State Of The Map 2010

We, the organizing committee, are looking back on a great conference. Of course, we are also a bit prejudiced… That’s why we also like to hear feedback from you.

Did you attend SotM10? Please go to this feedback form.

Did you not attend SotM10? We also have some questions for you. Please go to this feedback form.

Thanks for taking the effort to complete the feedback form.

Tonight there will be a Cocktail Party sponsored by Mapquest. Get ready for some networking, tapas and drinks. Mapquest is one of the leading brands online, offering maps and directions reaching more than 49.2 million users in May 2010, according to Comscore unified UV metrics. See you all at the venue terrace starting 19.00!

In the morning talk on the State of the Map in Girona, Randy Meech announced a $1 million internal fund to improve US data in OpenStreetMap over the next year. Also, Mapquest based on OpenStreetMap data was announced. Visit http://open.mapquest.co.uk for Mapquest based on OpenStreetMap. After the UK map Germany and other European countries will follow.

“We strongly believe that community-contributed mapping will the future,” said Randy Meech Head of Engineering, Local & Mapping at AOL

There will be a pre-conference meet-up on Thursday in Girona. Meet old friends and make new OSM-friends.

Meet us at the City Arms. You can find the City Arms easily if you watch for the wall painting above. Across from this wall painting you’ll find the City Arms. Want a map? Click here…

This pub is open from 18.00h.

The weather is going to very nice in Girona. Therefore, during the weekend, lunch will be something special…

Only a couple more day and State of the Map is starting. Some of the organizers are already there to work on the last details to make this conference run smoothy. Henk is giving you a peek into the venue.

Talking about business models, Steven Feldman is chairing a panel discussion entitled “Cocktails on the Titanic”. If you can’t work out the relevance of the title you might want to think about businesses that do not adapt their business models to rapidly changing circumstances. The core of this panel discussion comes from a session he ran at wherecamp.eu “We are all FCUK’d without a Business Model”

The second half of the panel at SotM will be an opportunity for startups and small geobusinesses to do a one minute elevator pitch to the audience about their business. You need to pitch the Who? What? Why? and How Much? of your business model. Have a look at this old post if you need some background on the questions. No slides, just a mike and 60 seconds not a single second longer followed by some challenging questions from the panel and the audience. At the end the community will get to vote for their favourite pitch and a small prize will be awarded. The big opportunity for a startup is exposure and possibly even an investor!

If you or someone you know want to grab a slot for an elevator pitch mail Steven through this link or mail henk@stateofthemap.org

image: (C)(C) Terence Faircloth http://www.flickr.com/people/atelier_tee/

AOL Inc., a leading global web services company with an extensive suite of brands and offerings and a substantial worldwide audience, has a strategic focus on local. MapQuest, Patch and City’s Best make up the three pillars of AOL’s local strategy.

• Mapquest is one of the leading brands online, offering maps and directions reaching more than 49.2 million users in May 2010, according to Comscore unified UV metrics.
• Patch is a hyper-local news and information platform operating in more than 65 communities currently. Patch is making an important investment in local journalism by placing professional journalists in each town it serves to encourage community participation and provide original, trusted coverage for each individual town.
• City’s Best will launch in 25 major metro markets in September 2010 and add high-quality, city-specific content to its “best of” entertainment options for each metro audience.

AOL’s local strategy is focused on building a leading portfolio of the most trusted, comprehensive and accessible local content, products and services. We aim to delight our consumers with new feaures and functionality across mapping and content at both the local and metro level.

With less than 2 weeks to go, it’s time to make travel arrangements to get to Girona. Good to know that we’ve arranged a 30% discount on train travel within Spain! Ideal when you’re flying to Barcelona: travel comfortably to Girona by train. Or … add a day visit to Barcelona right before or after the conference.

What to do: download this discount voucher. Print it and show it at the ticket counter when buying your train ticket.

This discount voucher is valid from wednesday July 7th until tuesday July 13th for RENFE tickets from/to Girona within Spain.

(image: CC-BY-NC by “NASA Videographer” via Flickr)

Girona is lovely old city with lots of characteristic features. That can also be challenging while mapping. Ivan explains in the short video about the difficulties with Girona’s renovated cathedral.
Do you have the perfect solution? Come to State of the Map and share it with us and the rest of the community.