Twin Cities Chapter Report 2009


 * Period covered: January - December, 2009
 * Contact name: Pericles Nacionales

Key Accomplishments

 * Participation--several workshops and presentations--at the annual Minnesota GIS/LIS conference
 * Birds of a Feather discussion of open source applications at the MN GIS/LIS conference
 * Participated at the OSGeo code sprint in Toronto (GeoMoose and MapServer representatives)
 * Members actively involved in Red and Mississippi Rivers flood response
 * Helped promote use of the US National Grid
 * Recognized the relevance of Open Street Map and its uses in private, and local and state government agencies
 * Increased member participation in local chapter meetings and social events

Areas for Improvement

 * Need more effort in promoting local chapter
 * Need more effort in promoting open source geospatial tools
 * More outreach to end users (as opposed to developers, although that is also desired)
 * Be more inclusive (reach out to other open source projects)

Opportunities to Help

 * Help with GeoMoose project
 * More Open Street Map participation needed
 * Help to secure booth space at the 2010 MN GIS/LIS conference
 * Help to promote OSGeo and open source geospatial tools at said conference, and other local conferences
 * Spread the word to increase local chapter membership
 * Identify local open source geospatial projects and resources

Outlook for 2010
In 2010, we can look forward to:
 * Paul Ramsey as keynote speaker for 2010 MN GIS/LIS conference
 * Participation at the 2010 OSGeo Code Sprint in New York
 * More presentations of important geospatial topics in meetings
 * More outreach to local open source geospatial projects and resources
 * Demo/Installfests
 * Collaborations with other open source groups in the twin cities area
 * Increase use of social networks
 * Mapping parties
 * Getting Bitner more involved!