Geomob In A Coma
To paraphrase both Douglas Copland and The Smiths, Geomob, the highly successful mobile/geo/location/place fuelled meetup for geographers, both latent and professional is on hold. Possibly permanently. As Chris Osborne, the founder and organiser, said in an email to all members of the group:
After a wonderful couple of years doing geomob, and the people powered success that was WhereCampEU, I'm afraid to say that I am stepping down to make way for some new blood.
That does mean that there is an opportunity for one or more of you to step up and continue geomob in the spirit it started - free, non corporate, disrespectful and focused on people doing things.
Get in touch if you want to take on the mantle, until then geomob is on hiatus.
Its been a blast
As both Chris and I found out, organising the WhereCamp EU event that took place in London earlier this year was an exhausting, if ultimately rewarding, task. Imagine doing that every other month?
I hope this isn't the last we hear of Geomob; it's been a major contributor to the Geo community in London and has, indeed, been a blast. It also gave me my very first Geo themed public speaking engagement and for that I'll always be both profoundly grateful and profoundly embarrased at my first stumbling efforts.
If you're thinking of taking up the role of Geomob organiser, I encourage you to do so; it's a battering, weary, exhausting and sometimes thankless task in the run up to a meetup. Then you see the audience waiting expectantly , watch the speakers, listen to the Q&A session and before you know it the evening's over in a rush; you won't regret it.
Photo Credits: Roman Kirillov on Flickr.
