[Ottawa_users] Summary of monthly meeting (May 22 2014)

[Regie Alam]

Hello Fabien,

    Thanks very much for the summary, and your intention to continue being
active with OSGEO Ottawa. You're doing a very good job!

   I don't see any problem with you working with ESRI. Personally, I don't
see it as ESRI (or other commercial software) vs open source. As GIS
practitioners we should use the tools that suit our applications and
clients best. Sometimes it's closed/commercial, sometimes open source, and
sometimes both.

   I am in the same boat with you on FOSS4G Ottawa. Although very
interesting I don't think we have the capacity to tackle an event that
size. If the interest is there we could start with something small, maybe a
local (Eastern Ontario) event.

   I am up for the geocaching event. Let me know how I can help.

   I'd like to know more about the hackathon event with EnvisionGeomatics.
For example, what's the scope? Just involving open data? Will it be some
kind of competition?

   I look forward to your presentation next week.

Cheers,
Regie

On Saturday, May 24, 2014, Fabien Ancelin <fabien.ancelin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> This is a summary of the meeting that happened Thursday May 22 (Richard,
> Javed, feel free to add to it), since we discussed a couple of things
> everyone should be aware of.
>
>    1. First of all as a co-chair of an organization that promotes Open
>    Source, I feel the need to communicate a bit about a change in my
>    professional life, since I want to make sure people are comfortable with my
>    new position and my involvement in OSGeo. As many of you may know, I am
>    still contracting for my old company (Rhexia Inc) part time but I am now a
>    full time developer at ESRI Canada. I am very excited and I see that as a
>    great opportunity. However, from now on I will be very careful about any
>    situation where I could be a conflict of interest between me, OSGeo, and
>    ESRI Canada.  If you think that it impacts the image of OSGeo, or you are
>    not comfortable with that situation and think I should step down, please
>    feel free to do so. OSGeo works on a democratic basis, where everyone's
>    opinion matters.
>    2. The Geocaching : given the low number of response, we will postpone
>    that for one month. Richard will try to get Open Street Map people from his
>    group, and if needed, I will check with the Ottawa Geek Social Club. The
>    format I have in mind is definitely something that takes only Saturday
>    morning and everyone can go back home at noon. Feel free to bring people
>    but I need to know the number of people to expect in advance. Let me know
>    if you would be interested in that and you availability. Saying that you
>    are not interested HELPS me to organized that, so let me know that too.
>    3. Javed has started a discussion about having a FOSS4G in Ottawa. As
>    much as I am enthusiastic about it I know one thing. That is an important
>    event and if we jump in that, we can NOT screw up. It required dedicated
>    volunteers, finding event planners, getting speakers to come. It is
>    something that 3-4 people can carry on their shoulder, regardless how
>    motivated they are. So guys, if that lights an candle in your eyes, you
>    need to let us know what you think and we need to be active about OSGeo.
>    Again, I need feedback from you guys.
>    4. I will be doing the presentation about OSGeo next Friday, since
>    Richard won`t be able to do it. This is an important event and we need to
>    get some exposure.
>
>
> At the same time, I am working with Daniel Morissette and bunch of other
> people to get a hackathon running in association with EnvisionGeomatics
> 2014. The concept of the hackathon is to find organisation that provides
> with a challenge (and $500). The hacker tackle that challenge and get $150.
> We need to find organisations that provides with a challenge. I am going to
> use GoGeomatics and Open Data to pass the word on but if you can encourage
> / organisation people to jump in, I strongly encourage you to do so, and
> report to me. We need to act quick. Summer won`t help us. I will contact
> Rob Giggey and OCTranspo,  but feel free to add any contact idea. I need
> all the help you can give me.
>
> As a reminder, all the upcoming meeting dates are defined on our wiki page
> and meetup ( http://www.meetup.com/OttawaOSGeo/events/177808952/). When
> people RSVP on meet up, we actually gain visibility.
>
> Finally, as you can see, my agenda is pretty full and I carry a lot on my
> shoulders. Having your ideas opinion, feedback on the ideas I bring allow
> me to know if I am wasting time on this idea or not. And time is not
> something I have a lot right now. So I trust you to give me feedback when I
> need it.
>
> Have a good week-end.
>
> *Fabien*
>
>
>
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