part of OSGeo:

====[[File:OSGeo_board.png]] [[File:OSGeo_exboard.png]] OSGeo Board Members====
: We only have 9 active OSGeo board members in the world, which have been peer selected based upon their outstanding leadership in the greater OSGeo community.

====[[File:OSGeo_charter.png]] OSGeo Charter Members====
: Charter membership is obtained through a strongly contested selection process. Members tend to be developers and leaders in one or more OSGeo projects, and/or OSGeo business leaders, and have a deep understanding in many of the OSGeo projects and principles of Open Source.

==== [[File:SolKatz.png]] Sol Katz Award ====
: Every year, OSGeo presents the prestigious [http://www.osgeo.org/solkatz Sol Katz Award] to one individual who has demonstrated leadership and contributed significantly to advance open source ideals in the geospatial realm.

====[[File:OSGeo_chair.png]] [[File:OSGeo_psc.png]] Voted position in an OSGeo community====
: These people hold a position of responsibility within one of the OSGeo sub-communities. This may be a chair of an OSGeo committee or board member of a Regional Chapter, or a member of a project's Project Steering Committee (PSC).

====[[File:OSGeo_coder.png]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png]] Developers and Committee Members====
: This is where the real work gets done developing and coordinating development of OSGeo Software.

====[[File:OSGeo_user.png]] OSGeo Community Members====
: These people are actively involved in one or more OSGeo communities, acting as practitioners, users, promoters or supporters of OSGeo software. These people tend to have a practical understanding about how OSGeo software works.

====[[File:OSGeo_translate.png]] OSGeo Translators====
: These people have translated documentation for OSGeo-Live, and/or OSGeo projects. They usually have an established understanding of OSGeo topics and can present them in local languages.

= Process for becoming an OSGeo Advocate =

Anyone fitting one of the [[OSGeo_Advocate#Understanding_OSGeo_roles|OSGeo Advocate categories]], may put themselves forward as an OSGeo Advocate. To do so, you will need to:
* Create an OSGeo wiki account, to edit this wiki (See "login" link in top right of this page).
* Add a portrait photo of yourself using the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Special:Upload Upload file] link in left margin in each page.
* Create a new wiki page http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:YourOSGeoWikiUserName, and populate as per [[User:Template]], (copy and paste from the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=User:Template&action=edit source] so that you see comments in the template).
* You can then add your profile on [[OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Advocates|this wiki page]], under your Region:Country, names ordered alphabetically by First name, using the following:
{{User:<YourOSGeoWikiUserName>}}

= Annual Refresh of Advocate list =
* The list of OSGeo Advocates will be refreshed annually, after the annual voting of OSGeo Charter Members. This will be achieved by removing lapsed Advocates, then moving all Current Advocates into the Past Advocate section. All Advocates will be invited to update their profile, and move their profile back into the current Advocates section.

= Expenses =

This OSGeo Advocate list has been designed to help event organisors find local authoritative speakers. Events wishing to import keynote speakers should anticipate covering expenses of these speakers. Note that OSGeo is a volunteer driven organisation without paid positions of authority and OSGeo doesn't budget to cover travel expenses. Note also that unlike proprietary companies, a company promoting Open Source software don't earn license fees when a delegate is convinced to start using the free software.

When budgeting for keynote speakers expect to cover the following expenses:
* Travel, typically including:
** airfare
** visa
** travel insurance (including overseas medical, trip disruption, lost luggage, etc)
** meals during travel
** transit costs to local and host airports
* Accommodation
** standard 3 or 4 star hotel within walking distance of the event
** high speed internet
* Per diem costs
** 3 meals a day
* Speakers fee
** typically $US 1000 per day. (Note that OSGeo volunteer speakers usually have a full time job and will be loosing wages for the duration of the event)

For a rough guide of travel costs refer to the [http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp US Department of State costs]

Individual speakers may waive any of these costs if attracted to the event for other reasons, and final costs are to be negotiated with the selected speaker.

= Other Resources =
Links to other organizations running a similar process.
* http://www.ogcnetwork.net/node/1585

FOSS4G 2013

2013-07-17T08:15:32Z

Jocook:

[[Image:FOSS4GLogoNaomiGale.png.scaled500.png|right|300px]]

'''FOSS4G 2013 will take place in Nottingham, UK from the 17th to the 21st of September 2013.'''

* Visit the website [http://2013.foss4g.org/ here] and follow us on [http://twitter.com/FOSS4G twitter]
* See our venue, the East Midlands Conference Centre [http://www.nottinghamconferences.co.uk/emcc/ here] ([http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.945&lon=-1.17&zoom=12&layers=M&mlat=52.9390&mlon=-1.2032 map])

* The FOSS4G 2013 '''mailing list''' is available [http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/foss4g2013 here]. This is a public list, so please say hello and give us your thoughts!
* See our winning proposal [http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/2013/documents/FOSS4G_2013_UK_Proposal-Final_version.pdf here].
* Birds of a feather meetings page: [[FOSS4G 2013 BirdsOfAFeather]]

== Planning Meetings ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting 12th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 27th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 8th August]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting September]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Comms Sub-Group Conf Call 19th October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November 30th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting December 21st]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 11th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 25th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting Feburary 8th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops Google+ Hangout February 20th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting February 22nd]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting March 8th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting March 22nd]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 5th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 19th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 F2F April 24th/25th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting May 3rd]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting May 17th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting May 31st]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting June 14th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting June 28th]]

== Lessons Learned ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned]] (to be filled in as we go along)

== Publicity ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Mailing List Press Releases]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]
[[Category:Events]]

Conference Committee

2013-07-03T08:42:58Z

Jocook:

The Conference Committee is the official committee of OSGeo responsible for operating the annual [[FOSS4G]] conferences.

= Noteworthy Documents =

* [http://www.osgeo.org/conference OSGeo Conference Committee main page] (includes RFP, proposals, and archived files from past conferences)
* http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev - Conference Committee email list
* [[Motion to form Conference Committee]]
* [[Conference website management]]

= Goals =

* facilitate the hosting application/decision process
* assist the conference local organizing committees in planning
* make sure OSGeo foundation principles exist in all conferences
* possibly support other affiliated conferences

== Other Responsibilities ==

* [[Sol Katz Award]]

= Current Members =

* Thierry Badard
* Lorenzo Becchi
* Peter Batty
* Gavin Fleming
* Dave McIlhagga
* Helena Mitasova
* Claude Philipona
* Venkatesh Raghavan
* Paul Ramsey
* Cameron Shorter

= Past Members =

* Allan Doyle
* Olivier Ertz
* Alain Grignon
* Luc Maurer
* Daniel Rappo
* Dave Patton
* Rafael Medeiros Sperb
* [[Jeff McKenna]]
* Arnulf Christl
* [[Markus Neteler]]
* Frank Warmerdam
* Steve Lime

= Meetings =

* Meetings occur in IRC in the #foss4g channel (on irc.freenode.net)
* See the [[Conference_Committee_Meetings | Conference Committee Meetings]] page for information about the committee's meetings.

= 2014 Pages =

* [[FOSS4G_2014_Bid_Process]]

= 2013 Pages =

* Main page: [[FOSS4G_2013]]
* [http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/2013/documents/FOSS4G_2013_UK_Proposal-Final_version.pdf 2013 Proposal]
* Lessons Learned: [[FOSS4G_2013_Lessons_Learned]]

= 2012 Pages =
Main page: [[FOSS4G 2012]]
* RFP ([http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/rfp/2012/osgeo-conference-2012-request-for-proposal.odt OpenOffice], [http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/rfp/2012/osgeo-conference-2012-request-for-proposal.pdf pdf])
* budget template ([http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/rfp/2012/osgeo-conference-budget-template.ods OpenOffice])
* Important dates:
** Letters of Intent (Stage 1) due: 2011-06-30 ([http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2011&month=06&day=30&hour=23&min=0&sec=0 23:00 UTC])
** Stage 1 question period: 2011-06-30 to 2011-07-07
** Stage 1 decision: 2011-07-07
** Proposals (Stage 2) due: 2011-08-01 ([http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2011&month=08&day=01&hour=23&min=0&sec=0 23:00 UTC])
** Stage 2 question period: 2011-08-01 to 2011-08-05
** Final decision: 2011-08-05

= 2011 Pages =

* [http://www.osgeo.org/conference/rfp RFP and Letters of Intent]
* [[FOSS4G_2011_Bid_Process | 2011 Bid Process]]
* [[FOSS4G Reboot 2011 | Initial thoughts on 2011 required changes]]

= 2010 Pages =

* [http://www.osgeo.org/conference/rfp RFP and Proposals]
* [[Conference_Committee_2010_Bid_Questions | Bid Questions]]
* [[Conference_Committee_2010_Voting_Process | Voting Process]]

= 2009 Pages =

* [[FOSS4G 2009 Governance]]
* All [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:FOSS4G2009 FOSS4G 2009] pages.

= 2008 Pages =

* [http://www.osgeo.org/conference/rfp RFP and Proposals]
* [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2007-July/000355.html Voting Process]
* [[FOSS4G 2008 Governance]]
* [[FOSS4GLOC matters]]
* [http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p6mc38S7PA8lHWRQuIgExDA Workshop and lab evaluations]

= 2007 Pages =

* [http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Category:FOSS4G2007 Pages in category "FOSS4G2007"]
* [[FOSS4G2007]] - wiki page
* http://www.foss4g2007.org/ - Conference Site
* [http://www.osgeo.org/conference/rfp Proposals and RFP]
* [[OSGeo_Conference_RFP_2007#RFP_Response_Requirements | requirements Wiki page]]
* [[OSGeo_Conference_Naming_Results | Naming results]]
* [http://www.foss4g2007.org/bid_site/ Victoria 2007 Proposal]
* [[FOSS4G 2007 Governance]]
* [[FOSS4G2007 Lessons Learned]]

= 2006 Pages =

* [http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Category:FOSS4G2006 Pages in category "FOSS4G2006"]
* http://www.foss4g2006.org/ - Conference Site
* [[FOSS4G2006]] information

= Event Policy Pages =

* [[Official_OSGeo_Event_Policy | OSGeo Event policy]] (in review)
* [[OSGeo_Conference_Policy | Board notes]] regarding event policy

[[Category:FOSS4G]]
[[Category:Committees]]
[[Category:Conference Committee]]

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 19th

2013-06-28T17:20:49Z

Jocook:

Attendees: SF, IE, JGM, BR, SA, CG, AS, AP, JC, IH, MI, RH

Apologies: Barend Köbben; Franz-Josef (lectures)

Program selection
* Discuss program selection, do we stick to paper or use the spreadsheet that SF uploaded (via RH)? Precedence to community vote, we focus on streaming and cohesiveness of programme. Steven suggests that all use spreadsheet to rank - using 0/1/2 and personal ranking. Mail to Steven on Tue night for collation.
* Progress on Community Voting >> Paul to send results on Tue. Lots of chatter.
* Workshops - 61 submissions, shortlist of 30ish. Could run extra day or incorporate into programme stream. Space to be included for platinum sponsors. Need to present in a sensitive way to keep community on board... Proposal for workshop programme needed for Wed.
* Academic track - mainly papers for publication.
* Agree agenda for F2F, timings etc >> Papers: Wed,
* Plan to have a draft program at end of 25th and publish final version 7th May

Hackathon update
* Can IE and MI provide an update of progress >> IE: Met Office have a hackathon team who could run it if required - we would do admin stuff. Question over how to get internet access to tent - JM to check on access in each location. Eventbrite will produce list of delegates and we will do badges, catering. Problem statements need to be appropriate for broad FOSS4G community, with LOC input. More attention from hackathon team after this weekend - budget manager in Nott on Thur pm, IE check time.
* When will we be announcing?

Contract Update
* JM to update >> EMCC has proposed to up bandwidth for £5k, new contract on way. Gives us 400mb. Agreed. JM to contact.

Academic Track
* Progress Update

Sponsorship
* 3 new sponsors - GeoMatys (Brz) OpenGeo (Silver) AirGMap (Supporter). LocationTech also in discussion.
* When can we announce Met Office? (RWH: no idea! Ian has had the Press Release for a while, but he's had no word coming back on whether they have approved it or not or on when they want to announce). >> Ian chasing hard, expected v soon.
* Already way above budget.

Entertainment
* Do we sign the nerds? >> One hour show, c. £3k, PA will be needed (AGI have one, maybe we could use). Barry/Claire to liaise on tech requirements. Publicity material needed for dissemination.
* Other entertainments - can these wait till after program completed. >> Icebreaker, closing party, etc

Call for Maps
* When do we start? (RWH: we're good to go on after the CV closes).

Other activities?
* Birds of a feather
* Code sprints
* Lightning talks
* Education meeting (ICA-OSGeo Labs Network )

Publicity Plans
* Publicising early bird reg (end May) (RWH: PR scheduled for early May)
* Marketing collateral - what do we need, who will organise?

Academic Bursaries
* Details to be agreed between SA and AP at f2f

AOB:
* Everyone needs to track the progress tab in Basecamp to keep up to date with the flow of stuff going on
* No real progress with liaison with SotM

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 19th

2013-06-28T17:20:33Z

Jocook: Created page with "Attendees: SF, IE, JGM, BR, SA, CG, AS, AP, JC, IH, MI, RH Apologies: Barend Köbben; Franz-Josef (lectures) Program selection * Discuss program selection, do we stick to pape..."

Attendees: SF, IE, JGM, BR, SA, CG, AS, AP, JC, IH, MI, RH

Apologies: Barend Köbben; Franz-Josef (lectures)

Program selection
* Discuss program selection, do we stick to paper or use the spreadsheet that SF uploaded (via RH)? see https://basecamp.com/1920286/projects/762306-foss4g-13/attachments to download. >> Precedence to community vote, we focus on streaming and cohesiveness of programme. Steven suggests that all use spreadsheet to rank - using 0/1/2 and personal ranking. Mail to Steven on Tue night for collation.
* Progress on Community Voting >> Paul to send results on Tue. Lots of chatter.
* Workshops - 61 submissions, shortlist of 30ish. Could run extra day or incorporate into programme stream. Space to be included for platinum sponsors. Need to present in a sensitive way to keep community on board... Proposal for workshop programme needed for Wed.
* Academic track - mainly papers for publication.
* Agree agenda for F2F, timings etc >> Papers: Wed,
* Plan to have a draft program at end of 25th and publish final version 7th May

Hackathon update
* Can IE and MI provide an update of progress >> IE: Met Office have a hackathon team who could run it if required - we would do admin stuff. Question over how to get internet access to tent - JM to check on access in each location. Eventbrite will produce list of delegates and we will do badges, catering. Problem statements need to be appropriate for broad FOSS4G community, with LOC input. More attention from hackathon team after this weekend - budget manager in Nott on Thur pm, IE check time.
* When will we be announcing?

Contract Update
* JM to update >> EMCC has proposed to up bandwidth for £5k, new contract on way. Gives us 400mb. Agreed. JM to contact.

Academic Track
* Progress Update

Sponsorship
* 3 new sponsors - GeoMatys (Brz) OpenGeo (Silver) AirGMap (Supporter). LocationTech also in discussion.
* When can we announce Met Office? (RWH: no idea! Ian has had the Press Release for a while, but he's had no word coming back on whether they have approved it or not or on when they want to announce). >> Ian chasing hard, expected v soon.
* Already way above budget.

Entertainment
* Do we sign the nerds? >> One hour show, c. £3k, PA will be needed (AGI have one, maybe we could use). Barry/Claire to liaise on tech requirements. Publicity material needed for dissemination.
* Other entertainments - can these wait till after program completed. >> Icebreaker, closing party, etc

Call for Maps
* When do we start? (RWH: we're good to go on after the CV closes).

Other activities?
* Birds of a feather
* Code sprints
* Lightning talks
* Education meeting (ICA-OSGeo Labs Network )

Publicity Plans
* Publicising early bird reg (end May) (RWH: PR scheduled for early May)
* Marketing collateral - what do we need, who will organise?

Academic Bursaries
* Details to be agreed between SA and AP at f2f

AOB:
* Everyone needs to track the progress tab in Basecamp to keep up to date with the flow of stuff going on
* No real progress with liaison with SotM

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 5th

2013-06-28T17:17:09Z

Jocook: Created page with "Attendees: Mark, Claire, Matt, Jo, Barry, Suchith, Ian Holt Apologies: * Steven, Jeremy * I (Franz-Josef) have lectures / lab exercises this afternoon. Antony (flu :-( ) * Bar..."

Attendees: Mark, Claire, Matt, Jo, Barry, Suchith, Ian Holt

Apologies:
* Steven, Jeremy
* I (Franz-Josef) have lectures / lab exercises this afternoon. Antony (flu :-( )
* Barend (in a train without WiFi)

Review actions from previous meeting
* Publicity gone out on other mailing list, some publicity/prize etc at GISRUK. Website updated to reflect close of workshop call.
* Met Office need to clarify requirements for hackathon asap
N* o movement on contract/wifi Jeremy to contact on Monday

Programme
* No one present

Key Stats
* Small increase on last call- nothing to worry about

Academic track
* 20 reviews received, for 26 submissions still 53 reviews outstanding.
* Not very much submissions accepted (IMHO -- FJ)
* Deadline is 24th April - but Franz-Josef and Barend contacted the reviewers to submit earlier.

CfP and CfW
* Need to be able to get programme submissions to Paul Ramsey asap after 12th April to set up community voting. Need to decide on an extension as close to the 12th as possible- review on 10th
* 61 workshop submissions but many repeats.

Publicity
* Claire to put news release in AGI press release, with link to maptember: http://www.agi.org.uk/agi-news/2013/4/5/key-deadlines-are-approaching-for-f…
* Press releases to go to Claire to go on AGI website

Contract and wifi
* Jeremy to contact on Monday

F2F 24/25 April
* Draft agenda from Steven
* Suchith to liaise with Claire/Jeremy about logistics

Entertainment
* Barry has haggled- 2750 +VAT and expenses for a 1 hour show- no objections to going ahead with this. Contracts via AGI

AOB
* Comms meeting 10th
* Workshop meeting 8th
* F2F 19th

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting March 22nd

2013-06-28T17:12:48Z

Jocook: Created page with "Attendees: Steven, Addy, Barend, Jo, Mark, Peter, Suchith, Jo, Ian H, Rollo, Antony Apologies: * Semester started and I will be busy with lectures / lab exercise this afternoon...."

Attendees: Steven, Addy, Barend, Jo, Mark, Peter, Suchith, Jo, Ian H, Rollo, Antony

Apologies:
* Semester started and I will be busy with lectures / lab exercise this afternoon. Good luck - Franz-Josef

Review actions from previous meeting

Academic track
* 26 papers in review, 23 already have 1 reviewer, 15 reviews already in

CfP and CfW
* Papers - 25
* Workshops - 23
* Consider 2 days for workshops once proposals evaluated after F2F.
* What would we do if not enough papers in? Extend? Community vote?
* Jo to lead on this decision (Steven away).

Publicity
* Need for more non-UK publicity, if poss in local languages - country contact
* AGILE
* Twitter (Addy will scan for )
* OSGeo local chapters: Custom mailing list for replication to country - Barend to get email (include SA)
* Comms group to make sure blast goes out on workshops
* Sucith will also send to range of lists
* OSGeo Advocate list (useful) - http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Advocate (has named contacts in countries!)

Website:
* rationalise menus (Comms Group)
* pages to be updated by various LOC (Addy done, Mark, Matt to do) reminder A
* pages need to be made public, then added to menu (admins)
* increase Amazon instance for submissions time

*redacted*

Code sprints on Sunday.
* Some other sponsors highly likely.
* Web mapping shoot-out - Geoff McKenna has organised in the past. Steven to contact (also AGM and Sol Katz).

Map Gallery
* Rollo negotiating with CASA for display technology (iPad wall). Digital displays outside rooms are also a option.
* Call for maps should go anyway, while we are getting technology sorted. First call is ready to go: Rollo/Ken. Second (formal) call after 12th April.

Contract and wifi
* We had a proposal from the venue for a 400MB connection but at a cost of £25k! I have told the that is not on and offered £5k, they are now trying to get a lower cost quote from another supplier. I think we are * going to have to live with the 100MB that they can offer.
* On site responsiveness to issues is also important.
* Contract otherwise ready to go - unlikely we will need OSGeo contribution for deposit. Peter to inform Daniel.

F2F 24/25 April
* Meeting and hotel rooms now booked (let Clare know if more rooms needed ASAP).
* Overall timing: 11.30am Wed - 5pm Thur.
* Peter will be available if needed.
* Note that work will be needed by all in reviewing proposals before meeting. Weeding of non-starters is needed...
* Rollo will draft notes on previous methodology. DONE
* Community ranking was strong driver in previous confs, with rebalancing for eg case studies - tendency for community to have technical leaning.
* Timetable to be drafted when Steven gets back.
* Claire should contact Suchith on any logistical issues.

AOB
* SF away from 28/3 to 18/4
* Programme - lots of 'minor' events to be fitted in.
* Where should self-organising groups go to get eg rooms, communicate with each other etc? Website, whiteboards, daily one-pager update sheet, all low tech if poss. Consider allocating space, late-breaking announcements.
* Will we have printing facilities? Not great at EMCC. Good quality printer will be needed - Suchith to investigate a loan for the duration.
* Jo to lead on 5th
* Call on 19th to go ahead

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting March 8th

2013-06-28T17:09:37Z

Jocook: Created page with "Attendees Antony, Steven, Matt, Jo, Addy, Barry, Jeremy Apologies * I am away on a business trip and can not participate (Franz-Josef). * same for me (Barend) -- will provide ..."

Attendees
Antony, Steven, Matt, Jo, Addy, Barry, Jeremy

Apologies
* I am away on a business trip and can not participate (Franz-Josef).
* same for me (Barend) -- will provide stats etcetera before call
* I'll be away on holiday, but I'll make sure the meeting auto-starts (Ian E)
* Rollo - been dragged into a BIS meeting (I've updated sections below)
* Claire

KEY STATS
* AT: 24 papers now in review, all have 3 reviewers assigned {BK]
* General: 18
* Workshops: 9
* More publicity needed
* >> Could possibly divert some presentations to academic track?

Registrations
* Full Conference including Gala Night x 10
* Icebreaker x 3
* Workshop x 2
* Closing party x 1

Sponsorship:
* redacted*

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

Contract
* EMCC still reviewing - waiting for tech input. Final negotiations still outstanding, bandwidth an issue. Fair use policy will be needed to optimise resources. Jeremy confident it will be resolved.

Publicity
* Web pages - Programme sections BSR
* Pages set up as private - to be reviewed/edited by all
* Holding pages to be published asap - see below for assignments

Programme

Workshops: Addy

Hack: Mark

Code sprint: Matt

Call for Maps - I think we may get the CASA 'city dashboard'. This is made up of 12 ipads on a 'wall'. They are building a second one currently - so we may get two? Once we have the technology sorted, we can get the Call out. (RWH): Rollo

Presentations: Jeremy

Set up users: Antony [done]

Publicity
* Press release machine is being cranked up, all proposed dates are on Basecamp calendar. Press release will go out on Mon re keynotes (Rollo)
* INSPIRE site? Addy to email, Jeremy though Agile etc
* Additional list beyond Claire's AGI list needed - comms group to create (starting point above). European focus needed.
* Send to OSGeo chapters - ask for outreach reps? Jo

Keynotes
* 4 confirmed and on site
* One more?

Entertainment
* Gala evening: "Nerds" contract BSR. Not clear how long they would be - an hour min. Barry will check, we need some guarantees on value for money. c. £4k all in. Alternatives? Steven to ask around contacts in case.
* Mike Parker - interested, charges around 3-500 plus travel accom for this sort if thing. Could do 30mins on maps and the peculiarities of those that work with them or something like that. Thoughts? AP to sound out re Icebreaker
* MapMan - didn't respond to my emails so far (RWH)
* JM to follow up with Experience Nottingham

Volunteers
* Statement of what we want them to do needed
* eg language skills, maptember - someone outside the team to run with it - eg Nick Austin, Gary Gale, Ed Freyfogle (sp?) Support people coming to more than one event, accommodation, workspace etc etc. Steven to suggest to all 3. (done)

AOB

* Recent discussion on discuss list regarding free places at FOSS4G - Workshop organisers, Developers of OSGeo Projects?
* Has not been done before, not a requirement of RfP. This should be an OSGeo not a LOC decision. Push back to OSGeo (though too late to change our cost model). Steven has drafted reply in line with this and mailed to Board, Discuss and FOSS4G lists
* Press Releases- only just seen details for Ed Anderson on website. So will get that PR out on Monday morning. The rest I'll post onto BC as text docs for people to amend as required. An editor list will be added shortly as well. (RWH)
* T-shirts for Maptember - seems to be a lot of interest on Twitter...would be a shame to lose the income opportunity?
* Jeremy to follow up on Friday ents
* Workshops - call needed (Matt/Addy/Jeremy). 2 days of workshops still an option - eg add Tue to Wed. Workshop stream could also be added?
* Addy, Matt, Mark, Jeremy now set up as WordPress users. Any others needed contact Antony.
* Mark liaising with Ian on hackathon.

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting February 22nd

2013-06-28T17:06:19Z

Jocook: Created page with "Attendance - Ian, Jeremy, Addy, Rollo, Barry, Antony, Claire, Jo, Franz-Josef, Apologies - Barend, Suchith, Steven, Mark, Franz-Josef (partially Registration/Prices * registr..."

Attendance - Ian, Jeremy, Addy, Rollo, Barry, Antony, Claire, Jo, Franz-Josef,

Apologies - Barend, Suchith, Steven, Mark, Franz-Josef (partially

Registration/Prices
* registration is now open and we have 2 registrations!!
* Prices as stated on the site - £350 early bird and so on.
* need to get registrations flowing

Contract
* shelley on leave til tuesday
* everything seems ok, just waiting for wifi to be confirmed
* need to sign the contract asap as we are pretty much committed to the venue now.
* wifi - positive that they will be able to work towards what we want but they want us to firm up on what we actually need.
* if not sorted by the face2face, perhaps JM, MI can have a meeting with shelly and the techie chaps.

Call for presentations
* Update on numbers of submissions - Claire to update numbers on basecamp.

Call for Workshops
* Update on numbers of submissions - ditto see above

Hackathon update
* first of google hangouts has happened (actually 2)
* Need updates for next meeting!
* Jo needs a link to the hackathon, Claire may know where it is on EventBrite....
http://hackathonfoss4g2013-es2004.eventbrite.com/?rank=1

Code Sprint
* Need updates for next meeting!

Call for Maps
* Barend volunteers for jury duty and other help (sort of obliged to, since I call myself Cartographer...)
* Ken has produced a doc which is on basecamp. The big thing at the moment is the logistics around a digital display. Talking to OS to see if they will take a sponsorship lead to shout about it and perhaps supply some big monitors. Also chatting to CASA about the ipad wall.
* Idea is to have this as a continuing background thing where folk can mill around and see the maps.
* Will be a judging session and an award session.

Paper selection F2F dates -
* 24 and 25 April in Nottingham
* venue - one on Uni campus (colin campbell building) close to venue and cheap.
* timings - start time 1130 on 24th and finish at 1700 on 25th
* can everyone think about their travel and enter their arrival times on basecamp (new doc titled F2F to be set up)

Publicity (Marketing & PR)
* "maptember" : BSR - little site to aid interaction (ADD LINK) Register Maptember.org aliased o the amazon site
* Press release - enquiries email set up as a central point.
* RH suggests adding a page on the main site that has press releases/media contact or something
* RH/AS happy to help write them
* Claire happy to send them out
* BUT - who to send them to... we have a massive list of possible recipients. AS has a google doc of where he sent the last press releases.

Comms group - Make a list of folk to send things to, put your name next to your suggestion if you have a link to it then you are responsible for the contact.

Comms group to think of a broader stratergy for the next meeting

ACTION Comms group - they will have a press release prepared for next meeting

Open Source Conference in April
* Ian is in touch with organisers

Social
* Need to kick off a group thinking about social and entertainments
* Make contact through venue to the Nottingham Experiences group who have a list of venues and interesting things/places to go. Action - JM
* May want to book 1 venue for a larger group. (i.e. nottingham dog stadium, comedy clubs, cricket, fitba aka football)
* "Nerds" news : BSR 2 nerds 1 show. Who is the contract with? AGI.
* Mike Parker - AP to contact and find out costs
* RH - speaking to Nick Crane

Academic Track
* 18 submissions, 5 from one author
* nobody from the community I am familiar with (except Maria B)
* Little bit disappointing -
* closing tonight
* perhaps people are looking to submit through the standard track
* leave the instructions for authors, but clearly state that it is now closed but leave Barend's email address for authors to contact the team.
* Leave open til Monday

Sponsorship
* Confirmed 19 sponsors
*redacted*

Keynote speakers
* Paul Ramsey accepted (can be public)
*redacted*

ACTION -
* Need the Bio's for keynotes - can we add these to the website. JM defers this to the comms group to decide how this fits with their PR drive.

Open Source Conference in April
* Ian is in touch with organisers

Next Call
* 2 weeks time.....

FOSS4G 2013

2013-06-28T17:01:11Z

Jocook:

[[Image:FOSS4GLogoNaomiGale.png.scaled500.png|right|300px]]

'''FOSS4G 2013 will take place in Nottingham, UK from the 17th to the 21st of September 2013.'''

* Visit the website [http://2013.foss4g.org/ here] and follow us on [http://twitter.com/FOSS4G twitter]
* See our venue, the East Midlands Conference Centre [http://www.nottinghamconferences.co.uk/emcc/ here] ([http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.945&lon=-1.17&zoom=12&layers=M&mlat=52.9390&mlon=-1.2032 map])

* The FOSS4G 2013 '''mailing list''' is available [http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/foss4g2013 here]. This is a public list, so please say hello and give us your thoughts!
* See our winning proposal [http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/2013/documents/FOSS4G_2013_UK_Proposal-Final_version.pdf here].

== Planning Meetings ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting 12th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 27th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 8th August]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting September]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Comms Sub-Group Conf Call 19th October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November 30th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting December 21st]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 11th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 25th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting Feburary 8th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops Google+ Hangout February 20th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting February 22nd]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting March 8th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting March 22nd]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 5th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting April 19th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 F2F April 24th/25th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting May 3rd]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting May 17th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting May 31st]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting June 14th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting June 28th]]

== Lessons Learned ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned]] (to be filled in as we go along)

== Publicity ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Mailing List Press Releases]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]
[[Category:Events]]

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-05-29T16:56:12Z

Jocook: /* Workshop Booking= */

==Sponsorship==

This year we had a "supporter" sponsorship level, which was aimed at those companies who would not want a stand, but would want some minor branding on the website and at the event. This was very popular and we'd recommend it to future organisers.

==Website==

A submission notification should be provided within the service for submitting abstract, workshop, etc. An automatic reply mail would do the trick. We did have a section on the web page leading to the submission section that said people wouldn't receive confirmation, but either they missed this or wanted to check anyway, so it ended up causing more work.

==Publicity==

We've used Lanyrd to publicise the event alongside the "usual" channels, and also Eventbrite for dealing with the free hackathon registration.

==Paper Selection Methodology==

The OSGeo community is very passionate about openness, so the methodology needs to be made as explicit and open as possible. Where additional filtering on top of the community vote is required (which it invariably is) then this needs to be explained clearly in the wiki. There probably ought to be an established methodology for doing this, which should be recorded in the [[FOSS4G Cookbook]].

==Workshop Booking==

Workshops are limited by the size specified by the author, and also the size of the rooms available in the venue. There's a juggling act to do when assigning workshops to rooms (and hence knowing the maximum number of people who can book onto it), and it's also important to consider the expected popularity of each workshop. Expect to have to move some around when bookings come in.

==Dates==

Ensure the program is out before the end of the early bird deadline as people may wish to choose which day(s) they attend on the basis of the program.

== Previous Years Lessons Learned ==

* [[FOSS4G 2012 Lessons Learned|2012]]
* [[FOSS4G 2011 Lessons Learned|2011]]
* [[FOSS4G 2010 Lessons Learned|2010]]
* [[FOSS4G 2009 Lessons Learned|2009]]
* [[FOSS4G2008 Lessons Learned|2008]]
* [[FOSS4G2007 Lessons Learned|2007]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-05-29T16:56:03Z

Jocook:

==Sponsorship==

This year we had a "supporter" sponsorship level, which was aimed at those companies who would not want a stand, but would want some minor branding on the website and at the event. This was very popular and we'd recommend it to future organisers.

==Website==

A submission notification should be provided within the service for submitting abstract, workshop, etc. An automatic reply mail would do the trick. We did have a section on the web page leading to the submission section that said people wouldn't receive confirmation, but either they missed this or wanted to check anyway, so it ended up causing more work.

==Publicity==

We've used Lanyrd to publicise the event alongside the "usual" channels, and also Eventbrite for dealing with the free hackathon registration.

==Paper Selection Methodology==

The OSGeo community is very passionate about openness, so the methodology needs to be made as explicit and open as possible. Where additional filtering on top of the community vote is required (which it invariably is) then this needs to be explained clearly in the wiki. There probably ought to be an established methodology for doing this, which should be recorded in the [[FOSS4G Cookbook]].

==Workshop Booking===

Workshops are limited by the size specified by the author, and also the size of the rooms available in the venue. There's a juggling act to do when assigning workshops to rooms (and hence knowing the maximum number of people who can book onto it), and it's also important to consider the expected popularity of each workshop. Expect to have to move some around when bookings come in.

==Dates==

Ensure the program is out before the end of the early bird deadline as people may wish to choose which day(s) they attend on the basis of the program.

== Previous Years Lessons Learned ==

* [[FOSS4G 2012 Lessons Learned|2012]]
* [[FOSS4G 2011 Lessons Learned|2011]]
* [[FOSS4G 2010 Lessons Learned|2010]]
* [[FOSS4G 2009 Lessons Learned|2009]]
* [[FOSS4G2008 Lessons Learned|2008]]
* [[FOSS4G2007 Lessons Learned|2007]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-05-29T16:53:34Z

Jocook:

==Sponsorship==

This year we had a "supporter" sponsorship level, which was aimed at those companies who would not want a stand, but would want some minor branding on the website and at the event. This was very popular and we'd recommend it to future organisers.

==Website==

A submission notification should be provided within the service for submitting abstract, workshop, etc. An automatic reply mail would do the trick. We did have a section on the web page leading to the submission section that said people wouldn't receive confirmation, but either they missed this or wanted to check anyway, so it ended up causing more work.

==Publicity==

We've used Lanyrd to publicise the event alongside the "usual" channels, and also Eventbrite for dealing with the free hackathon registration.

==Paper Selection Methodology==

The OSGeo community is very passionate about openness, so the methodology needs to be made as explicit and open as possible. Where additional filtering on top of the community vote is required (which it invariably is) then this needs to be explained clearly in the wiki. There probably ought to be an established methodology for doing this, which should be recorded in the [[FOSS4G Cookbook]].

== Previous Years Lessons Learned ==

* [[FOSS4G 2012 Lessons Learned|2012]]
* [[FOSS4G 2011 Lessons Learned|2011]]
* [[FOSS4G 2010 Lessons Learned|2010]]
* [[FOSS4G 2009 Lessons Learned|2009]]
* [[FOSS4G2008 Lessons Learned|2008]]
* [[FOSS4G2007 Lessons Learned|2007]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-05-29T16:50:11Z

Jocook: /* Website */

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-05-29T16:49:19Z

Jocook: /* Website */

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-05-29T16:49:06Z

Jocook: /* Website */

SDI Committee

2013-05-16T08:56:12Z

Jocook: /* Members */

<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 20px; background-color: #f9f9f9; border: 2px dotted; padding: 10px;">
'''NOTE:''' This wiki page was created based on discussion on the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011709.html mailing list]. The OSGeo SDI Committee was not established yet. This wiki page is to be used for the committee's establishing.
</div>

== About ==
A spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is a data infrastructure implementing a framework of geographic data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_data_infrastructure Wikipedia:SDI]

OSGeo considers usability of OSGeo software for implementation of various SDIs an important feature for future businesses.

=== Software components of SDIs ===
Basic software components of SDI are:

* catalogue service
* spatial data service
* processing services
* spatial data repository

* Client software (desktop and web) communicates via standards to those services, which interacts directly with the user. It enables download, display, query, analysis and updating spatial data.

OSGeo projects cover all these software components. Some of them are covered by multiple OSGeo projects

=== Standards ===
Most of SDIs are related to OGC standards (OGC OWS) as well as ISO. They are all well implemented in OSGeo projects.

=== Current SDIs ===
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEOSS GEOSS] Global Earth Observation System of Systems. 2005-2015
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMES GMES] Global Monitoring for Environment and Security. Should be fully operational during 2014
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSPIRE INSPIRE] Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNSDI UNSDI] United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure
* [http://en.wikipeia.org/wiki/National_Spatial_Data_Infrastructure NSDI] National Spatial Data Infrastructure
* ''add more here''

== Goals ==
* Coordinate efforts of development teams
* Help to make OSGeo software stack the best choice for SDIs implementation
* Promote OSGeo software stack, as the best choice for SDIs implementation
* ...

== Methods ==
* Checklists
* Tests
* Reference implementations
* ''Relevant'' case studies

== Communication ==
* Mailing list
* IRC meetings

== Members ==
* [[user: jachym | Jáchym Čepický]]
* [[user: tomkralidis | Tom Kralidis]]
* [[user: Stranger | Andreas Schmitz]]
* [[user: kwilcox| Kyle Wilcox]]
* [[user: maxi71 | Massimiliano Cannata]]
* [[user: Vasile | Vasile Crăciunescu]]
* [[user: Mlechner | Marco Lechner]]
* [[user: JoCook | Jo Cook]]
* ''Add your name, if you would like to be active member of the committee''

[[Category:Committees]]

Geoservices REST API

2013-05-09T12:14:21Z

Jocook: /* Political Concerns */

This wiki page aims to collate community concerns related to the proposed acceptance of the "Geoservices REST API" becoming an OGC standard. It is being collaboratively edited, targeting completion before the end of May 2013.

= Open Letter to OGC and voting members =

''Please don't edit this "Open Letter" statement, comments and discussion should go below.''

May 2013

We, the undersigned, have concerns that approving the "Geoservices REST API" as an OGC standard, would have detrimental impacts on interoperability within the spatial industry.

We strongly urge that the proposed "Geoservices REST API", as it stands in May 2013, be rejected as an OGC standard.

People have listed different reasons for concern. They are described below.

== Signed ==
''Please add your name here if you agree with the above statement. Include name, work title (if appropriate), very brief title/involvement in OSGeo if appropriate. (Link to OSGeo profile if appropriate). You may sign as a group, such as the Project Steering Committee of XXX project if you wish, or as Your Name on behalf of YYY company.''

* [[User:camerons|Cameron Shorter]], Geospatial Solutions Director at [http://lisasoft.com LISAsoft], core contributor & coordinator of [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live]
* [[User:Woodbri|Stephen Woodbridge]], Director of [http://imaptools.com iMaptools.com], Contributor and/or PSC of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], [http://pgrouting.org/ pgRouting], [http://www.pagcgeo.org/ PAGC], and [http://www.postgis.org/ PostGIS]
* [[User:rouault|Even Rouault]], Geospatial developer, OSGeo Charter Member, core contributor and PSC member of [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR], contributor of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4], [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/ libgeotiff], [http://shapelib.maptools.org/ shapelib], [http://www.remotesensing.org/libtiff/ libtiff]
* Gerhard Triebnig, Managing Director at [http://eox.at EOX IT Services GmbH]
* [[User:pcreso|Brent Wood]], Environmental Information Delivery Programme Leader, NIWA, New Zealand. OGC member, Aust/NZ OSGEO chapter member, NZOSS Council member
* [[User:Schpidi|Stephan Meissl]], CTO at [http://eox.at EOX IT Services GmbH], contributor to [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], PSC chair of [http://eoxserver.org EOxServer]
* [[User:ticheler|Jeroen Ticheler]], Director of [http://geocat.net GeoCat], project founder and PSC chair of [http://geonetwork-opensource.org GeoNetwork opensource]
* [[User:Just|Just van den Broecke]], Director at [http://www.justobjects.nl Just Objects], contributor to [http://heron-mc.org Heron Mapping Client], secretary of [http://osgeo.nl OSGeo Dutch Local Chapter], member at [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
* [[User:milovanderlinden|Milo van der Linden]], member at [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
* [[User:surveyor|Landon Blake]], GIS Department Manager/Land Surveyor at [http://www.ksninc.com KSN], OSGeo California Chapter Board Representative.
* [[User:dmorissette|Daniel Morissette]], President at [http://mapgears.com/ Mapgears], core contributor and PSC member of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR]. Former OGC TC member and involved in the implementation of several OGC WxS services specs in MapServer.
* [[User:blammo|Bob Basques]], GIS Systems Developer at the City of Saint Paul, MN. [http://gis.ci.stpaul.mn.us Public Works GIS (GISmo)], Technical Director at [http://www.sharedgeo.org SharedGeo], OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo TCMUG local chapter member, Co-founder and PSC member of [http://www.geomoose.org GeoMoose] project.
* [[User:vehrka|Pedro-Juan Ferrer Matoses]], PM at Omnium Strategic Intelligence, Spain, OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Liaison officer.
* Bevan Rudge, Director Lucion Limited, IT Advisor at Conservation Strategy Fund, Esri client
* [[User:Delawen|María Arias de Reyna]], software engineer at [http://geocat.net GeoCat], Spain, member of OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter.
* [[User:Aghisla|Anne Ghisla]], OSGeo Board Member, Italy, member of OSGeo Italian Local Chapter.
* [[User:Michogar|Micho Garcia]], Freelance and member of [http://geomati.co geomati.co], Spain, member of Spanish Local Chapter
* [[User:Madi|Margherita Di Leo]], OSGeo Charter Member, Italy
* [[Jorge Sanz]], GIS Consultant at [http://www.prodevelop.es Prodevelop], OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
* [[Pablo Sanxiao]], CTO and co-founder at [http://www.icarto.es iCarto], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
* [[User:Fsteggink|Frank Steggink]], GIS software developer at [http://www.vicrea.nl Vicrea], The Netherlands, member of the Dutch Local Chapter
* [[User:Olivier.courtin|Olivier Courtin]], [http://www.oslandia.com Oslandia] co-founder, core contributor or/and PSC member of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://www.postgis.org/ PostGIS]. OGC TC member.
* [[User:Bolosig|Wladimir Szczerban]], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
* [[User:AnitaGraser|Anita Graser]], GIS specialist with AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, OSGeo Charter member and QGIS team member.
* [[User:Vmische|Volker Mische]], geospatial software engineer, creator of GeoCouch
* [[User:Ivansanchez|Iván Sánchez]], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, head of [http://www.openstreetmap.es OpenStreetMap Spain], [http://osmfoundation.org OpenStreetMap Foundation] member, [http://hot.openstreetmap.org/ Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team] member, [http://www.idee.es/ Spanish SDI working group] member
* [[User:Gabi|Gabriel Carrión]], Strategy Manager at [http://www.gvsig.com gvSIG association]
* [http://strk.keybit.net Sandro Santilli], OSGeo Charter Member, [http://postgis.net PostGIS] and [http://trac.osgeo.org/geos GEOS] PSC member and core hacker.
* [[User:Javiarch|Javier Diaz]], member of Geoinquietos Bs As [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:Geoinquietos_Buenos_Aires], member of the Organizing Committee FOSS4G Bs As 2013 [http://www.foss4g-ba.org/]
* [[User: JoCook|Jo Cook]], Consultant at [http://isharemaps.com| Astun Technology], former Director of OSGeo, Charter Member, founder of UK Local Chapter, Deputy Chair of [http://2013.foss4g.org| FOSS4G 2013]

= Concerns =
--- DRAFT ____

''Please add concerns as bullet points below. Try to be concise. Where appropriate, link to external web pages (such as email achieves)''

== Summary ==
As at May 2013, OGC members have been asked to decide whether to accept the "GeoServices REST API" as an OGC standard. This is a contentious issue, with many people arguing that introduction of the “GeoServices REST API” will have costly, far reaching, negative impacts on interoperability, and significantly tarnish the OGC's reputation as a champion of interoperability.

The key points of contention revolve around the fact that the proposed "GeoServices REST API" does not build upon or extend existing OGC standards, but rather addresses similar requirements using an alternative API. In particular, the overlap and/or duplication of existing standards is widespread: OGC's core standards of WMS, WMTS, WFS, SE/SLD, WCS, CS/W are all duplicated to a significant extent. This defeats the purpose of having standards in the first place.

Duplication of standards will likely result in a combination of the following:
# The cost to application developers, systems integrators, testers and sponsors to support all relevant OGC standards will be substantially increased.
# Consequently, organisations and/or applications may choose to only support one standard, or only support one standard fully.
# Sponsors (such as governments) who require compliance with OGC standards will discover that applications don't communicate together, due to applications supporting different OGC standards that essentially do the same thing.
# This will result in a diminished importance of OGC, as the "OGC standards" stamp of approval will not equate interoperability.
# After a while, in order to solve interoperability issues, a respected international organisation or program will likely take the initiative to mandate one standard as the preferred standard for all agencies to follow. To date, the OGC has provided this leadership.
# One standard taking prominance over the other will likely lead to the other being neglected or deprecated, resulting in many OGC compliant systems becoming legacy systems in the process. This should be considered an undesirable outcome for a standards organisation. Backward compatibility to the existing WxS standards is important in this respect.
# Given backwards compatibility with the ESRI Restful implementation is mandated, this is not an Open Standard, and should not be ratified as if it was.

== Political Concerns ==

* Adopting the standard will expose the OGC to a strong suspicion of acting as a rubber stamp organization under ESRI weight, and will be detrimental to its recognized position as a reference organization for geospatial standards.
* It is a dubious practice that a standardization organisation promotes competing standards, without explicitely obsoleting (or at least recommending) some of them. How is a newcomer to the industry supposed to select the appropriate standard if several ones share the same scope : WFS or GeoServices REST API Feature Service, WMS or GeoServices REST API Map Service, etc. ?

== Commercial Concerns ==

* Promoting standards from an existing implementation made by a single vendor leads to an obvious bias in competition.
* Supporting multiple overlapping standards greatly reduces usability while it increases complexity and cost of development and maintenance.
* Many SME's have invested in supporting existing OGC standards in their products. They will be forced to choose the standards they support (and can explain), resulting in decreased interoperability, confusion and frustration for clients.
* Confusing customers with new, overlapping OGC standards will lower the credibility of companies and of OGC, reducing business opportunities.

== Technical Concerns ==

* The Geoservices REST API overlaps in large proportion with existing OGC standards such as WMS, WCS, WFS, WMTS, CSW, with no effort made to reconcile with those standards.
* The standardization of WKT for Spatial reference systems is unfortunately currently quite weak in OGC standards. Geoservices REST API is tied with ESRI's version of WKT, which is not properly specified in the Geoservices REST API documents, and is known to be incompatible with other OGC documents, which will lead to a larger confusion. See the following [http://lists.opengeospatial.org/pipermail/requests/2012-July/000166.html comment] for more details on this issue.
* The Geoservices REST API is not particularly RESTful - it's a thinly disguised service call, not an address space for RESTful objects that can be operated on.
* At least as far as "imagery" is concerned, OGC standards arguably are substantially more mature, powerful, flexible, and modular then the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Part 6 (and some design principles suggest that scalability may be hampered as well):
** data model:
*** the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" appears constrained to 2-D imagery, plus optional time stamps. OGC has established a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverage_data unified coverage model] which fully supports n-D spatio-temporal data. It allows use and exchange of coverages between different services, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Coverage_Service WCS], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Coverage_Processing_Service WCPS], WPS, and SWE.
*** OGC coverages support both regular and irregular grids; the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" supports only regular grids, more specifically: only rectified grids with quadrilateral pixels.
*** the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" lacks support for temporal data; it only offers timestamps, measured in milliseconds; this is inconvenient for users and immediately excludes, e.g., geological dates. OGC has established uniform handling of horizontal, vertical, and temporal coordinate reference systems (CRSs), following a deep consensus process with GIS science and backwards compatible with EPSG. The ESRI "Geoservice REST API" specific way of handling coordinates is not known to support this, thereby excluding appropriate timeseries handling in remote sensing, air traffic, MetOcean, etc.
*** OGC coverages provide a concise, versatile model for supporting different binary formats; the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" supports only very few selected 2-D formats, excluding, e.g., JPEG2000, NetCDF, HDF, etc.
*** the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" lacks a clear model of their data structures, it can be deduced only implicitly from the operation mechanics.
** service model:
*** The ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Part 6 lacks conciseness, thereby opening up ways for implementations that are not interoperable. For developers of alternative implementations this may mean they have to acquire ESRI licenses for finding out the intended behavior.
*** Functionality in the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" appears randomly chosen, with no clear concept visible; this burdens implementers while still leaving holes of functionality. For example, this functionality appears restricted to mapping applications and does not easily extend into other domains.
*** It has been said that the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" can be seen as a "wrapper around OGC W*S" services. This is not true for WCS (and WCPS), at least: the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Part 6 is too poor in functionality and too different in mechanics to accomplish this.
** In summary, the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Imaging part is at a technological level where WCS departed from some 5 years ago. Inconciseness of the specification at large will make it difficult for third parties to come up with interoperable implementations. Therefore, Part 6 of the ESRI "Geoservice REST API", if to become a standard, needs to be discussed in the WCS.SWG for harmonization, clarification, and improvement.

== Methodological Concerns ==

* No public response (nor private to the authors of the comments) has been made to the various comments sent on the OGC Requests mailing list in [[http://lists.opengeospatial.org/pipermail/requests/2012-July/date.html July 2012]] and [[http://lists.opengeospatial.org/pipermail/requests/2012-August/date.html August 2012]] during the 30 day public comments period.
* The Geoservices REST API can not be amended (other than editorial changes in the specification document), because of a requirement of backward compatibility with ESRI implementation. Consequently, the standard is unlikely to improve, or its evolution will be only lead by ESRI.
* OGC standards normally require interoperability experiments and a richer process to ratify a standard such as this one. No explanation has been forthcoming as to why a simplified process is appropriate in this case.
* ESRI/OGC have specifically [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011659.html rejected requests] to openly share their justifications document being selectively sent to OGC voters.

= History =

Todo: please expand
* Explain how this standard came to be
* Based on ArcGIS Server API
* Attempted but failed to go through OGC fast track process
* Recent voting history: refer to: http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011602.html

= References =
Todo: Link to key external docs, such as the proposed standards

[[Category: OGC]]
[[Category: Standards]]

Geoservices REST API

2013-05-09T12:13:34Z

Jocook: /* Signed */

This wiki page aims to collate community concerns related to the proposed acceptance of the "Geoservices REST API" becoming an OGC standard. It is being collaboratively edited, targeting completion before the end of May 2013.

= Open Letter to OGC and voting members =

''Please don't edit this "Open Letter" statement, comments and discussion should go below.''

May 2013

We, the undersigned, have concerns that approving the "Geoservices REST API" as an OGC standard, would have detrimental impacts on interoperability within the spatial industry.

We strongly urge that the proposed "Geoservices REST API", as it stands in May 2013, be rejected as an OGC standard.

People have listed different reasons for concern. They are described below.

== Signed ==
''Please add your name here if you agree with the above statement. Include name, work title (if appropriate), very brief title/involvement in OSGeo if appropriate. (Link to OSGeo profile if appropriate). You may sign as a group, such as the Project Steering Committee of XXX project if you wish, or as Your Name on behalf of YYY company.''

* [[User:camerons|Cameron Shorter]], Geospatial Solutions Director at [http://lisasoft.com LISAsoft], core contributor & coordinator of [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live]
* [[User:Woodbri|Stephen Woodbridge]], Director of [http://imaptools.com iMaptools.com], Contributor and/or PSC of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], [http://pgrouting.org/ pgRouting], [http://www.pagcgeo.org/ PAGC], and [http://www.postgis.org/ PostGIS]
* [[User:rouault|Even Rouault]], Geospatial developer, OSGeo Charter Member, core contributor and PSC member of [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR], contributor of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4], [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/ libgeotiff], [http://shapelib.maptools.org/ shapelib], [http://www.remotesensing.org/libtiff/ libtiff]
* Gerhard Triebnig, Managing Director at [http://eox.at EOX IT Services GmbH]
* [[User:pcreso|Brent Wood]], Environmental Information Delivery Programme Leader, NIWA, New Zealand. OGC member, Aust/NZ OSGEO chapter member, NZOSS Council member
* [[User:Schpidi|Stephan Meissl]], CTO at [http://eox.at EOX IT Services GmbH], contributor to [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], PSC chair of [http://eoxserver.org EOxServer]
* [[User:ticheler|Jeroen Ticheler]], Director of [http://geocat.net GeoCat], project founder and PSC chair of [http://geonetwork-opensource.org GeoNetwork opensource]
* [[User:Just|Just van den Broecke]], Director at [http://www.justobjects.nl Just Objects], contributor to [http://heron-mc.org Heron Mapping Client], secretary of [http://osgeo.nl OSGeo Dutch Local Chapter], member at [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
* [[User:milovanderlinden|Milo van der Linden]], member at [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
* [[User:surveyor|Landon Blake]], GIS Department Manager/Land Surveyor at [http://www.ksninc.com KSN], OSGeo California Chapter Board Representative.
* [[User:dmorissette|Daniel Morissette]], President at [http://mapgears.com/ Mapgears], core contributor and PSC member of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR]. Former OGC TC member and involved in the implementation of several OGC WxS services specs in MapServer.
* [[User:blammo|Bob Basques]], GIS Systems Developer at the City of Saint Paul, MN. [http://gis.ci.stpaul.mn.us Public Works GIS (GISmo)], Technical Director at [http://www.sharedgeo.org SharedGeo], OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo TCMUG local chapter member, Co-founder and PSC member of [http://www.geomoose.org GeoMoose] project.
* [[User:vehrka|Pedro-Juan Ferrer Matoses]], PM at Omnium Strategic Intelligence, Spain, OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Liaison officer.
* Bevan Rudge, Director Lucion Limited, IT Advisor at Conservation Strategy Fund, Esri client
* [[User:Delawen|María Arias de Reyna]], software engineer at [http://geocat.net GeoCat], Spain, member of OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter.
* [[User:Aghisla|Anne Ghisla]], OSGeo Board Member, Italy, member of OSGeo Italian Local Chapter.
* [[User:Michogar|Micho Garcia]], Freelance and member of [http://geomati.co geomati.co], Spain, member of Spanish Local Chapter
* [[User:Madi|Margherita Di Leo]], OSGeo Charter Member, Italy
* [[Jorge Sanz]], GIS Consultant at [http://www.prodevelop.es Prodevelop], OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
* [[Pablo Sanxiao]], CTO and co-founder at [http://www.icarto.es iCarto], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
* [[User:Fsteggink|Frank Steggink]], GIS software developer at [http://www.vicrea.nl Vicrea], The Netherlands, member of the Dutch Local Chapter
* [[User:Olivier.courtin|Olivier Courtin]], [http://www.oslandia.com Oslandia] co-founder, core contributor or/and PSC member of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://www.postgis.org/ PostGIS]. OGC TC member.
* [[User:Bolosig|Wladimir Szczerban]], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
* [[User:AnitaGraser|Anita Graser]], GIS specialist with AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, OSGeo Charter member and QGIS team member.
* [[User:Vmische|Volker Mische]], geospatial software engineer, creator of GeoCouch
* [[User:Ivansanchez|Iván Sánchez]], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, head of [http://www.openstreetmap.es OpenStreetMap Spain], [http://osmfoundation.org OpenStreetMap Foundation] member, [http://hot.openstreetmap.org/ Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team] member, [http://www.idee.es/ Spanish SDI working group] member
* [[User:Gabi|Gabriel Carrión]], Strategy Manager at [http://www.gvsig.com gvSIG association]
* [http://strk.keybit.net Sandro Santilli], OSGeo Charter Member, [http://postgis.net PostGIS] and [http://trac.osgeo.org/geos GEOS] PSC member and core hacker.
* [[User:Javiarch|Javier Diaz]], member of Geoinquietos Bs As [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:Geoinquietos_Buenos_Aires], member of the Organizing Committee FOSS4G Bs As 2013 [http://www.foss4g-ba.org/]
* [[User: JoCook|Jo Cook]], Consultant at [http://isharemaps.com| Astun Technology], former Director of OSGeo, Charter Member, founder of UK Local Chapter, Deputy Chair of [http://2013.foss4g.org| FOSS4G 2013]

= Concerns =
--- DRAFT ____

''Please add concerns as bullet points below. Try to be concise. Where appropriate, link to external web pages (such as email achieves)''

== Summary ==
As at May 2013, OGC members have been asked to decide whether to accept the "GeoServices REST API" as an OGC standard. This is a contentious issue, with many people arguing that introduction of the “GeoServices REST API” will have costly, far reaching, negative impacts on interoperability, and significantly tarnish the OGC's reputation as a champion of interoperability.

The key points of contention revolve around the fact that the proposed "GeoServices REST API" does not build upon or extend existing OGC standards, but rather addresses similar requirements using an alternative API. In particular, the overlap and/or duplication of existing standards is widespread: OGC's core standards of WMS, WMTS, WFS, SE/SLD, WCS, CS/W are all duplicated to a significant extent. This defeats the purpose of having standards in the first place.

Duplication of standards will likely result in a combination of the following:
# The cost to application developers, systems integrators, testers and sponsors to support all relevant OGC standards will be substantially increased.
# Consequently, organisations and/or applications may choose to only support one standard, or only support one standard fully.
# Sponsors (such as governments) who require compliance with OGC standards will discover that applications don't communicate together, due to applications supporting different OGC standards that essentially do the same thing.
# This will result in a diminished importance of OGC, as the "OGC standards" stamp of approval will not equate interoperability.
# After a while, in order to solve interoperability issues, a respected international organisation or program will likely take the initiative to mandate one standard as the preferred standard for all agencies to follow. To date, the OGC has provided this leadership.
# One standard taking prominance over the other will likely lead to the other being neglected or deprecated, resulting in many OGC compliant systems becoming legacy systems in the process. This should be considered an undesirable outcome for a standards organisation. Backward compatibility to the existing WxS standards is important in this respect.
# Given backwards compatibility with the ESRI Restful implementation is mandated, this is not an Open Standard, and should not be ratified as if it was.

== Political Concerns ==

* Adopting the standard will expose the OGC to a strong suspicion of acting as a rubber stamp organization under ESRI weight, and will be detrimental to its recognized position as a reference organization for geospatial standards.
* It is a dubious practice that a standardization organisation promotes competing standards, without explicitely obsoleting (or at least recommending) some of them. How is a new comer to the industry supposed to select the appropriate standard if several ones share the same scope : WFS or GeoServices REST API Feature Service, WMS or GeoServices REST API Map Service, etc. ?

== Commercial Concerns ==

* Promoting standards from an existing implementation made by a single vendor leads to an obvious bias in competition.
* Supporting multiple overlapping standards greatly reduces usability while it increases complexity and cost of development and maintenance.
* Many SME's have invested in supporting existing OGC standards in their products. They will be forced to choose the standards they support (and can explain), resulting in decreased interoperability, confusion and frustration for clients.
* Confusing customers with new, overlapping OGC standards will lower the credibility of companies and of OGC, reducing business opportunities.

== Technical Concerns ==

* The Geoservices REST API overlaps in large proportion with existing OGC standards such as WMS, WCS, WFS, WMTS, CSW, with no effort made to reconcile with those standards.
* The standardization of WKT for Spatial reference systems is unfortunately currently quite weak in OGC standards. Geoservices REST API is tied with ESRI's version of WKT, which is not properly specified in the Geoservices REST API documents, and is known to be incompatible with other OGC documents, which will lead to a larger confusion. See the following [http://lists.opengeospatial.org/pipermail/requests/2012-July/000166.html comment] for more details on this issue.
* The Geoservices REST API is not particularly RESTful - it's a thinly disguised service call, not an address space for RESTful objects that can be operated on.
* At least as far as "imagery" is concerned, OGC standards arguably are substantially more mature, powerful, flexible, and modular then the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Part 6 (and some design principles suggest that scalability may be hampered as well):
** data model:
*** the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" appears constrained to 2-D imagery, plus optional time stamps. OGC has established a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverage_data unified coverage model] which fully supports n-D spatio-temporal data. It allows use and exchange of coverages between different services, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Coverage_Service WCS], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Coverage_Processing_Service WCPS], WPS, and SWE.
*** OGC coverages support both regular and irregular grids; the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" supports only regular grids, more specifically: only rectified grids with quadrilateral pixels.
*** the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" lacks support for temporal data; it only offers timestamps, measured in milliseconds; this is inconvenient for users and immediately excludes, e.g., geological dates. OGC has established uniform handling of horizontal, vertical, and temporal coordinate reference systems (CRSs), following a deep consensus process with GIS science and backwards compatible with EPSG. The ESRI "Geoservice REST API" specific way of handling coordinates is not known to support this, thereby excluding appropriate timeseries handling in remote sensing, air traffic, MetOcean, etc.
*** OGC coverages provide a concise, versatile model for supporting different binary formats; the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" supports only very few selected 2-D formats, excluding, e.g., JPEG2000, NetCDF, HDF, etc.
*** the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" lacks a clear model of their data structures, it can be deduced only implicitly from the operation mechanics.
** service model:
*** The ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Part 6 lacks conciseness, thereby opening up ways for implementations that are not interoperable. For developers of alternative implementations this may mean they have to acquire ESRI licenses for finding out the intended behavior.
*** Functionality in the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" appears randomly chosen, with no clear concept visible; this burdens implementers while still leaving holes of functionality. For example, this functionality appears restricted to mapping applications and does not easily extend into other domains.
*** It has been said that the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" can be seen as a "wrapper around OGC W*S" services. This is not true for WCS (and WCPS), at least: the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Part 6 is too poor in functionality and too different in mechanics to accomplish this.
** In summary, the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Imaging part is at a technological level where WCS departed from some 5 years ago. Inconciseness of the specification at large will make it difficult for third parties to come up with interoperable implementations. Therefore, Part 6 of the ESRI "Geoservice REST API", if to become a standard, needs to be discussed in the WCS.SWG for harmonization, clarification, and improvement.

== Methodological Concerns ==

* No public response (nor private to the authors of the comments) has been made to the various comments sent on the OGC Requests mailing list in [[http://lists.opengeospatial.org/pipermail/requests/2012-July/date.html July 2012]] and [[http://lists.opengeospatial.org/pipermail/requests/2012-August/date.html August 2012]] during the 30 day public comments period.
* The Geoservices REST API can not be amended (other than editorial changes in the specification document), because of a requirement of backward compatibility with ESRI implementation. Consequently, the standard is unlikely to improve, or its evolution will be only lead by ESRI.
* OGC standards normally require interoperability experiments and a richer process to ratify a standard such as this one. No explanation has been forthcoming as to why a simplified process is appropriate in this case.
* ESRI/OGC have specifically [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011659.html rejected requests] to openly share their justifications document being selectively sent to OGC voters.

= History =

Todo: please expand
* Explain how this standard came to be
* Based on ArcGIS Server API
* Attempted but failed to go through OGC fast track process
* Recent voting history: refer to: http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011602.html

= References =
Todo: Link to key external docs, such as the proposed standards

[[Category: OGC]]
[[Category: Standards]]

FOSS4G 2013 Workshops Google+ Hangout February 20th

2013-03-01T12:17:21Z

Jocook: Created page with "Hour long Google+ Hangout to discuss the plan for Workshops and Code Sprints with those interested in attending or running at FOSS4G 2013. Only 7 people attended including Mark ..."

Hour long Google+ Hangout to discuss the plan for Workshops and Code Sprints with those interested in attending or running at FOSS4G 2013.

Only 7 people attended including Mark and Jeremy from the LOC but it was a good opertunity to catch-up and we did get some feedback from people like Ian Turton to say that our plans seem sound.

Facitities wise we currently have 2 labs booked but may need to book a few more if we are expecting a similar number of Workshops as previous years. We expect to be able to have access to about 20 laptops (8 from Horizon, 8 from Ordnance Survey and 6 from Astun Technology) which can be used for Workshops.

Our preference would be to use LiveUSB or LiveDVD to run the Workshops but we need to consider if we can facilitate using Virtual Machines.

FOSS4G 2013

2013-03-01T12:17:01Z

Jocook: /* Planning Meetings */

[[Image:FOSS4GLogoNaomiGale.png.scaled500.png|right|300px]]

'''FOSS4G 2013 will take place in Nottingham, UK from the 17th to the 21st of September 2013.'''

* Visit the website [http://2013.foss4g.org/ here] and follow us on [http://twitter.com/FOSS4G twitter]
* See our venue, the East Midlands Conference Centre [http://www.nottinghamconferences.co.uk/emcc/ here] ([http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.945&lon=-1.17&zoom=12&layers=M&mlat=52.9390&mlon=-1.2032 map])

* The FOSS4G 2013 '''mailing list''' is available [http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/foss4g2013 here]. This is a public list, so please say hello and give us your thoughts!
* See our winning proposal [http://foss4g4uk.posterous.com/private/xAwEygnDHu here].

== Planning Meetings ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting 12th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 27th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 8th August]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting September]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Comms Sub-Group Conf Call 19th October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November 30th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting December 21st]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 11th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 25th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting Feburary 8th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops Google+ Hangout February 20th]]

== Lessons Learned ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned]] (to be filled in as we go along)

== Publicity ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Mailing List Press Releases]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]
[[Category:Events]]

FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned

2013-03-01T12:11:52Z

Jocook: /* Sponsorship */

FOSS4G 2013

2013-02-20T10:59:38Z

Jocook:

[[Image:FOSS4GLogoNaomiGale.png.scaled500.png|right|300px]]

'''FOSS4G 2013 will take place in Nottingham, UK from the 17th to the 21st of September 2013.'''

* Visit the website [http://2013.foss4g.org/ here] and follow us on [http://twitter.com/FOSS4G twitter]
* See our venue, the East Midlands Conference Centre [http://www.nottinghamconferences.co.uk/emcc/ here] ([http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.945&lon=-1.17&zoom=12&layers=M&mlat=52.9390&mlon=-1.2032 map])

* The FOSS4G 2013 '''mailing list''' is available [http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/foss4g2013 here]. This is a public list, so please say hello and give us your thoughts!
* See our winning proposal [http://foss4g4uk.posterous.com/private/xAwEygnDHu here].

== Planning Meetings ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting 12th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 27th July]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Workshops and Code Sprints Conf Call 8th August]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting September]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Comms Sub-Group Conf Call 19th October]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting November 30th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting December 21st]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 11th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting January 25th]]
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting Feburary 8th]]

== Lessons Learned ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Lessons Learned]] (to be filled in as we go along)

== Publicity ==
* [[FOSS4G 2013 Mailing List Press Releases]]

[[Category:FOSS4G2013]]
[[Category:FOSS4G]]
[[Category:Events]]

FOSS4G 2013 Planning Meeting Feburary 8th

2013-02-20T10:58:28Z

Jocook: Created page with "'''Prices''' Redacted '''Contract''' Close to finalising, in detailed discussion on wifi and then done '''Call for presentations''' Update on numbers of submissions > Update e..."

'''Prices'''

Redacted

'''Contract'''
Close to finalising, in detailed discussion on wifi and then done

'''Call for presentations'''
Update on numbers of submissions
> Update every week (Antony to discuss with Claire)
> Call for workshops and presentations to go on mailing lists (Suchith, Barry [discuss, announce])
> Paul Ramsey will run community voting

'''Call for Workshops'''
Finalise dates
> Def. Wed, poss Tue as well - decide after end of call for Workshops at end March
Update on numbers of submissions

'''Hackathon update'''
Finalise dates
> Def. Tuesday, poss Mon as well (dependent on workshops) - booking on EventBrite to avoid charges
Program

'''Code Sprint'''
Confirmed for Sunday

'''Call for Maps'''
Depending on time we may need to push back to a separate call to discuss
> Document and approach received from Ken. Poss sponsorship of prizes? IT issues to be resolved, ie display panels. Call should be pushed back in the meantime. Likely to cover existing work rather than new.

'''Paper selection F2F dates'''
Everyone needs to confirm hotel room bookings
Jeremy do we have a room?
> Matt and Rollo can't make it

'''Publicity'''
Plans?
> Tweets and mailing lists posts needed on sponsors, calls for papers, etc. Press releases also needed. comms group to coordinate. Registration is next trigger point. All to action in channels they are on

'''Social'''
Need to kick off a group thinking about social and entertainments
> Barry is talking to geeky comics, contract awaited
> Call to discuss will be needed

Academic Track
as of 8th Feb
31 reviewers registered
29 authors registered
12 submissions - is this a potential problem? -- [BK:] If it stays at that, yes. But experience seems to suggest most people wait till the deadline....

Sponsorship
Confirmed 19 sponsors

Diamond
Ordnance Survey

Gold
Envitia
Google

Silver
Edina
Geosolutions
ESRI UK
Geosparc

Bronze
Oslandia
Camptocamp SA
Astun Technology
2ndQuadrant

Supporter
Georepublic
Metaspatial
Mapgears Inc.
Geocat
Ubisense
Vizzuality
EOX IT Services GmbH
Terrestris

'''Keynote speakers'''
Paul Ramsey accepted (can be public)
Kate Chapman accepted
Edward Anderson (World Bank) accepted
Ian James (OS) accepted (Rollo to confirm whether he can be publicised) - DONE. See comment below.
Steven to confirm with others re publicity
Others needed - Central Govt? Someone a bit wacky?

'''Open Source Conference in April'''
Ian is in touch with organisers

'''Programme'''
Outline produced by Rollo
To be reviewed by programme group

'''Next Call'''
Jo or Jeremy to chair, Steven will be up a mountain