British Columbia Chapter

Introduction
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to building and supporting the highest quality open source geospatial software. The foundation's goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led projects. OSGeo BC is the proposed Local Chapter of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.

Scope
OSGeo BC forms a locus of interaction for the open source geospatial community in British Columbia, Canada. This community includes any individual with interest in open source geospatial.

Mission
OSGeo BC establishes a focal point for liaison, outreach, and technical interests within the geography of British Columbia.

The chapter is organized into Local Interest Groups, currently one in Victoria and one in Vancouver, whose primary purpose is to organize successive chapter events. It is the intent of the BC Chapter to integrate other Local Interest Groups into chapter events through enabling technologies like web conferencing, tele-conferencing, video conferencing, etc... we will facilitate the self-organization of other Local Interest Groups to join the chapter and become an organizing node in the event production machinery of the chapter.

The Local Interest Group is the principal component of the chapter and represents the initial structure of the organization in lieu of other committee types and in favour of a high operational efficiency to event impact ratio. Although events may be focused around software, data, and standards applicable to our open source community, these categories and the organizing structure of the chapter do not preclude our evolution of interests and geography through further democratic processes.

Objectives
Quarterly Meetings:
 * Presentations (Application and Technical)
 * Chapter business
 * Committee work
 * Social gathering

Regional Events:
 * Conference participation
 * Invited speaking engagements
 * Demonstration activities

Communication:
 * Mailing List
 * Wiki Development
 * Quarterly meetings
 * Video conferencing

Legal Status:
 * None

Getting Involved
The BC Local Chapter is an organisation that is guided by the interests of its volunteers. Get involved now and make a difference!

Mailing List
Please join our mailing list to make sure that you know what's going on. You don't have to be a "member" to read the mailing list, just sign up and participate (or just lurk for a while).

http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/osgeo-bc

If you prefer a web-based interface to this mailing list, you can follow along on the Nabble mirror:

http://www.nabble.com/OSGeo-BC-Local-Chapter-f27774.html

Membership
Anyone who wants to help support our mission is free to become a member.

List yourself on our membership page and you're in!

Apart from this egalitarian system, we have created posts for President and VP. The main responsibilies of the incubments are to act as primary and secondary liason with the parent OSGeo organisation, and to facilitate communication within the group. These posts are elected annually, and are currently (as of November 15 2007) filled by:


 * President: Martin Kyle
 * Vice-President: Jason Birch

We also have two local organising groups in Victoria and Vancouver (more welcome!) who have their own Chair positions with responsibility for organising meetings and coordinating local efforts:


 * Victoria Chair: Rob Frame
 * Vancouver Chair: Max Bottoni

Meetings
Our meetings are not restricted to members. We encourage you to come along and see why open source geospatial is getting so much attention, and how it can help you do business more efficiently. Make sure to RSVP if you plan to attend.

(in reverse chronological order)

2008 July 22 (Vancouver host)

2008 February 22 (Victoria host)

2007 November 15 (Inaugural Meeting)

Presentation Ideas
Yes, we're all shy, retiring types, but the work we do on a daily basis is incredibly interesting to others who are trying to do the same work with open source geospatial software, data, and open standards. We'd love the chance to hear what you're working on and, who knows, maybe you'll get some feedback that makes it even better!

Sign up here to present at a future meeting.