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Community Survey Results

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2024 OSM US Community Survey. We received close to 130 responses. 

Check out this survey synthesis, including where and what folks are mapping, along with some cool maps. 

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2025 OSM US Board Elections

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Meet the candidates for the OSM US board in this town hall presentation.

You can learn more about the candidates and the election process on the OSM US elections wiki

To vote, make sure you are an active OSM US member and opt in to vote by February 23. Voting begins on February 24. 

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🦞 Submit your poster idea before March 18th

🦞 Book your stay at Boston University dorms (they're way nicer than you think!)

🦞 Reserve your special room rate  at the  Hyatt Regency Cambridge 

🦞 Snag your tickets (of course!)

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OSM US Membership

Now is a great time to join OpenStreetMap US! 

As a member you'll receive discounts on ticketed events like State of the Map US and the ability to vote in OSM US board elections.

📣 Monthly Mapper Spotlight: Attila Kun 📣

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West Virginia on OpenStreetMap 12/16/23 (left) and 1/24/25 (right)

Attila is a university student from Hungary (OSM username: Ottwiz), who recently finished mapping all of the forest landcover in West Virginia! The OSM team reached out to Attila to ask a few questions about him and his mapping project for this month’s spotlight:

What drew you to the woods of West Virginia? I'm interested in the US culture and history, and I wanted to try something new than mapping only in Hungary… I talked with a friend from Pittsburgh area and they added me [to a group chat] where there was a friend of theirs from West Virginia, and [I thought] "Oh I know that area, John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads song refers to that state", and I was like, “okay let's see what that state holds in OSM… Oh wow it's empty! Let's map it!" 

Did you face any hurdles during this project? The imagery was a big issue especially when it was outdated, or dim, or there was a lot of cloud in the imagery. [So] I switched back and forth between imageries, and then reconstructed it from all of these. Also… if the woods were cut into hundreds of pieces, that slowed me down in mapping, since I'm going for quality not just quantity. If I went for quantity [the map] probably… would look like a mess.

What is your favorite thing about the OpenStreetMap community? The positivity and supportiveness! People in the OSM community give helpful advice to each other…If I do something for the community that people appreciate, then I think I won the game.

You can learn more about Attila’s West Virginia project on this wiki page, or this recorded talk from Mapping USA 2025.

Know someone worthy of a mapper spotlight? Email newsletter@openstreetmap.us!

Upcoming Events & Important Dates

OSM US Education Working Group
February 20  ~ online

MapRVA Meetup
 February 27 ~ online

OSM Utah Monthly Map Night
March 4  ~ in-person

MapRoulette Community Meeting
 March 4 ~ online

South Bay Map Night
 
March 4  ~ online

iD Community Chat
March 5  ~ online

LCCWG 2025
 
March 15 ~ online

OSM US Pedestrian Working Group
 March 18~ online

Fill out this form to have your OSM-related community event featured in a future newsletter!

Want to meet up with your local community but don't see an event near you? Check out the OSM Community index or join a #local- channel on the OSM US Slack.

Where in the World is OSM US?

Do you think you know where the map featured in our header image is located? If you're the first person to guess correctly, we'll send you some OSM US stickers and list you in the next newsletter! Submit your guess here.

Connect with Us!

We're refining our social media presence. Find us on these platforms:

BlueSky | LinkedIn | Facebook | Mastodon | Instagram | YouTube

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