[California] Fwd: Does anyone know when FOSS4G North America might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal? (Jeffrey Johnson)

Tue Oct 27 22:19:32 PDT 2015

Hello all!

I have been lurking like I usually do, but I was hoping I could chime in a
bit.

As an OSGeo chapter, we have had presence (albeit a bit informal) in
several URISA conferences of the past years. I have had presentations in
this year's CalGIS as well as the previous one (not to mention I also
attended GIS Pro last year). At all of those I have always included OSGeo
slides with explanations of what we are and what we do and mention of the
CA chapter.

Nevertheless, my personal motivation has been to tell people about
alternatives in general- whether it is about an "official" OSGeo project or
some other open source alternative.

The beauty of what has been happening in the past years is that there are
several efforts by various organizations to push alternatives to the ESRI
ecosystem (I am not anti-ESRI by all means, but I do like options!).

- BAAMA has rebranded BayGeo and has chosen to include more Open Source
material in their new series of events.

- CalGIS is including Open Source tracks where several other members of our
chapter have presented (shout out to Michele and Alex for the awesome
workshops they have done there).

- Andrea from LocationTech has been doing a great job at organizing Open
Source events and doing a lot of work to make FOSS4GNA happen (while also
taking a lot of heat from some members of the OSGeo community).

- Maptime is teaching beginning mapping concepts - with the caveat that
everything taught needs to be OS.

- I'd love to think that my own GeoMeetup has helped - even if just a
little bit - at promoting various options for geo development.

Why am I mentioning these things? Because if we want bigger presence, we
can easily merge some of these efforts and have bigger impact... like we
did with FOSS4GNA this year - although again it was mostly Andrea doing the
heavy lifting whether she wants to take the credit or not ;)

If we want to do a California Chapter Meeting, we should reach out to the
folks in Berkeley GIF, they are always interested in "Open Source events".
It may be a bit presumptuous of me, but I am fairly certain they would
provide a spot to host this if we just asked.

If we want something bigger, we can also take in consideration that
LocationTech is doing "Tour stops" and I know that they want to do one in
the Bay Area fairly soon. I'd also take in consideration that BayGeo wants
to be involved in these things. Boom, now we can have a larger event.

I'd be happy to make whatever connections/introductions are necessary to
glue all these parts together (including a few sponsors that I have in
mind), but I would not be able to organize it this time because AmigoCloud
is taking most of my time.

I guess the question is, are we trying to become a chapter that is more
involved in CA or are we trying to have our yearly meeting? We can do both,
but it'd be nice to understand which of the two we are trying to tackle so
we can make a plan and execute it.

Sorry for the rambling and back to lurking

- Ragi

Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 18:15:29 -0700
> From: Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com>
> To: "Orton, Jeff" <Jeff.Orton at wonderful.com>
> Cc: "california at lists.osgeo.org" <california at lists.osgeo.org>, Alex
>         Mandel <tech at wildintellect.com>
> Subject: Re: [California] Fwd: Does anyone know when FOSS4G North
>         America might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CABcRaRNNuG_pp3JQX9z5FSP4ofAgx53QpzDPRLXUGPFW7rX4rA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi Jeff, Nice to hear from you again. Thanks again for arranging things at
> Monterrey in 2014. I've followed up with Steve Steinberg and will try to
> work out a plan with him.
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 8:36 AM, Orton, Jeff <Jeff.Orton at wonderful.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I am on the program committee for CalGIS 2016 and I am sure that we would
> > be happy to host some events.  Feel free to give me a call or email and
> we
> > can discuss options.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > *Jeff Orton *Director GIS
> >
> > [image: Description: Description:
> > http://attach.wonderful.com/signature/wonderful_citrus.png]
> >
> >
> > Direct: (661) 720-2520
> > Mobile: (661) 809-8007
> >
> > wonderfulcitrus.com
> >
> >
> >
> > *From:* Michele Tobias [mailto:mmtobias at ucdavis.edu]
> > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 27, 2015 8:22 AM
> > *To:* Jeffrey Johnson
> > *Cc:* california at lists.osgeo.org; Alex Mandel
> > *Subject:* Re: [California] Fwd: Does anyone know when FOSS4G North
> > America might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm not opposed to having a meeting at CalGIS, but perhaps we should poll
> > the current membership and see how many people can actually make it to
> that
> > conference.  FOSS4G-NA is the next week, which might make CalGIS a bit
> of a
> > stretch.  For me, I just started a new job, so I'm not sure I can attend
> > either.  It seems counter productive to make our yearly meeting something
> > the active members can't attend.  I'm also not sure that comparing our
> > group with others is very helpful.  Let's discuss what we WANT to do,
> > versus what we feel like we should do.  We'll get a lot further that way.
> >
> >
> >
> > To recap, here are the goals we've mentioned so far in this email thread:
> >
> > 1. Annual meeting - perhaps at a conference
> >
> > 2. More conference participation
> >
> > 3. Increase membership, particularly in So Cal
> >
> >
> >
> > Was there anything else?  These 3 alone are pretty big goals.  What would
> > be best to tackle first?  What are people excited to work on?
> >
> >
> >
> > Michele
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 5:07 PM, Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 4:55 PM, Alex M <tech_dev at wildintellect.com>
> > wrote:
> > > http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/California
> > >
> > > We've done 0 fund-raising beyond recouping some food costs at one of
> our
> > > meetings. There is no formal governance, other than I think we elected
> > > Landon to be the liason to OSGeo.
> >
> > I didnt see anything on governance on the wiki which is why I asked.
> > Thanks for clarifying.
> >
> > > FOSS4g-NA was in large part Ragi's doing. So our chapter was
> > > semi-involved (Michele, Alan, Brian and I all spent time running the
> > > OSGeo booth).
> >
> > Thanks Ragi for taking the lead here from the California perspective.
> > It was fun to hang out with many of you in SF.
> >
> > > Sure we might be the biggest chapter in number of people (might), but
> > > we're also the biggest spatial extent (I actually suspect OSGeo India
> is
> > > bigger in both cases, I think only in the US are there regional
> chapters
> > > instead of national).
> >
> > The germans mentioned we were bigger than them in membership and and
> > as far as spatial, population and economic size we are 'roughly' the
> > same size as them and not significantly bigger (1/2 the population in
> > fact). We are also pretty well represented in the list of Charter
> > Members. My point is that we _should_ get as organized as some of
> > these other chapters, hold regular meetings, participate at the
> > national and international level, encourage our universities to
> > participate in Geo4All etc etc. Its great that we all code and
> > contribute to the projects, but we should also be more involved in
> > global leadership. I'll publicly commit to doing my part here.
> >
> > > We've rarely had more than 1-2 people in Southern
> > > California chime in on the list so the meetings have always been in
> > > Northern California.
> >
> > Ill do my best to start changing this.
> >
> > > I would say +1 to having a chapter meetings at
> > > other statewide conferences that already draw people/travel budgets.
> >
> > Ok, Ill wait for any -1's on doing something at CalGIS in Anaheim and
> > begin to move forward and inform the list of our progress. Steve
> > Steinberg is the Chair and a former professor of mine. Hoping that you
> > all find a way to make it and even better if you can make a session
> > proposal about your work.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > > -Alex
> > >
> > > On 10/26/2015 04:22 PM, Jeffrey Johnson wrote:
> > >> FYI back to the list. Unless anyone is -1, I'll go ahead and set
> > >> something up with this group for CalGIS in Anaheim next year. Anyone
> > >> who wants to step up and help me co-chair osgeo
> > >> tracks/workshops/sessions and the required chapter meetings, please
> > >> let me know.
> > >>
> > >> Alex/Brian and the rest of the leadership group, where do I find any
> > >> docs etc on governance/fundraising etc for our chapter? I really
> > >> should myself step up and help with some of these tasks. My friends
> > >> Til and Mark from Terrestris who are organizing the Bonn event
> > >> reminded me in Seoul that our chapter is one of, if not the largest in
> > >> all of Osgeo, but that we dont really do as much as we should in terms
> > >> of participation in larger osgeo initiatives and/or submitting
> > >> conference proposals. Ill do my best here to go from +0 to +1 on these
> > >> things and encourage everyone else to do the same.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > >> From: Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com>
> > >> Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 4:14 PM
> > >> Subject: Re: [California] Does anyone know when FOSS4G North America
> > >> might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> > >> To: "Boggs, Christina at DWR" <Christina.Boggs at water.ca.gov>
> > >> Cc: "Steinberg, Steve at sccwrp.org" <steves at sccwrp.org>, "Yanes,
> > >> Mateo at DWR" <Mateo.Yanes at water.ca.gov>, tech_dev at wildintellect.com,
> > >> Brian Hamlin <maplabs at light42.com>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Combining these threads. Steve, thats awesome to hear you are the
> > >> organizer. I had 1 of your courses at HSU long ago, and we talked
> > >> briefly at CalGIS in Monterrey, but we really should get together!!
> > >>
> > >> I think it does make sense to really organize something impactful
> > >> focused on Osgeo for the Cal GIS event in Anaheim. We could organize a
> > >> series of workshops for the normal CalGIS / URISA folks and then
> > >> organize our own set of open source sessions in the same hotel/conf
> > >> center. That would seriously reduce our (OSGeo CA) organizational
> > >> overhead and we could probably attract quite a few of our own
> > >> attendees to grow the total conf size. Steve, thoughts on this?
> > >>
> > >> Unfortunately, I have a conference to attend in Istanbul the next
> > >> week, and have to organize some sessions for that, so Ill really look
> > >> to someone else here in SoCal that could share responsibility with me.
> > >> Ill check in with a few folks at UCSD and if any of you have other
> > >> recommendations for Open Source Geo folks in SoCal, let me know. Maybe
> > >> Joe Larson from CalFire?
> > >>
> > >> Looping in Alex Mandel and Brian Hamlin since I took this off list.
> > >> Alex/Brian, anyone else key in CA Chapter leadership (particularly in
> > >> SoCal) we can loop in without bombarding the list?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 4:03 PM, Boggs, Christina at DWR
> > >> <Christina.Boggs at water.ca.gov> wrote:
> > >>> Hey Jeff! That looks fantastic :)
> > >>>
> > >>> I think having the California OSGeo Chapter General Meeting at CalGIS
> > 2016 sounds like a fantastic idea, the key organizer this year is Steve
> > Steinberg down in SoCal. In years past we've partnered up with different
> > groups like ASPRS, SoCal Marine Scientists...other URISA chapters have
> done
> > coordinated activities with land surveyors. I think there's been a HUGE
> > response when we do open source activities at CalGIS. Just last week I
> was
> > at GIS Pro and there were a few murmurings of complaint about low open
> > source options being presented...I love it when we have robust OS support
> > at CalGIS. I'm looping in Steve here, maybe he's got an idea?
> > >>>
> > >>> Christina Boggs
> > >>> (new contact information)
> > >>> Engineering Geologist
> > >>> Geology and Groundwater Investigations Section
> > >>> North Central Region Office
> > >>> Department of Water Resources
> > >>> 3500 Industrial Blvd, West Sacramento, CA  95691
> > >>> 916-376-9623
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> -----Original Message-----
> > >>> From: Jeffrey Johnson [mailto:ortelius at gmail.com]
> > >>> Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 3:32 PM
> > >>> To: Boggs, Christina at DWR
> > >>> Subject: Fwd: [California] Does anyone know when FOSS4G North America
> > might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> > >>>
> > >>> Hey there, what say you to this thread below? California OSGeo
> Chapter
> > General Meeting at CalGIS 2016? who is the key organizer for next year?
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > >>> From: Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com>
> > >>> Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:31 PM
> > >>> Subject: Re: [California] Does anyone know when FOSS4G North America
> > might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> > >>> To: "Yanes, Mateo at DWR" <Mateo.Yanes at water.ca.gov>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> You could/should also get in touch with Christina Boggs who is very
> > active in the California URISA and CalGIS.
> > >>> Christina.Boggs at water.ca.gov Ill contact her to ask about CalGIS
> 2016.
> > >>>
> > >>> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:29 PM, Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com
> >
> > wrote:
> > >>>> Sounds good. Note that I gave some workshops at CalGIS 2014 when I
> was
> > >>>> at Boundless/OpenGeo together with the guys from MapBox and we were
> > >>>> asked back this year, but I didn't have time and am no longer at
> > >>>> Boundless so not being paid for it. CalGIS is the main California
> GIS
> > >>>> conference (other than the Esri UC obviously), its much more
> oriented
> > >>>> toward the URISA type crowd, but there is huge latent interest in
> Open
> > >>>> Source. I've given a few workshops for local URISA chapters and have
> > >>>> been asked to do several more but had to decline. Basically
> promoting
> > >>>> OSgeo to the URISA crowd is a win win for all of us as this is
> really
> > >>>> the heart and soul of GIS.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Here is the info for 2016. I can find out who the main organizers
> are
> > >>>> and perhaps we can organize a side event along with this?
> > >>>>
> > >>>> http://www.urisa.org/education-events/calgis-conference/
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Note, I am in southern california, so can more easily help with this
> > >>>> as its in Anaheim
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:24 PM, Yanes, Mateo at DWR
> > >>>> <Mateo.Yanes at water.ca.gov> wrote:
> > >>>>> It would be nice to have something going on that is Open Source GIS
> > oriented in the area.  The GIS Symposium had elements of Open Source, but
> > I’m thinking something closer to the annual meeting of the California
> OSGeo
> > Chapter.  It just needs some planning so I’m thinking something next
> year.
> > Maybe end of spring/start of summer 2016?  I’m open to discussing it with
> > those interested in putting something together.  Maybe we should have a
> > California OSGeo Chapter meeting just to discuss this idea (and cover
> > anything you need to do for regular org stuff)?  That's my thought at
> least.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> All the best,
> > >>>>> Mateo
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> --
> > >>>>> Mateo Yanes
> > >>>>> GIS Senior Programmer Developer, Enterprise GIS Services Office
> > >>>>> California Natural Resources Agency Department of Water Resources
> > >>>>> Bonderson Building
> > >>>>> 901 P Street, Room 313
> > >>>>> Sacramento, CA 95814
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> -----Original Message-----
> > >>>>> From: Jeffrey Johnson [mailto:ortelius at gmail.com]
> > >>>>> Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 3:19 PM
> > >>>>> To: Michele Tobias
> > >>>>> Cc: Yanes, Mateo at DWR; california at lists.osgeo.org
> > >>>>> Subject: Re: [California] Does anyone know when FOSS4G North
> America
> > might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Sorry, not thinking here. We _just_ hosted the FOSS4G-NA this year
> > :) but as far as I know most of this was organized by the LocationTech
> > folks and not really by our chapter. We did NOT put in a proposal for the
> > 2017 global event.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:16 PM, Jeffrey Johnson <
> ortelius at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >>>>>> As far as I know, our chapter has never gotten its act together to
> > >>>>>> organize a conference over here (I.e. never puts in a proposal for
> > >>>>>> either the NA or Global Conference). Note the next global (2017)
> > >>>>>> event after Bonn will be in the US too. We are the biggest chapter
> > >>>>>> in OSGeo iirc, so we should eventually get our act together and
> host
> > >>>>>> a conference. Im happy to help if others are willing to devote
> their
> > >>>>>> time to it.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 3:02 PM, Michele Tobias <
> > mmtobias at ucdavis.edu> wrote:
> > >>>>>>> We're supposed to have an annual meeting of the California OSGeo
> > Chapter.
> > >>>>>>> That usually happens around this time of year, if I'm not
> mistaken.
> > >>>>>>> It's been switching off between San Jose and Davis.  Should we be
> > planning that?
> > >>>>>>> We could probably get a room to use at UCD, but Alex Mandel will
> > >>>>>>> have to be in charge of that since I don't work there any more.
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> As far as the get together at UC Davis, are you talking about the
> > >>>>>>> GIS Symposium that happened last spring?  That probably won't
> > >>>>>>> happen again any time soon since most of the organizers have
> moved
> > on to new positions.
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 2:56 PM, Yanes, Mateo at DWR
> > >>>>>>> <Mateo.Yanes at water.ca.gov>
> > >>>>>>> wrote:
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Thanks to everyone who responded!  The date sounds good, but too
> > >>>>>>>> far for me to visit.  Does anyone know how often they visit
> > >>>>>>>> Northern California (every couple of  years, every decade)?  If
> it
> > >>>>>>>> doesn’t happen that often, is there any thought of doing
> something
> > >>>>>>>> like the get together at UC Davis again?  It would be good to
> have
> > >>>>>>>> another way to continue this sort of conference (especially when
> > >>>>>>>> getting new people involved) that is local and accessible.
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> All the best,
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Mateo
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> --
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Mateo Yanes
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> GIS Senior Programmer Developer, Enterprise GIS Services Office
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> California Natural Resources Agency
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Department of Water Resources
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Bonderson Building
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> 901 P Street, Room 313
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Sacramento, CA 95814
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> From: karsten [mailto:karsten at terragis.net]
> > >>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 2:44 PM
> > >>>>>>>> To: california at lists.osgeo.org
> > >>>>>>>> Cc: Yanes, Mateo at DWR
> > >>>>>>>> Subject: RE: [California] Does anyone know when FOSS4G North
> > >>>>>>>> America might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Hi Mateo,
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> it will be in Raleigh, North Carolina May 2-5 2016
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> https://2016.foss4g-na.org/
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Cheers
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Karsten
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> ________________________________
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> From: California [mailto:california-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On
> > >>>>>>>> Behalf Of Yanes, Mateo at DWR
> > >>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 13:01
> > >>>>>>>> To: california at lists.osgeo.org
> > >>>>>>>> Subject: [California] Does anyone know when FOSS4G North America
> > >>>>>>>> might be taking place and if it will be in NorCal?
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Hi,
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> I really wanted to go to the FOSS4G North America last year, but
> > >>>>>>>> it was happening the same time as the ESRI Developer Summit.
> ESRI
> > >>>>>>>> already announced that the Dev Summit will be happening March
> > >>>>>>>> 8-11, 2016.  Does anyone know if FOSS4G North America will be
> > >>>>>>>> happening at a different time and in Northern California so I
> > might be able to attend this coming year?
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Thanks for your help,
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Mateo
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> --
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Mateo Yanes
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> GIS Senior Programmer Developer, Enterprise GIS Services Office
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> California Natural Resources Agency
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Department of Water Resources
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Bonderson Building
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> 901 P Street, Room 313
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> Sacramento, CA 95814
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
> > >>>>>>>> California mailing list
> > >>>>>>>> California at lists.osgeo.org
> > >>>>>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/california
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> --
> > >>>>>>> Michele Tobias, PhD
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> https://impactstory.org/MicheleTobias
> > >>>>>>> http://sites.google.com/site/mtobiasresearch/
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> mmtobias at ucdavis.edu
> > >>>>>>> Twitter: @MicheleTobias
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
> > >>>>>>> California mailing list
> > >>>>>>> California at lists.osgeo.org
> > >>>>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/california
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> California mailing list
> > >> California at lists.osgeo.org
> > >> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/california
> > >>
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > California mailing list
> > California at lists.osgeo.org
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/california
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Michele Tobias, PhD
> >
> >
> > https://impactstory.org/MicheleTobias
> > http://sites.google.com/site/mtobiasresearch/
> >
> > mmtobias at ucdavis.edu
> >
> > Twitter: @MicheleTobias
> >
>
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