<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">The primary focus is going to be an annual north american conference - probably located in Canada or the US and the conference will most likely be in English.<div><br></div><div>But, I don't think anyone needs to get hung up on this. Anyone who wants to sign up to the NA list is welcome. If you can can make a compelling case to hold a conference in Cancun, Aruba, or some other exotic location we will give it careful consideration.</div><div><br></div><div>Mark</div><div><br><div><div>On Nov 11, 2011, at 4:29 AM, Seven (aka Arnulf) wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----<br>Hash: SHA1<br><br>Now that a North American Regional Chapter is emerging I wanted to<br>understand what the term "North America" actually means. Just a few<br>example:<br><br>In my cultural context (Germany) the Unites States on their own are<br>typically called "Amerika" which in reality is a whole continent. To<br>many Germans Kanada (yes, with a "K") is just a US wilderness adventure<br>park (Canadians: no offence meant). In many South American countries US<br>citizens are nowadays called "Gringo" which originally meant "Green Go"<br>and relates to US "interventions" in Middle and Southern America.<br><br>So for many non-North-Americans the term might be really, really fuzzy<br>which is why I thought it would be a good idea to define it more<br>closely, started here:<br><a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Talk:North_America_Regional">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Talk:North_America_Regional</a><br><br>Looking at the typical roles of a local chapter (or in this case a "meta<br>local chapter" or "regional chapter") I would suggest that this chapter<br>would be the primary point of contact for the organization of a FOSS4G<br>event in English language in either the US or Canada. Extending it<br>beyond these two countries would probably raise a whole lot of<br>additional issues starting with language (Spanish) and ending with<br>politics (Cuba) - which will probably complicate things beyond<br>recognition. I can also see other meta chapters forming with a more<br>Spanish speaking background in the Middle Americas, so there is no<br>exclusivity here at all. The Spanish speaking Local Chapter might also<br>be a good template to see how this could look.<br><br>But anything I say here is absolutely not fundamental at all, just 2ct<br>from an outsider (sent in the hope that this list will see a broadly<br>inclusive dialog about how this group will evolve).<br><br>Have fun,<br>Arnulf<br><br>- -- <br>Exploring Space, Time and Mind<br>http://arnulf.us<br>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----<br>Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux)<br>Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/<br><br>iEYEARECAAYFAk68+PcACgkQXmFKW+BJ1b3AjwCbBtXfHpHfxPE3fAirmMtYT2SB<br>TlYAn2Zdv5qgVjS6jf1MkSBxYBPUzdDx<br>=ocyQ<br>-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----<br>_______________________________________________<br>Northamerica mailing list<br>Northamerica@lists.osgeo.org<br>http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/northamerica<br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>