The Isle of Wight workshop is now over and most of us have travelled back nursing sores from punching those tiny GPS buttons all day. It was a great success, with over 30 people turning up. Friday started for David Groom and I by doing an interview for solent tv which can be downloaded here (2026 update: recording no longer available). The main event started with an extended BBQ on the beach on Friday night as people arrived with food, beer and parsnip crisps Stone Soup style. This carried on late in to the night and involved building a bonfire out of drift wood, getting carried away and trying to cook bananas.

Retreating to caravans and cottages, the next day was planned over donuts. We met in the morning at the Riverside Center in Newport and roughly divided up the Isle in to parts for people to map with much self-organisation. Everyone departed on foot, by car or cycling with GPS and methods of noting features like streets – camera, notebook or dictaphone. Those at HQ changed camp to the Quay Arts Center which provided much needed wifi.

SA Mathieson came to talk to us for (hopefully) a piece in this Thursday’s Guardian. The MP for the Isle of Wight, Andrew Turner, came and saw what we were doing. Being an ex-geography teacher he was interested, and the local press came along to snap some pictures too.

Sunday began by collating all the tracks together and deciding where next to map. The picture shows what we had, and it was impressive for one days work. Based on this, people departed to continue mapping but most came back for a late lunch together before sailing home.

But the best is yet to come! The traces will now be turned in to animations, posters and of course, a map!

Note: This post was updated in 2026 to remove two links that no longer pointed to the original content. We thank David Groom for notifying the Communication Working Group.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/OSM_Workshop

What:
Isle of Wight mapping workshop and general get together for
OpenStreetMap.org fans where we plan to map the entire Isle using GPS on
cars, cycling and by foot. This is our first official meetup and will
result in a released map of the Isle of Wight.

When:
Friday 5th to Sunday 7th May. Cottage probably booked 30th April -> 7th
May and all welcome at any point.

Where:
Isle of Wight, off the south English coast:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/index.html?lat=50.688627413475814&lon=-1.376037&zoom=11

Who:
You? I need 50 GBP non-refundable deposit per person for cottage by
the 27th Feb ideally. Once booked we can add people an upgrade the
cottage size. You can attend for free, of course, but without a cottage
we have no base for things like computers so please stay with us :-)

Final cost for accomodation likely to be between 60-100 GBP
depending on sponsorship and numbers. Paypal steve at asklater.com with 4%
added for paypal charges or email for bank or cheque details.
People welcome to crash on the floor if space available.

Sponsorship:
I'm going to people asking for sponsorship of car rental, accomodation,
food, GPS units etc. If you can provide sponsorship or know someone who
can then get in touch.

Details, details:
Please update the wiki with travel info, offer lifts, equipment you'll
be bringing, etc.