Cascadia

Cascadia Local Chapter

The Cascadia [1] chapter of the OSGeo is based on a regional FOSS GIS user group formed in 2007 called Cascadia Users of Geospatial Open Source (CUGOS)[2]

We are an active group of members who are passionate about Open Source software, GIS, and our region. We have members from all walks of life, a large spectrum of business and academia, and active OSGeo members (board members, charter members, and active project participants).

History

Started in February 2007, CUGOS quickly grew from a core of three founders to a mailing list of over 100 active members. Loosely based on the FRUGOS group [3], we have held monthly meetings since inception and are active in local, regional and international FOSS GIS activities. In it's second year the group has started to branch out into other activities such as hosting code sprints and actively working toward hosting a regional FOSS4G mini-conference.

Mission

The OSGeo Cascadia Chapter strives to provide support for local users of Open Source Geospatial software, and to promote the goals and projects of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. The Chapter is focused on the Pacific Northwest [4] region of the United States as well as Southern British Columbia. The group hosts meetings providing networking, support and educational opportunities to the local members.

Continuing Goals

• Hold monthly meetings (Third Wed of the month)
• Advocate for the use of Open Source GIS at regional and state levels
• Maintain an OSGeo presence at conferences
• Host a regional FOSS4G mini-conference
• Help act as a breeding ground for new projects

Near Term Goals

Road Flaw Code Sprint

• Facilitate learning through an ongoing project

 - RoadFlaw - http://roadflaw.activetools.org/ [5]

• Host a FOSS4G mini-conference in 2009

 - Initial Email Thread [6]

Membership

There are currently 99 people subscribed to the CUGOS mailing list [7]. A typical meeting has around 15 participants and is consistently held at LizardTech [8] in downtown Seattle [9] on the third Wednesday of the month.

Contact Information

• Join the [10] CUGOS mailing list
• Contact (founders)::

   Aaron Racicot,  aaronr *at* cugos *dot* org
   Josh Livni,  josh *at* cugos *dot* org
   Michael Gerlek,  mpg *at* cugos *dot* org
   Dane Springmeyer, dane.springmeyer *at* gmail *dot* com