Last weekend was nothing short of magical. I had the incredible opportunity to attend my first ever global State of the Map conference in Nairobi, Kenya. This gathering of the OSM community was a fantastic space to connect with like-minded individuals and learn about the incredible work being done with geo-data technology across various sectors…Thanks to a generous travel grant from HOT Open Summit Program, I was now sure 100% I am going to make it to Nairobi. The conference itself spanned three days, from September 6th to 8th, and it was the shortest weekend I’ve ever experienced😄. Everyone was having such a great time that no one wanted to leave!
We arrived in Nairobi on September 5th, around 21:30 PM, and were greeted by the city’s chilly weather🥶. Despite the late hour and the cold, we managed to settle in and get ready for the conference. The next day, the conference kicked off, and I was both excited and nervous as I had a session scheduled for the first day, and I’d never presented in front of such a large and diverse audience before. However, the experience was incredibly rewarding, and I learned so much from the other speakers. I particularly enjoyed Diego Gonzalez Ferreiro’s presentation on UN-Maps: Supporting Peace with Open Data, Yvonne Darko’s talk on Photo Mapping from My Village to Pharmacies and Addresses, and of course, my own presentation on Women in Tech: What Worked Best for Me.😜😉
One of the best things about the conference was the opportunity to network with other attendees. I met some amazing people from all over the globe, and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to strike up conversations. I am lowkey an introvert person🫣🤭 hahah so its kinda hard for me to start socializing with people but the people i met there were the coooolest people I have never see. I was comfortable talking to everyone around me (so cutesy,so demure as Hawa would say😅😅 ) . And the food? Let’s just say, the Kenyans did not disappoint! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
Now the social event at the Baobox 🔥🔥🔥.It was another highlight of the weekend. We had a blast playing games, enjoying the food and drinks, and dancing in the karaoke room (yes it was supposed to be karaoke room but we turned it into disco hahaha! and the after social event party it was incredibly insane)💣💣. One thing I have realized about people on the OSM community they can map and party hard hahah.
The last day of the conference was bittersweet. On the one hand, I was sad to see it end🥺🥹, but on the other hand, I was incredibly grateful for the amazing experience I’d had. Three days was simply not enough. I hope the next State of the Map conference will last a whole week!🙏🙏🙏😌
I’m so thankful for the friends I made and for being part of the OSM community and I am looking forward to have more of these experience’s. I can’t wait to see everyone again in Manila, Philippines, in 2025. Arrivederci!!!!