From Sarah Manley:

I am writing to tell you about an exciting mapping project and upcoming event.  OpenStreetMap is an open source project to collaboratively map the entire world. It can be considered a sort of wikipedia for maps.  There are over 90,000 participants worldwide, and we are working to increase participation here in the US. To lean more please visit our website http://wiki.openstreetmap.org.

OpenStreetMap hosts events throughout the US that introduce people to our project as well as lets them get out and map!  During the event participants collect information to put on the map (cycle / hiking trails, natural features, historic plaques, museums, other points of interest). They then upload the information to our online map. This information can be enhanced and corrected by the community, and the data can be utilized in many unique ways. Currently the map is being used to create bike maps, route maps, on GPS units and in many other capacities.

We host events throughout the US, almost every weekend. Our next event will be in Mountain View, California. Please see the contacts below.

Saturday February 7th and Sunday February 8th, 11am – 4pm
Red Rock Coffee, 201 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041
http://www.redrockcoffee.org (650) 967-4473

http://community.cloudmade.com/events/Mountain_View/feb7_8/gis

Feel free to share this with other GIS professionals or individuals who may be interested in our project.