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@contrapunctus@en.osm.townThere are far greater problems raging in the world, and all I can get myself to do is organize the next bunch of #OpenStreetMap mapping parties.
1/
To save us the trouble of making calls and getting ghosted, we've scrapped the whole registration step. We don't ask for email IDs and phone numbers anymore.
Instead, we have announced the next _three_ parties in advance, and invited people by DMing them on OSM. That gives them an email notification, and I expect they will now have enough time to check their email.
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https://en.osm.town/@OSMIndia/114007479316969218
I used Overview of #OpenStreetMap Contributors to put together a list of mappers in #Delhi -
https://resultmaps.neis-one.org/oooc
Then, I wrote a #CommonLisp script to send DMs to them. This was my first time using OAuth in anything. I used the Ciao library for it.
I've DM'd over 500 people with it.
3/
There must be people who randomly discovered #OpenStreetMap, but couldn't figure it out at all. I hope they can get in-person guidance in these parties.
There must be some who contributed for a bit, but didn't feel motivated enough to continue. And the select few (like me, at one time!) who contributed extensively by themselves, but over time became demotivated by the solitude.
I hope the community aspect of mapping parties can help them get back into contributing.
4/
My latest attempt at improving the gender ratio of our participants is to include this line in the invite -
"We particularly encourage women to participate, as they are an underrepresented group in the #OpenStreetMap community. We would love to hear from women (whether it is you or your female friends) about how we can make it easier for them to participate."
(More suggestions welcome.)
5/
Many people attend only once and never again, so I also emphasized in the invitations and announcements the importance of repeat participation.
It's not a one-and-done event - we need all the people we can get if we are to make #OpenStreetMap usable in #Delhi.
6/
Oh, and another new development is documenting how we organize our #OpenStreetMap mapping parties. With this,
* co-organizers can be on the same page,
* new volunteers can be onboarded more easily, and
* other communities can leverage our experience and recreate our parties.
https://codeberg.org/contrapunctus/osm-delhi-mapping-parties
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@contrapunctus (out of curiosity)
Are you messaging people that have come to previous events? Or what's the criteria for who you're dming?
@thibaultmol Those who attended before are definitely messaged. But it's quite indiscriminate.
Earlier I used to select the "activity center (last 6 months)" option in OOOC, which restricted the list to people active in the last six months. This time I used the defaults, which provides a much larger number of candidates.
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@thibaultmol There are only 8 gold mappers in Delhi, so they're an easy choice to invite.
Senior+ (20), senior (42), and junior (225) mappers are also a tractable number, albeit tedious to make a list of.
Nonrecurring mappers are too numerous, so I've only invited those around our mapping party venues (~200). I might invite more if patience permits.
2/
@contrapunctus ...and that's exactly the right thing to do: doing things that let you keep your sanity!
@contrapunctus
There are significant problems in the world, but more free maps only help to fix some of these. I do a LOT of mapping, but I think a mapping party would be beyond me.
Well done for putting these events together! 
@contrapunctus You're doing EXACTLY right. You're focusing your efforts on something you care about, and *can do* to help other people. Trust that others are doing the same. No one can do everything.
This article by @siderea may help reinforce what I'm saying, and help other folks who are feeling at a loss for what to do.
@Fishercat @siderea Thanks, that's a good read.
@contrapunctus @siderea You're welcome. Yeah, it is.