It’s summer and time to kick back with friends - old and new - at a mapathon! We all needed a bit of a breather after the amazingness that was State of the Map US, so we moved the summer OSM US mapathon back a few weeks to the weekend of August 1st. Want to join in? Head over and add your local event to the wiki
When we think summer, we think games - so we created an OpenStreetMap mapathon BINGO card that includes images of (and tagging conventions for) summery things to add to OSM. Ice cream shops! BBQ pits! Car washes! Swimming pools! Let’s get ‘em all into OpenStreetMap. It’s up to you how you want to organize mapathon BINGO in your community - but we’d suggest offering stickers or other small prizes (as well as bragging rights, of course) to anyone who gets a BINGO. We also think summer is a great time to take some #OSMSelfies while you map - share your pics on twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #OSMSelfie and make everyone who isn’t mapping jealous.
Also, if you are a local mapathon organizer, OSM US would love to do more to support you - both for this mapathon and future ones!
1) Send a note to board@openstreetmap.us with your name, email, and location. If you have a Meetup page or some other site you use to help organize mappers, we’d love to know about it - we’ll come map with you when we’re nearby! We’ll also send you an invite to join our new mapathon organizer channel on Slack where we can chat about community building strategies and ideas for future mapathon themes.
2) Due to popular demand, we’ve ordered more of the OpenStreetMap stickers we handed out at State of the Map US - and we’d love to share them with you. Send us a mailing address along with your name and email if you want stickers to share at your OpenStreetMap event.
3) We offer mini-grants (up to $250) for local events that help grow the OpenStreetMap map and community. Hosting a big event and need some cash for space rental and pizza? Establishing a new mapping community and need printed fliers or other publicity? Send us a description of what you’re working on and why you need a mini grant and we’ll do our best to help.
Finally, remember - OSM US hosts a mapathon every quarter, but you don’t have to wait for us! Every day is a good day to get some people together and build a better open map of the world together.
