One semi-substantive

[Deborah Aleyne Lapeyre <dalapeyre@mulberrytech.com>]

I have always hated the 15 days part of:

   Persons intending to participate in the first meeting
   must register to attend *no later than 15 days prior to* the
   event by notifying the person named as chair of the new TC of
   their intention to attend the meeting.

Yes, if there are 100s scrambling to get in, you need a way to cut them
off.  But what if there aren't hundreds? (Aside question: what if there
are, has a chair any way to limit this to less than 20, 30, 60, 200?
Should the chair have any such limiting authority?)

Would it be possible to give the chair discretion to let others in.

Scenario:
You only have 4 people signed up and then, the day before you are
to meet, 5 great folks call you, saying "wow, I just
noticed" or "I let time slip away", to whom you have to say no.

I REALIZE THAT THERE IS THE DANGER that the Chair will say "yes" to
her friends and those of persuasion similar to her own, and it would
be nice to guard against this.  BUT, I can see far more instances
where someone is on vacation, comes back, realizes that just 12 days
are left, and that's too late.

The intent of this was to protect the chair.  To give him/her a
 notion of how many folks were coming to the meeting. etc.
 No discretion means no possibility of collusion, chair-bias,
or the perception of chair bias on the part of biased people looking
at an honest chair.  The chair just points to the rules and says
"sorry", it's a rule.

But I can also see this one being a real pain in the butt for
a chair and binding them in ways they really don't like.

Is there a compromise position possible?  Based on numbers?
15 days if more than xxx people have already signed up?

Is there any other compromise?

(I will take no for an answer, quite easily.)

--Debbie


======================================================================
Deborah Aleyne Lapeyre               mailto:dalapeyre@mulberrytech.com
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9633
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML
======================================================================