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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Dean,</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">I think having a permanent or semi-permanent support structure in place will only help and improve the implementors experience which should translate to a better end user experience. This has been an identified need for quite a while within the group here. No lack of support for setting up a more formalized support structure, it's just been more fun to develop. The trick is putting it together in a way that doesn't impede the development process, while still providing the resources needed for the process. I think a sheperding approach would be the least invasive to the process. It can also accommodate representatives from different interested parties to decide priorities as well future capabilities and options for improvements.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Your idea of a test project is a very good one. This could be used to shake out the bugs, so to speak, related to getting a group of interested folks together and defining how support structure might be set up to greatest effect. This would be a very good presentational piece for Denver as well, even if the project couldn't be completed before then. Just relating the process I think would be of interest to others in the community.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Do you have a direct link to the consortium website?</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">bobb</font> </p>
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>>> "DEAN ANDERSON" <ANDERSON.DEAN@co.polk.or.us> wrote:<br> </p>
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Bob<br><br>It appears you are going to be at FOSSG,  perhaps that would be a good place to talk about this some evening.  The Oregon Consortium would like to help in this process along and we do have a limited amount of funds to contribute. We  identified some of the same issues as a priority for us at our last Oregon consortium meeting.  If folks would like to do this sooner perhaps we could arrange something.    Perhaps we could do a  project this summer and then review the results as a group this September. Our project lists are documented on the Wiki in the community pages section.<br><br>We have made great progress to date in Oregon with GeoMoose to date and would like to see the program continue to mature.<br><br><br>Dean Anderson<br>IT Director<br>Polk County<br><br><br><br>>>> "Bob Basques" <bob.basques ci.stpaul.mn.us="#DEFAULT"> 02/25/11 8:04 AM >>><br> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Christopher,</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">There are a few commercial and non-profit vendors available now that have done quite a bit of work in the setup, development and research related to GeoMoose and it's continued development, and this type of support has progressed the project very nicely to date.  Having said that I'm also aware of the need to setup some dedicated support functions along the lines of bug fixes, continued development and research into additional capabilities as well as integration with other Opensource as well as proprietary GIS services and systems.  These GeoMoose savvy groups also have some additional ideas and capabilities already in the hopper related to improvements.   They are also very interested in hearing from people and groups such as yourself with respect to desired capabilities of the package.   I would be interested in your specification (or capabilities) wish list for example, regardless, purely for planning purposes.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">My thoughts in recent months have been in setting up some sort of shepherding arrangement with the core developer group, that can handle a supporting roll in the GeoMoose development process.   Such entities already exist, either as commercial and/or non-profits, and are interested in this type of work arrangement.  To date there hasn't been a single large enough project or group of smaller projects with similar enough interests to successfully sponsor the type of support structure you are describing.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">I'm prepared to attempt the arrangement of such a framework with the core development group once a seeding sponsor or sponsors (such as yourself) have been identified as being interested in pursuing such an arrangement.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Please pass on your desired needs list and if you are interested in discussing further, we can keep this thread going or go offline as well.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Thanks</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">bobb</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">Bob Basques</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">GIS Systems Developer</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">City of Saint Paul, MN.</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">612.598.9210</font> </p>
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<font size="3" face="Comic Sans MS">http://gis.ci.stpaul.mn.us</font> </p>
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>>> "Kroot, Christopher" <Christopher.Kroot@maine.gov> wrote:<br> </p>
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<font face="Arial">Hello all</font> </p>
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<font face="Arial">My name is Christopher Kroot and I am the enterprise GIS analyst for the State of Maine Office of GIS. We are currently using mapserver to create WMS for imagery.  We have developed a simple front end application built with java script and php with mapserver as the backend.  We have determine that others have progressed much further down this road then we have and are looking at selecting a code base for our current and future development.</font> </p>
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<font face="Arial">We are considering using GeoMoose as the code base for our enterprise web mapping applications that have a mapserver backend.  Currently we have 5 stakeholder groups who have provided us with the functionally requirements for their web mapping needs.  My review of the Clatsop County Web Maps </font><u><a href="http://maps.co.clatsop.or.us/applications/index.html#"><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff">http://maps.co.clatsop.or.us/applications/index.html#</font></a></u><font face="Arial">  is promising, as it contains most of the base functionality required.  We will be investing a significant amount of resource in the coming years into the environment we choose and want to select the best one to start with.</font> </p>
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<font face="Arial">What is the organizational structure for GeoMoose?  Are their funded positions for maintenance and future development?  </font> </p>
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<font face="Arial">We are using the ESRI ArcServer environment for web mapping that requires complex spatial analysis, geoprocessing, other more complex functional requirements.</font> </p>
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<font face="Arial">Thank you for your assistance and have a good day</font> </p>
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<font size="2" face="Courier New">Christopher Kroot</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">Enterprise GIS Analyst</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">Maine Office of GIS</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">SHS 174</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">264 Civic Center Drive</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">Augusta ME 04333-0174</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">christopher.kroot@maine.gov</font><br><font size="2" face="Courier New">207-592-0162</font> </p>
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