This statement provides IESG guidance on interim IETF Working Group
meetings, conference calls, and jabber sessions.
Historically the work of the IETF has been conducted over mailing lists.
This practice ensures the widest possible involvement in the working
group process. This practice is not as efficient in terms of producing
specifications as extended face-to-face meetings but is much more
inclusive. In general IETF face-to-face meetings are used to hold
high-bandwidth discussions on specific issues that have not been able
to be resolved on a mailing list or, in the case of BOFs, to get a
common understanding of the issues involved in a particular topic.
These face-to-face meetings can be quite important but are not
substitutes for mailing list discussions.
There is a long history in the IETF of working groups occasionally
holding "interim" face-to-face meetings between the regular IETF
meetings to focus on specific issues or resolve specific problems.
Some IETF working groups hold interim conference calls or jabber
sessions in lieu of interim face-to-face meetings and to accelerate
the working group process.
RFC 2418 section 3.1 tell us that "interim meetings are subject to the
same rules for advance notification, reporting, open participation, and
process, which apply to other working group meetings." This applies to
all in-person meetings to which a large part of the working group is
invited, even if labeled as 'informal' to distinguish them from 'real'
working group meetings. This does not apply to meetings, conference
calls, or jabber sessions for small design teams producing input to
working groups. It should also be noted that as RFC 2418 section 3.2
points out, decisions at meetings (normal, interim. conference call, or
jabber session) are not final and must be reviewed on the mailing list.
"Advance notification" and "process" require prior approval of the
face-to-face meeting by the relevant Area Director and publication of
an announcement on the ietf-announce list. "Advance notification" and
"process" require prior approval by the Working Group Chair for the
conference call (either audio or video) or jabber session and publication
of an announcement on the ietf-announce list. Face-to-face meetings must
be announced at least four weeks prior to the meeting. Conference calls
and jabber sessions must be announced at least two weeks prior to the
event. Following announcement, an agenda for the meeting, call, or
session must be published in a timely manner. All such meetings, calls,
or sessions must be open to all who wish to take part. Detailed minutes
are required to be taken and submitted to the IETF Secretariat for
inclusion in the next IETF meeting proceedings. A list of attendees must
also be submitted. The minutes, including a list of attendees, must be
sent to proceedings(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org within 10 days after the meeting,
conference
call or jabber session concludes.
Area Director approval is need to schedule an interim face-to-face
meeting. Interim meetings can consume a lot of community resources,
including travel costs and time of participants. Also, we have seen
significant benefits when two or more working groups meet together.
Area Directors are expected to balance the costs to the community
associated with interim meetings and the expected benifits. Interim
face-to-face meetings which are proposed to eliminate the need for a
working group to meet during a regular IETF meeting will not generally
be approved.
Working Group Chair approval is needed to schedule a conference call
or jabber session.
Area Directors will advise the Working Group Chair on interim
face-to-face meeting location, timing, and other aspects of the proposed
meeting that with a goal of not unfairly favoring some subset of the
potential participants or not unfairly biasing the working group
discussions. Working Group Chairs will evaluate the proposed conference
call or jabber session logistics for similar fairness concerns,
consulting with Area Directors as necessary to resolve any concerns
raised by potential participants.
Requests for interim face-to-face meetings must be sent to the
appropriate Area Director for approval. The actual announcement text
must be sent to iesg-secretary(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org as well as the working group
mail
list. Of course, the requesting Working Group Chair may send one
message, copying both the Area Director and
iesg-secretary(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org(_dot_)
Following Area Director approval, the Secretariat will publish the
announcement on the ietf-announce list.
The Secretariat is available to help with logistics of face-to-face
interim meetings. Of course, the larger the meeting, the more lead time
is needed to make arrangements.
Working Group Chairs must send announcement text for an interim
conference call or jabber session to iesg-secretary(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org as well
as the working group mail list. The Secretariat will publish the
announcement on the ietf-announce list.
To summarize:
- Interim face-to-face meetings of IETF Working Groups need prior
approval of relevant ADs
- Interim conference calls and jabber sessions of IETF Working Groups
need prior approval of the Working Group Chair
- Face-to-face meetings must be announced at least four weeks prior to
the meeting, and the agenda must be published at least two weeks before
meeting
- Face-to-face meetings must be scheduled (location/timing) with fair
access for all WG participants
- Conference calls and jabber sessions must be announced at least two
weeks prior to the call or session, and the agenda must be published at
least one week before call or session
- Announcement text must be sent to iesg-secretary(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
- Detailed minutes, including a list of attendees, must be sent to
proceedings(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org and the working group mail list within 10 days
of the event
- Following the guidance in RFC 2418, decisions reached during interim
meetings, conference calls, and jabber sessions on topics or issues
which have not been discussed on the mailing list or are significantly
different from previously arrived mailing list consensus must be
reviewed on the mailing list.
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