[FOSS4G2017] Next steps

Tue Sep 6 07:12:26 PDT 2016

(responding to Guido's message on SAC list[below], here)

Hi Guido,

I notice that you have many OSGeo user names: 
http://www.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/ldap_web_search.py?query=guido

Anyway, I have added 'gsteinmon' to the 'foss4g' Git team (login at 
https://git.osgeo.org/gogs/org/foss4g/ and you should see the 2017 
repository)  It's all yours to make changes in :)

Regarding your Chapters question: are you referring to making a new 
chapter page for your Boston chapter?  That is done through the OSGeo 
wiki (using that same username).  Create your new chapter page here: 
https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Local_Chapters

Hope this helps,

-jeff

 > I signed up amd my user is gsteinmon.
 >
 > Is github where projects amd chapters are going?
 >
 > I think non-ssh sign in is a bit insecure, no?
 >
 > Thanks for your feedback.
 >
 > Guido
 >

On 2016-09-06 11:04 AM, Jeff McKenna wrote:
> To followup on marketing:
>
> OSGeo now has a hosted Git instance, where you can share html-ish files
> for 2017.  There is already a 'foss4g' team there, and several
> repositories (I just added a '2017.foss4g.org' repository there). Please
> login at https://git.osgeo.org/gogs/foss4g/2017.foss4g.org and send me
> your OSGeo user id, and I will add you to the 'foss4g' team.
>
> Speaking big picture: the idea is that all FOSS4G local committees would
> keep their repositories of html files there in that instance (so your
> designers would make pull requests to that instance etc, using their
> OSGeo IDs); and also those files would be pushed to a live hosted space
> on a web-visible OSGeo server (for that part you will have to file a
> ticket with SAC).  Be sure to use the "Systems Admin" component when
> filing your new ticket at https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/
>
> I know, you probably have your html currently on some github hosted
> page[1], but, these steps will get you onto the OSGeo infrastructure,
> and also make it easier for SAC and future local committees to find your
> web files.
>
> If you or your 2017 designers need an OSGeo ID, go here to create one,
> change password, find your existing ID: http://www.osgeo.org/osgeo_userid
>
> Note that for regular conference files (documents, raw poster files,
> etc) you can use the SVN instance I mentioned in my original message.
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> [1] https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/1628
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
>
> On 2016-09-02 9:05 PM, Jeff McKenna wrote:
>> Hello 2017 local committee,
>>
>> (please add me to your private mailing list, for now I will send to
>> public)
>>
>> As 2016 comes to its end, the spotlight is now moving to the Boston
>> team.  This morning I reviewed the 2017 proposal, and I made a list of
>> important next steps, as now the time is critical for the success of
>> 2017.  Note that as 2017 timeline is now shorter than ever (a very early
>> date of August 14th) things cannot afford to wait a month, so here are
>> some notes to get things moving:
>>
>> Communication
>> -------------
>>
>> - regular communication on the public 'foss4g2017' mailing list is great
>> to build excitement (the Bonn team did an amazing job on this).  The
>> Bonn team set a new standard of having all communication in the open on
>> this public list (read: no private discussions).   Committees were
>> formed, meetings were planned, all in the open, this really built
>> excitement, and made it easy to offer help and ask questions.
>>
>> - regular meetings should begin now, likely at first once every 2 weeks
>> and then change to once every week as the event approaches.  The
>> recommended way is to use the existing IRC channel "foss4g" for the
>> local committee meetings, so that others can easily join and no account
>> or special software is needed (example steps: in your browser goto
>> http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=foss4g and pick a nickname to use
>> and then click 'connect').  Although video or audio (hangouts etc) is
>> nice, using IRC allows those working or unable to speak to contribute to
>> meetings.  Another benefit is that the channel is automatically logged,
>> so members missing the meeting can follow the missed discussion (logs:
>> http://irclogs.geoapt.com/foss4g/).  The Bonn team really leveraged the
>> IRC channel well.
>>
>> - recommendation: the formation of a Boston OSGeo Local Chapter was
>> mentioned in the proposal.  A great way to get this moving, is to start
>> having a monthly face-to-face of the local committee, but with the
>> wrapper "OSGeo Chapter meetup", in a pub after the work day ends.
>> Instantly you have a chapter, and over the year more and more people in
>> the local area will come to the meetups, and they can get involved in
>> the 2017 planning (such as in the Volunteer team etc.).  You build a
>> local chapter AS you put in the effort to plan the great 2017 event,
>> without even realizing you're building a chapter, AND you're marketing
>> the event at the same time.
>>
>> - use other existing mailing lists for FOSS4G:
>>     - workshop mailing list
>> (https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference-workshops).  This
>> is made up 183 former workshop presenters at past FOSS4G events.  This
>> mailing list should be used to communicate instructions for workshop
>> presenters.
>>
>>     - foss4g-academic list
>> (https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/admin/foss4g-academic).  This
>> under-used list contains several former Academic Chairs of past FOSS4G
>> events.  This is a good place to start discussing the Academic track.
>>
>> Leveraging OSGeo Wiki
>> ---------------------
>>
>> - using the wiki is a great tool for recording committee details etc,
>> and it is easily accessible for future local committees.  You can see
>> your 2017 pages are increasing at:
>> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:FOSS4G2017 (always be sure to copy
>> the bottom 'category' text in new pages, so that they magically will
>> appear on that list)
>>
>> - start getting in the habit of updating the Lessons Learned page for
>> 2017 now (https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2017_Lessons_Learned).  You
>> actually already have lots to record (what you learned regarding the
>> venue contract/negotiations, RFP steps, even what you noticed at the
>> Bonn event that could be useful to write down).  And every local
>> committee member should be writing their lessons learned all through the
>> build-up to the event.
>>
>> - the wiki requires an OSGeo user ID (create one, or reset password etc
>> at http://www.osgeo.org/osgeo_userid)
>>
>> Archiving Files through SVN
>> ---------------------------
>>
>> I've been trying to push the archiving of FOSS4G documents, since 2004,
>> at https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/  It has become a great resource
>> for logos, past sponsor documents, program templates; but some years are
>> empty (chairs did not agree with my insistence I guess ha).  Please,
>> whether you are on the website committee, program committee, volunteer
>> committee, code sprint committee, marketing any committee, please get in
>> the habit of committing your raw files into
>> https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/2016/  (use the same OSGeo ID as
>> mentioned above, and let me know if your user needs write access, I can
>> approve that fast).
>>
>> If you get in the habit now of using that, then I won't have to bother
>> you later to do that :)
>>
>> Marketing
>> ---------
>>
>> - today I added the 2017 logo to the top of http://foss4g.org/ which
>> will of course attract many visitors, that are wondering of the next
>> event.
>>
>> - a very important part of marketing is having a "spread the word" page
>> of logos and html so you can start attracting hits and views to the
>> site.  The gold standard was the FOSS4G 2010's wiki page for this:
>> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2010_Marketing  Notice that you don't
>> need to wait until the official webpage is made, you can quickly make a
>> wiki page of your logos.  The Bonn team also had a good page linked on
>> their main site: http://2016.foss4g.org/about-foss4g.html#spread-the-word
>>
>> Highlighting OSGeo
>> ------------------
>>
>> - a big part of the 2017 Boston proposal was that OSGeo would be
>> prominently displayed on all sites, banners, and marketing materials.
>> This of course needs to be implemented right away - notice that the
>> existing page/site (http://2017.foss4g.org) has zero mention of "Hosted
>> by OSGeo" (and I don't mean a tiny logo at the very bottom of the page).
>>  A "Hosted by OSGeo" with the OSGeo logo should be prominently at the
>> top of the main page.  (for OSGeo logos see
>> https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/marketing/logo/)
>>
>> Transfer of @foss4g Twitter Account
>> -----------------------------------
>>
>> Usually each year we wait until videos and other news items are
>> announced by the recent FOSS4G local committee, but the 2016 team has
>> been very fast to share.  I would say after next week, at the end of
>> next week the Twitter account should be handed over to the 2017 team.
>> (if this seems too soon we can discuss this) I had the master password,
>> but likely Till should just let @guidos know privately the account info.
>>
>> Code Sprint Importance
>> ----------------------
>>
>> The code sprint wasn't mentioned really in the proposal, but as we saw
>> at FOSS4G Bonn, giving a space where project teams can meet is a
>> critical part of a successful FOSS4G event.  I've seen past local
>> committees leave this part until the very last, and not even mentioning
>> this on their main site; this must not be the case for 2017.  A special
>> code sprint committee should be formed now, and planning should start
>> asap.
>>
>> Formation of Committees
>> -----------------------
>>
>> - I did see some mention of a few committees in the proposal, but I
>> suggest that you draft the names of the committees on a wiki page and
>> share that with the public 'foss4g2017' list asap.  For example, one
>> committee that is sometimes forgotten is the Volunteer Committee.  A
>> champion is needed to manage all of the volunteers throughout the
>> week-long event.
>>
>> Transportation
>> --------------
>>
>> - at recent FOSS4G events a strong partnership with their local tourism
>> branch was made, and some events even included transportation passes for
>> the week (Seoul team included a subway/metro card with a few dollars
>> credit on it, for example).  As this Boston event will have some
>> transportation challenges (workshops at Tufts/Harvard) this could be
>> important.
>>
>> Kids Map Gallery
>> ----------------
>>
>> Discussing with Heather Hillers, whose 8 year old son surprised her with
>> a special FOSS4G Bonn painting
>> (https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/File:FelixHillers-FOSS4G2016-painting.jpg),
>> we think it's time for a "Kids Map Gallery" at a FOSS4G event.  This is
>> a tribute to Venka's daughter's initial drawing, done at FOSS4G 2004 in
>> Thailand (http://gisws.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/grass04/slogan.html).  It
>> could be something similar to a poster session, and a great way for kids
>> to become interested in "maps and sharing" :)  I told Heather that I may
>> ask her to champion this ha.  I think it is a wonderful idea.
>>
>> Social Events
>> -------------
>>
>> - I shouldn't need to say how important these are for a successful
>> event.  It is important to arrange a place each night for attendees to
>> meet at.  And I mean every night - this DEFINITELY includes the Monday
>> and Tuesday nights of the workshop days.  This is often a mistake by
>> local committees (they are scared of committing to planning a social
>> event those nights); well, you don't need to reserve a pub, but you do
>> need to have a recommended pub for those nights.  Bonn team did an
>> amazing job of this, naming "official" pubs for the event, and hardcore
>> FOSS4G attendees still rave about the 2007 pub "Sticky Wicket", which
>> was just a place to go meet attendees each and every night.  You want
>> your event to be raved about - think of each night.
>>
>> Academic Track
>> --------------
>>
>> This is often poorly handled at FOSS4G events.  Researchers and students
>> need a large and prominent poster session, to display their work, and
>> give talks throughout the tracks, to assist in getting funding to the
>> event, and for many other reasons (getting published in journals etc). A
>> champion is needed to focus on this.  (Academia is one of the important
>> life-lines for Open Source, they often drive innovation and provide
>> funding, and train future leaders)
>>
>> Important Items Usually Forgotten in Final Program
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
>> - the OSGeo AGM is a one hour meeting that must be at the end of a day,
>> in no conflict with other talks.
>>
>> - the closing plenary should allow time for the Sol Katz Award (and
>> recently, students awards and a developer award).
>>
>>
>> Those are my thoughts for now, to get everyone moving.  Let's make 2017
>> the best FOSS4G event ever!
>>
>> #boatdrinks
>>
>> -jeff
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> FOSS4G2017 mailing list
> FOSS4G2017 at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/foss4g2017

-- 
Jeff McKenna
MapServer Consulting and Training Services
http://www.gatewaygeomatics.com/