[ubl] UBL meeting schedule

[Jon Bosak <Jon.Bosak@Sun.COM>]

At our first UBL TC meeting, I was given the task of putting
together some options for next year's meeting schedule.  There was
a suggestion that I use some scheduling software to try to find an
optimum plan.  As it happens, however, factors other than those
understood by scheduling software will probably turn out to be
decisive.

With regard to our first meeting of the year, to be hosted by Sun
Microsystems in the San Francisco Bay area, our options are going
to be constrained by the availability of meeting rooms.  More
about this below.

With regard to our second meeting of the year, which we decided
was going to be held in Europe, I am very pleased to inform the TC
that we have been invited to hold our TC meeting in conjunction
with the EDIFACT Working Group meeting 18-22 March 2002 in
Barcelona.  The EWG meeting will be held at the World Trade Center
Barcelona, which reportedly has excellent conference facilities.

While the details of the European meeting have yet to be worked
out, I think that our commitment to work as closely as we can with
the international EDI community and our desire to get expert
business domain input obligates us to accept this offer.  If
anyone disagrees with this position, please speak up.

Accepting the offer to hold our European meeting in conjunction
with the EWG will essentially determine our schedule for the
earlier meeting in the Bay Area as well.  Working backwards from
18-22 March:

 - We can't meet later than early February, because that would put
   the U.S. and European meetings too close together for a
   quarterly meeting schedule.

 - We can't meet the week of 4 February 2002, because that would
   conflict with the X12 meeting in Seattle.

 - We can't meet the week of 28 January 2002, because that would
   conflict with the EIDX/CompTIA/RNUG meeting hosted by OAG in
   Santa Clara.  It would also conflict with an eBTWG meeting
   in San Diego that week.

Working forward from the beginning of the year:

 - The week of 31 December is out due to the holidays.

 - The week of 7 January is possible, but a couple of participants
   (including me) are going to be at a government conference, and
   meeting rooms in Menlo Park are going to be a problem.

 - The week of 14 January is possible, but I haven't been able to
   line up a good set of meeting rooms anywhere in the Bay Area.
   We could get around this by hiring hotel space, but the
   facilities are not as good as we could get at Sun, and I'd
   rather not spend that money if we don't have to.  This week
   could become a possibility if another participating
   organization were to offer adequate meeting facilities,
   however.

 - The week of 21 January is possible if we start on Tuesday 22
   January and end on Friday 25 January (Monday 21 January is a
   company holiday at Sun, and we won't be able to get rooms).  I
   have succeeded in reserving a set of rooms (basically the same
   ones we used in October) that will allow plenaries on 1/22 and
   1/25 and up to four breakout sessions on 1/23 and 1/24.  This
   will unfortunately require people to travel late Friday night
   or Saturday, which we're trying to avoid, but on the other
   hand, it will mean that people can come in on a Monday rather
   than traveling on Sunday.  (Remember that a four-day schedule
   assumes that we work all four days, including a plenary wrap-up
   on the afternoon of the fourth day, so leaving early on Friday
   is not an option.)

Assuming that we accept the offer to meet with the EWG in
Barcelona, and given the resources directly available to me, the
best schedule I can come up with is:

   22-25 January 2002 in Menlo Park, California

   18-22 March 2002 in Barcelona, Spain (with the EWG)

Then our next meeting would be June or July in the Bay Area
followed by a meeting September or October on the East Coast.

Discussion, please.

Jon