Microgrants/Operation Cowboy

Overview

To pay for food and other expenses at the Operation Cowboy event, an OpenStreetMap "map-a-thon" in London on November 24-25 (venue to be confirmed).

Budget

£150-£250 depending on number of attendees.

Timeline

Two days. The event will start on Saturday morning and run all night through to Sunday afternoon.

Expected outcomes

Pay for food for volunteer contributors.

The Operation Cowboy event hopes to dramatically increase coverage of the United States in OpenStreetMap. OpenStreetMap has been quite popular in the UK and Europe, but has not been as popular in the United States. Operation Cowboy is an attempt to do "armchair mapping" of the United States, which reduces the amount of work for local volunteers in the United States, so they can focus on mapping tasks that require real-world contribution.

Wikimedia UK volunteers and members of the general public who are not experienced OpenStreetMap editors will be able to attend and they will be able to get one-on-one tips from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Who I am

I'm an English Wikipedia administrator, English Wikinews administrator, Wikimedia UK member (and have been involved in WMUK outreach projects) and OpenStreetMap contributor.

Discussion

• Thanks for writing this microgrant application, Tom. :-) Please could you add a bit more about what the funds would be used for beyond 'food and other expenses'? Please note that we can't pay for alcohol. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 16:04, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

  Yes, I spoke to Katharine about it yesterday. Alcohol would be provided by either attendees (bring your own) or using any sponsorship we get from commercial sponsors. —Tom Morris (talk) 16:32, 12 November 2012 (UTC)