This time last year, Atanas Entchev’s GeoHipster site was just getting started. I participated in the 2014 “predictions” round-up, but I was somewhat skeptical of the idea. For reasons entirely my own, I was primarily turned off by the title of the site. I am not one to wear labels easily and I have a bit of natural suspicion for those who do. But a funny thing happened on the way to the artisanal map store: GeoHipster hit its stride.
I have come to see the name “GeoHipster” for the deft piece of commentary that it is. But additionally, the form that the site has taken, with Q&A style interviews of people working in the geospatial field, has filled a gap that I’m not sure I knew existed. Its minimalist style, devoid of multiple ads and banners, has let the content and the subjects take the lead.
The past decade has seen a lot of change in the geospatial field and that change continues. What Atanas has quietly done is to begin documenting the state of our industry as seen through the eyes of the people in it. There is something deceptively important going on over at GeoHipster. Pay attention to it.
What I like is that GeoHipsters seem to understand we’re having fun with the tech and our careers – as I like telling students I work with or mentor, if you’re not enjoying it, do something else. And go endorse Atanas on LinkedIn for Bikes. 🙂
Agreed. We’re an odd subset and it’s nice to hear from others in a clean Q&A format on what they are doing, where they see things going and get a little history from folks who have been doing it for a while.
Thank you for the kind words, Bill! Credit goes to all team members. Now the challenge is to keep it growing and keep it fresh, not allow it to become stale.
When @cageyjames used to do those Google Hangouts with geo-folks, it was a great opportunity to see/hear what others were doing or thinking about in our realm. Geohipster has filled a nice void since JF stopped doing it regularly.
It’s hard to fill Fee’s shoes. Glad you like what we’re doing.
Agreed, It would be interested to do a text analysis of what these “GeoHipsters” have said over the past year. I still owe Atanas two interviews. Atanas and I talked about GH over the summer in New Jersey, and the interview structure dovetails nicely into the DG round table podcast concept. Which is officially ready to role (Now that I’ve played around with the sound equipment enough)
Can’t wait to hear the DG podcast. Serial was too long, make your episodes shorter.
I like banner ads! ;0)