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diff --git a/more/cpp_committee_meetings.html b/more/cpp_committee_meetings.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..26bc51af5b --- /dev/null +++ b/more/cpp_committee_meetings.html @@ -0,0 +1,125 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us"> +<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0"> +<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> +<title>C++ Committee Meetings</title> +</head> + +<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> + +<h1>C++ Committee Meeting FAQ for Boost Members</h1> +<p><b>Who can attend C++ Committee meetings?</b> Members of +J16 (the INCITS/ANSI committee) or of a WG21 (ISO) member country committee +("national body" in +ISO-speak). <a href="http://www.ncits.org/"> +INCITS</a> has broadened J16 membership requirements so anyone can +join, regardless of nationality or employer.</p> +<p>In addition, a small number of "technical experts" who are not committee +members can also attend meetings. The "technical expert" umbrella is broad enough to cover +the +Boost members who attend meetings.</p> +<p><b>When and where is the next meeting?</b> There are two meetings a year. The +Fall meeting is usually in North America, and the Spring meeting is usually +outside North America. See a general +<a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/meetings">list of meeting locations and +dates</a>. Detailed information about a particular meeting, including hotel +information, is usually provided in a paper appearing in one of +<a href="#Mailing">mailings</a> for the prior meeting. If there isn't a link to +it on the <a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/meetings"> +Meetings</a> web page, you will have to go to +the committee's <a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/"> +Papers</a> page and search a bit.</p> +<p><b>Is there a fee for attending meetings?</b> No, but there can be a lot of +incidental expenses like travel, lodging, and meals, and there is a $US 800 a +year INCITS fee to become a voting member.</p> +<p><b>What is the schedule?</b> The meetings start at 9:00AM on +Monday, and 8:30AM other days, unless otherwise announced. It is best to arrive +a half-hour early to grab a good seat, some coffee, tea, or donuts, and to say +hello to people. (There is also a Sunday evening a WG21 administrative meeting, +which is closed except to delegates from national bodies.)</p> +<p>The meetings generally end on Friday, although there is discussion of +extending them one extra day until the next standard ships. The last day the meeting is generally over by 11:00AM. Because +the last day's meeting is for formal votes only, it is primarily of interest only to +actual committee +members.</p> +<p>Sometimes there are evening technical sessions; the details aren't +usually available until the Monday morning meeting. There may be a +reception one evening, and, yes, significant others are +invited. Again, details usually become available Monday morning.</p> +<p><b>What actually happens at the meetings?</b> Monday morning an hour or two +is spent in full committee on administrivia, and then the committee breaks up +into working groups (Core, Library, and Enhancements). The full committee also +gets together later in the week to hear working group progress reports.</p> +<p>The working groups are where most technical activities take place. Each +active issue that appears on an issues list is discussed, as are papers from the +mailing. Most issues are non-controversial and disposed of in a few minutes. +Technical discussions are often led by long-term committee members, often +referring to past decisions or longstanding working group practice. Sometimes a +controversy erupts. It takes first-time attendees awhile to understand the +discussions and how decisions are actually made. The working group chairperson +moderates.</p> +<p>Sometimes straw polls are taken. In a straw poll anyone attending can vote, +in contrast to the formal votes taken by the full committee, where only voting +members can vote.</p> +<p>Lunch break is an hour and a half. Informal subgroups often lunch +together; a lot of technical problems are discussed or actually solved at lunch, +or later at dinner. In many ways these discussions involving only a few people +are the most interesting. Sometimes during the regular meetings, a working group +chair will break off a sub-group to tackle a difficult problem. </p> +<p><b>Do I have to stay at the main hotel?</b> No, and committee members on +tight budgets often stay at other, cheaper, hotels. (The main hotels are usually +chosen because they have large meeting rooms available, and thus tend to be pricey.) +The advantage of staying at the main hotel is that it is then easier to +participate in the off-line discussions which can be at least as interesting +as what actually happens in the scheduled meetings.</p> +<p><b>What do people wear at meetings?</b> Programmer casual. No neckties +to be seen. </p> +<p><b>What should I bring to a meeting?</b> It is almost essential to have a +laptop computer along. There is a committee LAN with a wiki and Internet connectivity. +Wireless connectivity has become the norm, although there is usually a wired hub +or two for those needed wired access.</p> +<p><b>What should I do to prepare for a meeting?</b> It is helpful to have +downloaded the mailing or individual papers for the +meeting, and read any papers you are interested in. Familiarize yourself with +the issues lists if you haven't done so already. Decide which of the working +groups you want to attend.</p> +<p><b>What is a "<a name="Paper">Paper</a>"?</b> An electronic document containing issues, +proposals, or anything else the committee is interested in. Very little gets +discussed at a meeting, much less acted upon, unless it is presented in a paper. +<a href="http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/">Papers are available</a> +to anyone. Papers don't just appear randomly; they become available four (lately +six) times a +year, before and after each meeting. Committee members often refer to a paper by +saying what mailing it was in: "See the pre-Redmond mailing."</p> +<p><b>What is a "<a name="Mailing">Mailing</a>"?</b> A mailing is the +set of papers prepared four to six times a year before and after each meeting, +or between meetings. It +is physically just a +<a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/mailings/">.zip or .gz</a> +archive of +all the papers for a meeting. Although the mailing's archive file itself is only available to committee members and technical +experts, the contents (except copies of the standard) are available to the +general public as individual papers. The ways of ISO are +inscrutable.</p> +<p><b>What is a "Reflector"?</b> The committee's mailing lists are +called "reflectors". There are a number of them; "all", "core", "lib", and "ext" +are the main ones. As a courtesy, Boost technical experts can be added to +committee reflectors at the request of a committee member. </p> +<hr> +<p>Revised +<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%B %d, %Y" startspan -->April 17, 2005<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="17669" --></p> +<p>© Copyright Beman Dawes, 2002</p> +<p> + Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See + accompanying file <a href="../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or copy + at <a href= + "http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>) +</p> + +</body> + +</html> |