In many of the working groups that I participate in, I have noticed
that it is increasingly difficult to find scribes (whether old-style
or jabber).
I know that some WG simply give up and have one of the Co-chairs
scribe. I would regard this as extremely suboptimal in the WG where I
am a Co-chair, as my co-chairs and I bring different strengths and
abilities to
the table, and regard this as a bad sign and a clear implications of
the need for some improvements.
Here are some thoughts and suggestions about this situation :
1.) Is it really necessary to have a jabber scribe and a regular
scribe as a separate
position ? We had 117 sessions in Dublin, finding 234 scribes is
clearly harder than finding 117.
I find that scribing on jabber has a number of advantages
- you frequently get corrections if you didn't get a speakers name,
missed
the spelling of an acronym, etc.
- you can frequently get an instant backup if you need a brief bio-
break.
- people in the audience can expand on topics, provide background, etc.
- the notes are archived instantly and cannot be lost if the scribe's
computer crashes (as has happened to me).
The only "con" I can think of is that some scribes might use a
stenographic style
that would not lend itself to exposure on jabber. (I would note,
though, that some WGs
are much more jabber involved than others.) If there is sufficient
interest, we could even offer
two jabber sessions per meeting - one for the scribe and comments, one
for general discussion.
2.) Would it be possible to have a volunteer list for scribes in
advance of the meeting ? I would be willing to volunteer to sign-up to
scribe one or two sessions in WG that need a scribe, and suspect
others would too. Surely with doodle and other modern tools, we could
offer some sort of sign-up mechanism. I would even suggest 2 - a list
of people willing to volunteer in general, and a agenda or calendar
with slots in each session for the scribe for that session.
3.) A minor point, but I would urge WG chairs to formally designate
someone (possibly themselves) to
relay questions from jabber. This seems to fall to the jabber scribe,
even though it is impossible to stand at the
mike and scribe at the same time !
Regards
Marshall
_______________________________________________
Ietf@xxxxxxxx
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf