[aprssig] APRS Foundation Inc. - Opportunities

[Jeff Hochberg]

Great! Now What?

The APRS Foundation intends to build a solid foundation for APRS to build
upon - no pun intended. You have to admit…that was a little “punny.” I
couldn’t resist! :-)

We can head in countless directions, but much cleanup must be done to
establish a baseline.

A mix of technical and non-technical work needs to be done. Some won’t be
fun, but it’s a necessity and will be rewarding! It’s long and daunting,
but please read through the opportunities to find a place where your skills
can help.
Define Use Cases

In line with last week’s comment about asking ten ham radio operators what
APRS is… We live and breathe APRS. We’re amongst the best suited to put
together a list of use cases. Ensuring the entire ham community is on the
same page is essential. The last thing we should get is hesitation when
someone hears, “What is APRS?”

Hopefully, this will be the most straightforward task of all!

Opportunity - Start APRS Use Cases Thread

If someone wants to start a thread here on aprssig titled “APRS Use Cases,”
we can start to gather this information immediately! That way, we collect
everyone’s ideas in one thread.
Rebranding

How many would like to see a new logo for APRS? The current logo is dated
at best. We are confident that some hams out there also have an artistic
side. If anyone has ideas on rebranding APRS to give it a fresh look, we
would love to see it!

Opportunities - Rebranding

If you or someone you know is skilled at brand management, brand awareness,
graphic design, and/or typeface design, please email info at aprsfoundation.org
with “Rebranding” in the subject line.
Website

The APRS.org website needs a COMPLETE overhaul! It’s a mess, and the site
looks like it was created in the early/mid-90s.

Hams need an authoritative location to get information on APRS. We can
think of no better place than aprs.org.

According to Steve Dimse, the web server hosting aprs.org has over 5 GB of
files stored on it. Part of me can’t help but think the server became a
place for Bob to store stuff, most of which likely never made it onto the
website.

When I first spoke with Steve, he expressed interest in turning the website
to the Foundation. We hope that is still the case.

Opportunities - Web Design & Content Review (Multiple opportunities)

We need folks who can review the existing aprs.org website and define the
structure for the new website. It’s kind of all over the place right now,
and there’s a ton of content.

Users have expectations of what an authoritative resource should look like,
and suffice it to say that what it is today doesn’t fit their expectations.

If you have good organizational skills and are up for a challenge, please
email info at aprsfoundation.org with “Web Design & Content Review” in the
subject line.
Webmaster

We would love to have at least one webmaster who is well-versed in web
design and several others to help review and organize the content. With
that much data sitting on the server, there’s bound to be much to go
through. It doesn’t all need to be done in one fail swoop.

We need to pick a place to start. The most logical place to start is
building a new site parallel to the existing one. We can start by deciding
what to keep/eliminate, then cleaning, organizing, and migrating the most
relevant content to the new site.

Once the new site is established, we can continue to build upon it.

We assure you there will be an SSL certificate on the new website.
Practically, the entire Internet has embraced the “HTTPS Everywhere”
movement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is right—HTTPS is Actually
Everywhere—just not on http://www.aprs.org. That will change!

The new URL will be https://www.aprs.org whenever we switch the domain to
point to the new website (assuming TAPR allows us to take it over). Don’t
click this link yet - it won’t work due to the lack of a certificate right
now). Continue to use http://www.aprs.org for the time being.
Opportunities - Webmaster (1 to 2 opportunities available)

This is THE prime opportunity to build THE authoritative source of
information on APRS!

If you have basic web development skills and are familiar with the
fundamentals of web development, Markdown <https://www.markdownguide.org/>,
MkDocs <https://www.mkdocs.org/>, and GitHub <https://github.com/>, please
email info at aprsfoundation.org. Please ensure “Webmaster” is in the subject
line.

Oh, and if you know Markdown, you’re 90% of the way to understanding
MkDocs! It’s awesome!
Documentation

John L. and Lynn began a project to convert the APRS 101 spec from PDF/Word
to Markdown format. The ultimate goal is to utilize GitHub as the
documentation repository.

GitHub is an excellent application that provides version control and
distributed development, allowing multiple contributors to work on the same
projects.

This effort will also include consolidating enhancements/extensions to APRS
101 that were never merged into the official specification.

This will allow the Foundation to update the documentation and provide a
facility for others to submit and contribute through Git and GitHub.

We already have an application that automatically detects changes to the
repository and publishes the content to the web in a gorgeous format! We
will share the publicly accessible link soon!
Opportunities - Documentation Editor (4 to 6 positions available)

This project is almost complete. However, there are some elements that we
could still use help with. If you know Markdown, please email
info at aprsfoundation.org with “Documentation Editor” in the subject line.
Project Management

To anyone who wants to help but doesn’t feel they have enough experience
with APRS, we still need you! You don’t need to be that savvy with APRS to
support our efforts, but Project Management is a skill we’ll need.

Case in point - I’m passionate about APRS but am not even remotely as
well-versed as I would like. My talents include business, leadership,
information technology, and security. I’ve held my ticket since 2015 and
still consider myself new to ham radio.
Opportunities - Project Manager (# based on demand)

We want some assistance from folks with managing deliverables and
milestones. We need to make sure we deliver on what we decide to do. It’s
one thing to say you will do something, and it’s something else entirely to
deliver. That cannot be accomplished without even the most basic project
management skills.

We also need people who are good with tracking those interested in helping
the Foundation and their interests.

And you don’t even need to be great with Project Management! If you can
maintain a list of deliverables and a timeline and feel you can help keep
folks on task, you’re hired!

Please email info at aprsfoundation.org if you are interested in helping
manage the aforementioned projects and/or any future projects.
Volunteer Work - Not Employment

While APRS Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organization, please do not
perceive these opportunities as an offer of employment. John, Lynn, John,
Jason, and I are board members, but we do so on a voluntary basis and are
not compensated in any way.

The work we are requesting assistance with is on a volunteer basis only.

Keep in mind that we are all working towards Ensuring the Future of APRS!
There is no better way to give back to the global amateur radio community
than through work of this nature! It’s extremely important, and the rewards
are that you get to say you worked on it!
A Lot To Do

As you can see, there’s a lot to do. We're looking for a few good hams!!!
We are just getting started! But we cannot do this without YOU!

To make this point abundantly clear, our door is open to any licensed
amateur radio operator worldwide interested in contributing to the effort!
If one of the areas above strikes a chord with you, please join the
conversation and come along for the ride!

Please be patient—we may take a week or two to reply, but I assure you we
will!

Thank you for taking the time to read this message. We look forward to
working with you!

Best Regards and 73,

Jeff Hochberg - W4JEW

President

APRS Foundation, Inc.

Ensuring the Future of APRS

P.S. Discord Invite

We’ve also set up an APRS Foundation Discord server for those who prefer
more chatty-type communications.   Join us at https://discord.gg/5SqCJQAU
and say hello!

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