Working together. Picture from a photo under CC BY-SA 4.0 by Anxhelo Lushka

There is a great program of talks and workshops for this year’s State of the Map, but as people gather from around the world we want to make the most of this in-person time together. On all three days of the conference we’ll have some rooms available for a more informal schedule.

Bookable Spaces

What area of OpenStreetMap are you involved in, and do you want to discuss specific subjects with like-minded people? The engineering group, mappers that cycle, those wanting to increase diversity and representation,… we’ve had some great sessions before.

Edit the OSM wiki page to suggest a group or a topic, so others can get interested in joining you. During the conference, confirm your session with the event team for its time slot to be decided.

Free and Open Space

After an inspiring talk or during the lunch breaks you might find yourself deep in conversation with fellow delegates and want to carry on the discussion away from the noise of our foyer area. There will be a room known as “Free and Open Space” that can’t be booked. This might also be a place where small groups would want to work together, coding a new feature of OpenStreetMap software or collaborating on documentation and guides.

Turn up when you want to use it, find some chairs, and chat away.

Lightning Talks

Check out the program for this year’s selection of talks. Perhaps something new has happened since the deadline for proposing talks, perhaps you didn’t have the idea quite worked out. On Friday and Sunday we will try to make some extra slots available for lightning talks. These are quick five-minute talks that don’t need to have slides.

If you’ve got something to share in this manner, please add it to the OSM wiki page so that we are aware of how much time we would need to make available.

Your State of the Map team

A hackday at State of the Map is a great opportunity to start working on those awesome projects that seemed unimaginable just a few days before, or to continue something already under way. Join us and get hands on with code, documentation sprints and mapping activities. What you work on is up to you!

As usual the hackday will be after the main conference, Monday the 26th of September. This year we are lucky to have found a space donated by Brussels Environment. We can use the BEL conference center with room for about 100 people right in the city center of Brussels. We will need the space because we are joining forces with OSGeo Belgium who have their FOSS4G Belgium conference the day before SOTM.

We ask you kindly to subscribe here and indicate if you want to order food. Make sure you order if you want to eat at the venue because you are not allowed to bring in outside food. We are still looking for a sponsor – but failing that, we will ask for a contribution of 6€ on the day.

All further practical details can be found on the event page. Hope to see you all there!

Your State of the Map team

Thanks to the support of our amazing sponsors we have kept the Early Bird tickets for State of the Map available for as long as possible. With less than 8 weeks to go until we gather in Brussels the Early Bird offer will soon come to an end.

You have until 7th August to grab your price savvy tickets now before normal prices kick in.

Don’t forget your accommodation though! The number of rooms available in our hotel deal drops by half when Early Bird closes so book your room before it’s too late.

Your State of the Map team