Ottawa Chapter Report 2008

Ottawa Chapter

 * Contact name:  Scott Mitchell 

Key Accomplishments

 * held semi-regular to regular meetings (depending on season), which included presentations to share experience in particular projects/software, and social/networking to learn what others are doing, job opportunities, opinions on where the community is going, etc
 * WIDE range of participants, including programmers, users, experts, novices, educators, students, program managers, people from government, non-profits, large and small firms; we're encouraged that we continue to attract a trickle of new people coming out
 * presentations and discussions exposed the community to developments in OSGEO/FOSS4G overall projects, including the experiences of attendees to the FOSS4G conference in South Africa, Open Source Boot Camp, and GIS Day events; specific theme presentations on OGC Simple Features, and a new Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada web mapping application
 * booth presence at the GIS Day event at Carleton University, and significant participation in Open Source Boot Camp 6 (Geospatial)
 * local chapter's mailing list traffic really picked up this year in terms of sharing variety of useful information

Areas for Improvement

 * keeping momentum going to have regular meetings is occasionally challenging, but we're still plugging away...

Opportunities to Help

 * In July we transitioned to new people responsible for booking and chairing the meetings ( Scott Mitchell and Phil Vachon), but may need new volunteer(s) again when Scott goes on sabbatical in 2009 (I'll be out of town more than usual)

Outlook for 2009

 * we have official confirmation that we're welcome to use the flat panel display recently installed in the Fox back room. No more carrying screens and projectors around!  So all ideas and volunteers for new presentations are very welcome, and it's even easier / hassle free than before.  Remember, we're a friendly group!
 * also successfully tried out Frank's suggested model of getting everyone around the table to introduce themselves (as needed) and then give a quick summary of whatever issue/challenge/interesting tidbit related to OSGEO-related work is currently on their mind; it's a good way of getting relevant discussion and potentially very useful feedback, especially at meetings that don't have any formal presentations