G'day.
In order to give remote participants fair access to speak during group
discussions, the current process has the jabber scribe move to the queue
at various times, which gets in the way of their scribing. In
interesting plenary discussions, the chair also tries to service the
multiple microphone queues, which can get confusing or unfair (and
usually both.)
In the scheme of IETF operatinal issues, this hassle rates low, but as
an aspect of the goal to integrate local and remote participants, it
could be a useful touchstone.
I propose an experiment for IETF plenaries:
A single speaker queue, online through editpad and open to anyone
with an IETF login.[*]
The chair reads from the top of the list, downward, calling out the name
of whomever is next.
If you want to speak, add your name to the end; if your access requires
special handling, such as through jabber, note that. (And type your
comment so it's fully-formed by the time you get to the top of the queue.)
It doesn't matter where you are. When your name is called, start
speaking. (If your access is jabber, then yes, it needs a designated
speaker to jump up to the mic.)
This mechanism works for anyone with online access, through any device.
For those who do not have access during the plenary, we do need to
provide for some in-room folk to facilitate (although the person sitting
next to you probably will suffice.)
All of this could be packaged with spiffy integrated tools, but what
I've described is workable for the IETF community and would give us some
experience with the essential, specialized group remote participation
task of coordinating discussion.
This does not require extensive new infrastructure, with everyone
carrying something special, like RFID. So it's not very sexy. But it's
simple and useful.
And it automatically gives scribes the correct spelling of the speaker's
name.
d/
[*] Since the queue is publicly visible, abuse behaviors can be detected
immediately by anyone/everyone. It could even be displayed to the room...
--
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
bbiw.net