[OSGeo-Conf] Application for FOSS4G 2016 in Bonn/Germany - Letter of Intent

[Jeff McKenna]

Hello Marco, Arnulf and Till,

Thank you for your Letter of Intent, it has been received and is now 
listed on the Conference page (http://www.osgeo.org/conference/rfp).

-jeff


-- 
Jeff McKenna
President, OSGeo
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Jeff_McKenna




On 2014-12-16 12:04 PM, Till Adams wrote:
> Dear FOSS4G conference committee,
>
> the FOSSGIS e.V., in its role as german speaking chapter of the Open
> Source Geospatial Foundation, in partnership with the UN City of Bonn,
> the University of Bonn and numerous Open Source GIS companies located in
> Bonn hereby want to submit their proposal to host the FOSS4G conference
> for 2016 in Bonn, Germany.
>
> We know, that FOSS4G is *the* geospatial event of the year, especially
> in 2016 when OsGeo itself commits its 10th birthday!
>
> Please allow us some words about us, the FOSSGIS e.V., which takes the
> lead in the application for FOSS4G2016 in Bonn.
>
> The FOSSGIS e.V. (a german "Verein", and therefore a legal non-profit
> entity comparable to a member association) is the german speaking
> chapter for the so-called "D-A-CH-Raum" including Germany, Austria and
> the German speaking parts of Switzerland. FOSSGIS currently is supported
> by almost 200 paying associated members. The main focus of the FOSSGIS
> association is to advance and spread Free and Open Source Software in
> GIS, support the growth of free and open data and promote the use open
> standards. The precursor of the FOSSGIS is the "GRASS
> Anwendervereinigung" which was founded in 2001 actually predating OSGeo
> and even FOSS4G by a few years. :-)
>
> Additionally to most other OSGeo local chapters, FOSSGIS has a strong
> focal point on the german speaking OpenStreetMap community as well,
> acting as the legal entity for OSM in Germany in many cases.
>
> Our main yearly event is the FOSSGIS conference. It started as a „German
> speaking UMN MapServer user conference“ in 2003. Events in the past
> years saw at least 400 attendees, this year in Berlin we reached 560.
> Although only in German language FOSSGIS nowadays also attracts visitors
> from other local OSGeo folks, especially from our adjacent countries,
> e.g. members of the Dutch, Belgian, Czech, Italian and Danish local
> chapters.
>
> FOSSGIS e.V. directly supports OpenSource communities by sponsoring Code
> Sprints and runs events focusing on connecting communities and
> development groups. Every year FOSSGIS organizes a hacking weekend to
> further the goals of the association.
>
> Three years ago FOSSGIS e.V. hired Katja Haferkorn as a part time
> employee to coordinate the FOSSGIS conference, manage sponsors and act
> as a general contact for all those jobs that lack volunteer enthusiasm
> but are still required to get done. Katja, with her longtime experience
> in conference organization, will obviously be a central part of the
> local intelligence as well.
>
>
> Please find attached our letter of intent.
>
> Best regards, Marco, Arnulf and Till
>
>
>