So, I totally agree that WGs should not be run as conference sessions are with complete and beautiful presentations. But, I do think it's important to consider our audience. AFAICT, those most against presentations are those for whom English is a native language. We know we have speakers that talk really, really fast. If I, as a native English speaker have problems following them, I can't fathom how others can. And, no I'm not suggesting people read the slides (that's an awful mode of presentation), but having a slide summarizing key points the speaker is trying to make goes a long way IMHO. I am a visual learner and I find pictures/diagrams to be super, super helpful during discussions. So, I do find that helpful for new work. In the WGs I attend, I haven't seen problems with the presentations. Some of us are just not so good at forming a complete understanding of something in an auditory only mode.
IMHO, WG chairs have the authority and ability to suggest someone reduce content in a presentation if they think it won't allow adequate discussion time or it if has too much background material and doesn't focus on key issues.
Regards,
Mary.
On Tue, May 14, 2019 at 1:30 PM Melinda Shore <melinda.shore@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 5/14/19 10:19 AM, Pete Resnick wrote:
> On 10 May 2019, at 22:34, Nico Williams wrote:
>> New work usually benefits from presentation, whether in BoFs or existing
>> WGs targeting WG adoption.
> A lot of people say that a lot. I have never heard an adequate
> justification for it or any metrics to indicate that it is true.
No, I haven't either, although I have to admit that I've only
rarely heard people make that particular assertion. New work
needs discussion and I think we could benefit from helping
people figure out how to structure their session slots around
discussion rather than just presentation-followed-by-questions.
Just starting out with "here's what I think needs discussion
by the working group" might help, with the understanding that
the working group is the mailing list, not those present in
the meeting room.
Melinda
