[OKFN-AU] The fun begins :) #melbourne #okfnau

David F. Flanders david.flanders at ands.org.au
Thu Dec 6 23:41:10 UTC 2012


See below for a post on the first event we'll be doing in Melbourne to kick
off the New Year (as well as the first of a dozen meetups in Melbourne on
the 5th day of each month for #OKFNau).  I'm just putting up the post now,
though of course would greatly appreciate any feedback.  /dff

*We are pleased to announce a one day hack-a-thon to create an
OpenStreetMap-based bicycle map of Melbourne.  We’ll need data geeks,
cartographers, programmers, graphic designers, sysadmins and most
importantly Melburnians to help us design and produce a beautiful paper map
useful to all Melbourne’s cyclists.

The tasks of the day are simple:
a) Identify the tools needed to create a map from OpenStreetMap data
b) Design a beautiful map style, to make the cartography as professional as
possible
c) Lay out the most useful parts of the map into a compelling, two-sided
design
d) Assemble the tool pipeline to produce an image ready to go to printers

As the final AIM of the Day:

PRINT YOURSELF A MAP OF THE BEST CYCLE ROUTES IN MELBOURNE.

Why do we want to make this map?
1.) Melbourne has been a-changing (and will continue to change, a good
thing) - we just need all those changes from the past year put down in
single piece of paper :)
2.) There is lots of great open data in OpenStreetMap we can use to create
a rider friendly map.
3.) This effort is the first of a dozen ‘Open Knowledge’ projects that the
Melbourne chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation is undertaking this
year, e.g. one for each month in 2013 (subscribe to this blog for more).
4.) We like maps and we like data and getting together with a community of
like-minded Melburnians who want to share their knowledge about Melbourne
is great fun :)
5.) We think this map expertise will be the base of several other ‘Open
Knowledge’ projects will do around adding data to maps, e.g. historical
walk map through Melbourne, culinary food trails, etc...

When is this hack-a-thon?
Saturday the 5th of January 2013 from 10am to Late (or whenever we get the
map printed)! ← Finally a chance to actually fulfill one of your New Year’s
resolutions right from the start (volunteer your time for a good cause that
helps your fellow citizens by helping us create this map!).  Best of all
your second New Year’s resolution to ride your bike more will be well on
its way!

Who should attend:
Anyone and everyone who would like to know more about Melbourne and how to
map data onto a map that every citizen can use.  We don’t know what will
come of the day, but if enough of us get together we are confident that by
the end of the day we’ll have a map that we can all use in our day-to-day -
or at least all have a much better understanding of Melbourne and what
cycle routes go through it.*
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