[OSGeo-Discuss] GIS DAY / FOSS GIS DAY

["Peter Löwe"]

>> It is ESRI Agenda :-).
>>
>> I am thinking that  probably OSGeo could come up with another day for
>> "FREE GIS Day".
>>
>
>Turn that frown upside down, and use the GIS Day as an excuse to get out
>into your community and share your passion for geography/FOSS4G that day.
>
>I did see several negative tweets yesterday questioning the purpose of
>the day - use the day for your own purpose.  Instead of that negativity,
>channel positive FOSS4G vibes on the day to your local community.  Get
>out to your local college/university/highschool and show them that
>FOSS4G is fun.
>
>(I realize my words are useless now, but maybe this will ignite a fire
>in your head for next year)
>
>Your friend,
>
>-jeff

Jeff,

your on the spot: while ESR! is promoting its GIS DAY materials very well, the event itself is neither owned by a software tool or company ( -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIS_Day ).

I would love to see a dedicated GRASS GIS Day emerge apart from the proposed QGIS|PostGIS|SAGA|UMN etc etc- GIS DAYs, but preaching to the choire does not help growing the community. Instead, "liberating" the GIS DAY from the perception of being "ESR! exclusive" would help to attract all those folks which are new to GIS, trying to leanr the ropes, or are seeking alternatives to the (propietary?) tools they work with now.

Provided there would be alternative sources for ready-to-use GIS DAY materials (logos, posters, flyers) with a FOSS flavour, spontaneous (guerilla?) GIS DAY events could be set up by  everyone, everywhere, without having to rely on ESR! as the sole source for such material and implicitly/unwillingly promoting that particular company.

Here at the German Research Centre for Geosciences we just hosted a GIS DAY 2912 event, showcasing work from both FOSS- and proprietary GIS-related projects which attracted a crowd of 75, including many students. While the presentations will be published online locally, it would be excellent if OSGEO would provide a central point of access to link/publish all FOSS-related GIS DAY presentations worldwide.

I imaginge this could be a tremendous source for hands-on informations on FOSS GIS success stories - and a demonstration of the flexibility of FOSS GIS. Besides, it's much more affordable to have a local (FOSS) GIS Day than having to travel to the next FOSS4G conference to showcase one's achievements.

Let's start working on this BEFORE next year's GIS DAY comes around and we end up scrambling (again) to use these ESR! posters.

"Everyday is a FOSS GIS DAY",
Peter
-- 
Dr. Peter Löwe
<peter.loewe at gmx.de>