[Board] [Fwd: Re: Map World Forum 2011]

[Daniel Morissette]

christopher.schmidt at nokia.com wrote:
>>
>> This issue again became apparent in the recent discussion around
>> supporting Map World Forum 2011 by GIS Development. Annu Negi from GIS
>> Development used "OSGeo Int." to differentiate it from the OSGeo Local
>> Chapter "OSGeo India". There might be other options some of which
>> already came up. It would be good to develop a consensus and then use on
>> how to name OSGeo in contexts where we need to differentiate. Here are
>> some suggestions off the top of my head. Please add your own ideas and
>> consider and comment them. 
>> * OSGeo World
>> * OSGeo Main
>> * OSGeo International
>> * OSGeo Int.
>> * OSGeo HQ
>> * OSGeo 
> 
> My answer to this has always been "The OSGeo Foundation". The Foundation
> is the encompassing umbrella; the Local Chapters are part of it; there
> is no 'entity' which is "OSGeo without the local chapters" -- such a thing
> doesn't exist, because all of what OSGeo is is contained in the local 
> chapters, the people in them and all the other people participating
> in OSGeo.
> 

Chris, and All,

I know I'm in for a long argument with this reply, but I don't have time 
for it now so I'll just throw my 0.02$ in support of Arnulf's 
questioning and bail out:

Once you start dealing with members/activities of local chapters on a 
daily basis like Arnulf, myself and a few others do then you will start 
to see a need for this differentiation. Of course we're all part of the 
same community but at the same time we need a way to tell what is local 
and what is global.

I didn't realize the importance of this before trying for a few years to 
convince people to join/participate in OSGeo (the global entity) and 
failing miserably... and then seeing how a local chapter with the same 
individuals could grow into a vibrant community in less than two years, 
just because we approached things locally instead of just saying "join 
the global community". It's all the same in the end, but it's not.

For my part, I have been using "OSGeo International" and "OSGeo 
Foundation" as qualifiers to refer to the global stuff as opposed to the 
local chapter stuff.

Daniel
-- 
Daniel Morissette
http://www.mapgears.com/