CUGOS Spring Fling
I’m still gushy from all the map love at the annual CUGOS Spring Fling (that's the Cascadia Users of Geospatial Open Source, really smart people from all different professions who make maps, analyze data, or develop the programs). I was asked to present on my cartographic Cycling Routes of Lake Como map that I've been working on in QGIS (an open source GIS program) as a pet project so that Hotel Il Perlo Panorama and ComoLagoBike can have a nice reference map for all their guests and guides.
I never imagined that people would be so engaged and interested in what I've done! I reviewed the cycling history of the area and why it is such favored destination for cyclists, then went into the complex techniques for creating parallel, multicolored routes in QGIS. It was great to be among peers who understood the labor involved to do these. This is a group of very savvy GIS and spatial data users so it meant the world to me. They also enjoyed learning how I incorporated the Mapbox terrain background and how I designed some of the other cartographic features. I missed lunch because I was surrounded questions and compliments and wanting to look at my work up close. What a fantastic day with a great group of people. They especially appreciated my passion for what I'm creating, which really makes all the hard work figuring out the creative and technical puzzle pieces on the weekends and in my spare time worth it. Cross-pollination outside your regular day job is so good for you.
I got so many great new ideas about where to take this project next.....so many maps so little time! Grazie mille to CUGOS for inviting me and taking photos. Means a lot!
