Somehow the colorful and diverse (dare I say anarchistic) OpenStreetMap community manages to organize itself and create a useful geodatabase reflecting the real world. Not through some carefully designed and democratic process, but ad hoc, by trial and error and most often by people doing instead of talking. In this talk we will explore how altruism and self interest, maps and tools shape OpenStreetMap. And you’ll gain the secret knowledge how you can participate successfully in this community, too.

Jochen Topf has been in the OpenStreetMap trenches for more than eight years now and seen the community from many angles. He has been collecting data, organizing events, evangelizing, writing software for (and a book about) OpenStreetMap and helping his customers use OpenStreetMap.