09-209 To: J3 From: Bill Long Subject: Meeting schedule Date: 2009 April 23 -------------------------- At J3/PL22.3 meeting 187 (February, 2009, Las Vegas), we discussed alternative meeting schedules in future years, and planned to continue the discussion at meeting 188. The current schedule (meetings in February, May, August, November) was seen as having some recurring faults. While no conclusion was reached, the option of having three meetings each year, starting in 2010, in February, June, and October, seemed to generate some interest. The aim of this paper is to record some of the advantages and disadvantages of such a change, as a starting point for discussion. Proposal: --------- Starting is 2010, hold J3/PL22.3 meetings (sometimes joint with WG5) three times each year, during the second full week of February, June, and October. Advantages: ---------- 1) Fewer meetings reduces cost to members, reducing the probability of members dropping off the committee. 2) The new schedule avoids several problems of the current schedule: - It avoids the hot August month in Las Vegas - It avoids higher airfares sometimes hitting the August meeting - It avoids vacation conflicts with August - It avoids the end of the academic year in May - It avoids the US election dates in November - It avoids the frequent conflict with the Supercomputing conference 3) At least one meeting is outside the academic year, making attendance easier for members with academic duties. Disadvantages: -------------- 1) Three meetings each year may not provide enough time to get the required work done. Especially if there are many new features in the next revision, or if there are may interp requests resulting from F2008. 2) Some people might have made long term plans around the current schedule. 3) With fewer meetings, we might not be able to negotiate hotel rates as favorable as at present.