Synchronous Meetings - Version 1.1g

Introduction

Meetings are a critical part of the operation of any global organization. Historically, volunteers in the IEEE have flown millions of miles in order to carry on the face-to-face interaction with other volunteers in order to serve the membership of the Institute and the profession at large. However, with ever-increasing travel costs and ever-decreasing time for IEEE activities, our volunteers need a better mechanism for carrying out necessary meetings.

Electronic meetings are certainly not new to the IEEE. One-way and multi-point video-conferences have been used where the facilities existed to deliver educational programs, extend conferences beyond traditional bounds, and reduce meeting costs. However, the recent explosion of desktop communications ability now afforded the average engineer has changed this concept. Thanks to the Internet and its associated technologies, affordable point-to-point communication is now available on a much wider scale.

This document is being developed by the IEEE Region 3 Electronic Conferencing (e-conf) special project team. This manual provides directions for setting up and carrying out electronic meetings over the Internet from the participants' homes or offices. As there are numerous types of meetings, each having their own quirks and needs, the project team has chosen to concentrate first on the most prevalent types of meetings used by IEEE volunteers. These meetings are centered around the development and execution of projects.

Two basic forms of meetings have been identified for development: Synchronous Project-Oriented Work (SPOW) and Asynchronous Project-Oriented Work (APOW). As used in this document, synchronous means that all parties are on-line and communicating at the same time while asynchronous means that parties do not have to be on-line at the same time. Of course, asynchronous meetings are useful when all participants cannot gather together at the same time to discuss their ideas.

One critical group activity, brainstorming, is given special focus in this work since it has special needs that must be met. Brainstorming is normally a synchronous activity but can, with appropriate process, be conducted in an asynchronous manner. Additionally, even when conducting brainstorming as a synchronous activity, preparation and follow-up activities are normally conducted in an asynchronous manner. Special information targeting electronic conferencing for brainstorming are highlighted in the material that follows.

SPOW efforts are the (near) equivalent of the traditional face-to-face meeting. The technology that has been chosen to conduct synchronous meetings during this development project is Internet Relay Chat (IRC). This technology is similar to a telephone conference call except 1) it is conducted over the Internet (lower cost) and 2) uses typed text instead of voice for communicating.

APOW efforts can be thought of as carrying out work by e-mail although other technologies such as newsgroup, discussion services, web publishing are also available and offer some advantages. Later stages of this project will concentrate on the formal development of tools and guidelines for asynchronous meetings.

This project was developed using the techniques and technologies that are being documented. In practice, the group uses a broad mix of approaches to carry out it's business including both asynchronous and synchronous conferencing: synchronous IRC, e-mail, newsgroups, web pages, and electronic forms.

This work makes several assumptions about the platforms and technology available to the volunteer who might choose to participate in electronic meetings. First, it assumes that modem-based Internet hook-ups at approximately 28.8Kb/s are the normal means of access. Second, that the volunteers, as a group, will choose to use a wide-range of platforms from Windows 3.1 through Windows 2000 as well as other platforms such as the MAC and Linux.

Appendices of this document provide information about

• design decisions made in developing the techniques herein;
• compatible IRC clients, general usage and specific hints for use in this and related applications;
• infrastructure needed to accomplish electronic meetings; and
• terms and concepts contained in this document.

Although the guidelines were used during development, actual usage will undoubtedly uncover areas that should be included in future versions. All suggestions, comments and contributions are welcomed.

Description of Synchronous Meetings using IRC

Description

Synchronous meetings are meetings in which the interaction between the participants occurs in real-time. Two slightly different types of synchronous meetings will be discussed.

The first meeting type is Project Oriented Work (POW). This meeting type is usually held periodically during the life of the project. The meeting may be used to update status, assign tasks, and obtain live feedback from members of the project. Usually all members of the project make an effort to attend this meeting.

The second meeting type is Brainstorming. This meeting type is usually held whenever it is deemed necessary. This meeting type is used to gather ideas and direction to assist in solving a problem or achieving a milestone. A subset of the members of the project may be invited to a brainstorming session.

Objective

The objective of POW meetings is to develop a consensus within the group regarding the issues of the project.

The objective of Brainstorming meetings is to allow the free exchange of ideas between members of the group to develop a prioritized list of ideas for further efforts.

Formality

The POW meetings are structured. The meeting should have a formal agenda and minutes. A log of the discussion may be used either in place of or in conjunction with the minutes. Depending on the needs of the group, POW may or may not be moderated. As a minimum the meeting should have a facilitator who keeps the meeting moving. Rules of conduct at the meeting should be made available to the members of the group prior to the meeting.

Brainstorming meetings are less structured. These meetings may not have an agenda, but should have a goal or objective. The meeting should have a facilitator, but should not need to be moderated. The meeting should be structured to allow for the free flowing of ideas. Remember, in brainstorming there is no such thing as a bad idea. The list of developed ideas (along with any prioritization) should be kept. The log of the meeting may be kept for this purpose but the guiding principle is that the ideas and the prioritization belong to the group not any individual.

Interactivity

All meetings should be facilitated. The facilitator is responsible keeping the meeting flowing and within it's allotted time. The facilitator should attempt to get responses from all members of the group before moving along to the next item. The facilitator can be a participant in the discussion.

Some meetings may need to be moderated. In such a facilitator controls who is allowed to speak. When in this mode, the facilitator should be seen as impartial to all members of the group. Each member of the group should be given a chance to speak in order. Any member of the group that wishes to speak should request permission from the facilitator. The facilitator usually does not participate in the discussion of the group.

Rules of conduct for these meetings need to be made available to all members of the group prior to the meeting.

Time allocation guidelines

Meetings should be limited to a maximum of two hours. Meeting planners and participants should strive to keep the meeting as short as possible while ensuring full participation. If a longer meeting appears to be required then the discussion should be broken into logical segments (separate meetings) with special efforts made to provide continuity between the meetings. For example, a summary of key points from previous sessions should be part of the pre-meeting information sent to all participants of the next meeting.

Meeting Sponsor Role

The sponsor provides the legitimacy and authority to conduct the project and associated meetings. The sponsor assigns the facilitator and invites the participants to the project. The sponsor is responsible for the development and communication of the direction and vision of the project. The sponsor provides the necessary resources to conduct the project. The sponsor secures commitment from the participants, holds participants accountable to their commitments and establishes the discussion time frame.

For a particular meeting, the sponsor provides (possibly in conjunction with the facilitator) an agenda and discussion material. The sponsor will also "announce" the objective of the meeting along with any goals and constraints that the group must observe. Most often, the meeting sponsor will be a participant in the meeting. Some sponsors like to be full active participants supporting their views while others like to be more passive and listen to the input of the other participants. In either case, the sponsor shall give guidance to the facilitator and group when issues arise.

Facilitator Role

The facilitator role is one of maintaining focus on the agenda, objectives of the meeting, and the meeting time frame. The facilitator may assist the sponsor in developing the materials for the meeting or merely receive these items as a starting point. The facilitator should choose meeting methods to guide the group to achieve the objectives set forth by the meeting sponsor. In general, the facilitator should focus on assisting the other participants in having a successful meeting and refrain from being a contributing participant. From time to time, with the participants permission (and proper acknowledgment of a changing role), the facilitator may make a contribution to the group before returning to the facilitator role. If the facilitator needs to be an active participant for an extended time, the group should consider reassigning the facilitator role to another person.

For brainstorming sessions, the facilitator should not be a participant and concentrate on keeping control, managing time for discussion periods, collecting the submissions from the attendees, and offering and tabulating votes from the attendees for prioritization and voting. It is important that the facilitator limit contributions to non-judgmental paraphrasing and not provide bias in the discussion and voting.

Attendee Role

Attendees should provide input on the present topic. They should respect the rules and avoid criticizing individuals or, in the case of brainstorming, ideas. Attendees should assist the facilitator and the rest of the group in staying focused on the topics and process of the meeting.

For project work, attendees should freely share ideas and be open to others perspectives. The ideas discussed belong to the group and should be refined in view of the meeting objectives, goals, and constraints announced for the meeting. Each person should be prepared to discuss the material provided before the meeting.

For brainstorming, attendees should contribute ideas on the present topic consistent with the process. They should respond in a timely fashion, take time to read other's comments and build on or enforce other's ideas wherever practical. At the proper time, the group should participate in prioritizing ideas based on agreed upon metrics and process.

Pre-meeting effort by facilitator

1. Collect strawman documents and prepare agenda and discussion packet.
2. Make a tentative decision as to style for conducting the meeting.
3. Distribute agenda (details below) and supporting background material.
4. If minutes will be distributed or archived, identify who will prepare them and the time table (and process) for their development and distribution.

Pre-meeting effort by attendees

1. If the first time using the technology, try to experiment with the tools prior to the meeting.
2. Clear calendar around the meeting time.
3. Absorb the background material and supplement with your own experience.
4. Make notes as appropriate.
5. Log on to the site prior to the meeting start time so that the meeting can begin on time.

Process

The flow of activity is similar to any meeting and may seem to be well understood, almost of second nature, to most who have participated in many meetings. Don't forget that you are not in the same room --the time lag in the conversation is between seconds and minutes, you cannot receive sensory clues. You must rely on what a person writes and the process that guides the meeting to maintain accuracy and clarity necessary to achieve understanding and accurate information exchange.

Prepare and distribute agenda The agenda should be sent (via e-mail) to all prospective attendees at least 2 days before the meeting starts. Send meeting reminder e-mail 1 day before meeting.

The meeting announcement should include:

1. Chat Server: (i.e. irc.ewh.ieee.org)
2. Password: (if one is needed)
3. Chat Channel: (i.e. #ieee3)
4. Start time: (i.e. June 17, 1999, 9pm EDT)
5. Duration: (i.e. 2 hours)
6. Facilitator: (i.e. JohnD, j.doe@ieee.org)
7. Agenda that contains the following items at a minimum: 1) Objectives, 2) Each item for discussion, the process to be used, and the time frame for each, and 3) the person responsible for the item.

Distribute Strawman Document(s) for review. The strawman documents are the foundation for the meeting and should be posted for or distributed to participants either with or before the distribution of the agenda. The format of the posting must conform to conventions that have previously been agreed to by the meeting attendees. Any compatibility issues must be resolved prior to posting. The posting mechanism ( web, e-mail and / or newsgroup) likewise must be established prior to the distribution of information. Consider using multiple distribution mechanisms if that facilitates more effective preparation. Care should be taken to make sure that all postings are equivalent in content.

For project work, the agenda should include the background and supporting documentation of the material being reviewed. The facilitator works the group through the agenda. The facilitator should have the creator of the strawman document briefly present their agenda item. After each item is presented, a discussion period can be initiated by roundtable token-passing or facilitator recognition of specific individuals. The facilitator should establish a procedure for dealing with questions that avoids letting the discussion become a conversation between two members rather than a group discussion. The conversation log will require summarization and a ``scribe'' should be assigned.

For brainstorming sessions, the agenda should include the topic areas to be explored and the expected outcomes. The facilitator introduces the topic area and then seeks ideas from participants in either an open contribution mode or a token-passing mode. The goal is to involve all participants in the activity. The contributions should be concise and presented without details. Only clarifying questions from others may be asked. Criticism of the contribution is not permitted.

In large meetings, some "short-hand" way of recognizing individuals may be necessary. One approach is to use the "Q" or "C" signal. When an individual wishes to talk, they can either type a single "Q" or "C" to signal to all that they have a question or comment respectively. The facilitator can keep a list and recognize individuals when it is their time to speak. The facilitator may choose to allow questions first (before comments) or to take speakers in order, or some other scheme appropriate to maintain the desired group dynamics.

Rules

Each participant must respond (under the rules of the meeting) even to indicate that they have no comment. An initial short answer that can be quickly entered (followed by "...") should be given so to establish connectivity. The culture of the particular group will determine the basic rules of behavior. The ground rules should be established by the sponsor and distributed by the facilitator.

1. Honesty concerning the true state of the project must guide the discussion.
2. Don't criticize people.
3. Arrive ahead of the meeting time.
4. Learn the conventions of the electronic communications medium.
5. Respect for other's opinions and viewpoint does not mean that you must agree but rather you must listen.
6. Help the facilitator maintain focus on the subject under discussion
7. Maintain an open mind
8. Be prepared to attend the meeting
9. Expose your agenda at the beginning of the meeting or else work on the announced goals of the group
10. For project-oriented work, each agenda item not concluded by a vote should be concluded by a statement from the facilitator that summarizes the results of the discussion, identifies specific action items that are to be taken, and identifies the individuals(s) responsible for completing each action item.
11. For project-oriented work, presented, the facilitator should allow the presentation of an agenda item to be completed prior to entertaining questions and discussion. Questions and discussion should be tightly controlled by the facilitator if the number of conference participants exceeds five.
12. For brainstorming sessions, participants should remember that the group owns the ideas not any individual.

The rules of engagement represent agreed upon behavior for the conduct of the meetings. The adherence to these rules is very important since other mechanisms of "crowd control" in a face to face meeting are not available. Defections from the rules is not acceptable, either the group should either change the rules or follow them.

Voting Guidelines

A web page listing voters will be created prior to the meeting and the meeting agenda will reference this list.

Facilitator will refer to voter list at start of meeting and as needed. Participants should be asked if they have any questions regarding who is a voting member of the group.

Prior to the first vote, the facilitator will recap the voting procedure and reference again the voting list. Questions of procedure should be handled prior to the beginning of the vote.

Voting Procedure

Facilitator will announce topic and ask for those in favor....

Members who can vote enter "Y" into channel

those opposed...

Members will enter "N" into channel

Those abstaining...

Members will enter "A" into channel

Facilitator will announce vote.

Unless group requests a recorded vote, the actual vote will be deleted from the log before posting.

Executive Session

An executive session is a session where no records of the conversation are to be kept (except results) and where only those participants having official reasons to be involved are allowed to be in the conversation. Normally, that includes the voting members of the group and any others that the chair of the meeting feels are necessary due to some contribution they would make to the group's discussion. After the executive session, any official actions taken are announced.

E-Conferencing Executive Session

• Try to schedule executive sessions right before a break so that those who leave can leave and know when to come back.
• Prior to a meeting where an Executive Session is possible or likely, create and distribute a list of those who have "standing". Usually this list is the same as the list of voting members. The distribution mechanism may be newsgroup, e-mail, or a web page.
• All participants who do not have "standing" should be asked to leave. The facilitator is responsible to see that they leave (and can kick them out if necessary). If the leaving participants must return, have them go to another channel (meeting-hallway, ex #ieee3-hallway) where the facilitator can later go and ask them back. They must EXIT the channel (room) not merely add another channel.
• Upon verifying the channel contains only the correct participants, the facilitator should begin the executive session reminding participants about their obligations to purge their logs of this dicussion. The facilitator should issue a text line that serves as a boundary line
  

    BEGIN EXECUTIVE SESSION,
    CONTENTS TILL "END EXECUTIVE SESSION" CONFIDENTIAL
  

• The facilitator will then conduct the group through the items that are to be done in Executive Session.
• Upon completing the executive session, the faciliator should remind participants of their obligations to maintain confidentiality and then issue the following line into the channel:
  

    END EXECUTIVE SESSION
  

• The facilitator or designee will then invite the other participants back or recess the others for the break.
• When the all participants are back, the facilitator will announce any official actions taken by the group.

IRC Client Instructions

In this example, we are assuming that the meeting channel is #ieee3 and it's other channel for 'waiting' is #ieee3-hallway. To move to the hallway, you will need to exit the room and go to the hallway, you can do this with IRC commands by entering

  /part
  /join #ieee3-hallway

  /part
  /join #ieee3

Chat technology rules (IRC Chat or NetMeeting Chat, ICQ, etc.)

The following "rules" are offered as suggestions to improving the efficiency of meetings using this technology. Attendees who meet frequently may adopt additional techniques to make their efforts more efficient.

1. When "talking" use "..." when at the end of the line when you have not completed a thought and "." at the end of line to imply that you have finished your thought. Of course, you can use a "?" if you are ending with a question or "!" if you are done exclaiming!
2. Try not to "double", i.e. speak at the same time as someone else. A combination of the above "signaling" and the guidance of the facilitator should help keep this problem to a minimum.
3. Choose a "nickname" that is related to your name, easy to type, and which will not generate confusion with other attendees.
4. Use person-to-person chat, "whisper" (Microsoft Chat) or "/msg", to send messages to individual participants if your comments are not intended for all attendees.
5. Understand that all non-whispered conversation is available to all clients and that someone (or everyone) may make a log of the conversation. Your whispered conversation may be logged by the receiver. Choose your words accordingly.

Additional rules for using specific tools like IRC chat are offered in the appendix.

Post-meeting

The log should be available for attendee review within one day. Official minutes or idea lists should document the (potentially) externally available and archivable outcomes of the meeting. These items should be published in draft form within three days of the meeting and promptly modified or endorsed by attendees.

Limitations and Trouble Areas

The limitations and trouble areas of conducting electronic meetings can be categorized in the following: 1) Meeting Dynamics Issues and 2) Meeting Media (supporting tools). With a little preparation and awareness during the meeting, these deficiencies can be minimized. Even though face-to-face meetings and telephonic conferences are more traditional methods, e-conferencing techniques can be as effective and in some cases more effective. Nevertheless the limitations listed here are based on comparisons to these traditional methods.

Meeting Dynamics Issues

Meeting dynamics issues are the collection of interaction issues where the properties of the interaction (types, speed, etc.) are different or more significant than in face-to-face meetings.

Lack of visual and non visual clues...

Undetected conflict: The first task is to recognize the existence of conflict and begin to focus on the problem definition. Technical people tend to go to the solution as quickly as possible. If the facilitator fails to recognize the conflict any person in attendance should call attention to the conflict. An agreement to follow the meeting's ground rules will avoid many of the problems associated with undetected conflict.

Lack of Understanding / comprehension: Ask questions when you don't understand and be tolerant of those who ask questions.

Hidden Agenda Problems: Without visual and non visual clues a person can more easily operate with a hidden agenda. Don't leave issues hanging, assigned responsibility is essential. Document the action that is agreed upon.

Need for trust: Trust between the people attending the electronic conference needs to be greater than face to face meeting environments.

Need for respect: Tact, courtesy between participants and tolerance for other views (perhaps poorly expressed) are even more important in these electronic communications.

Slow input / response from fellow participants...

In synchronous meetings, participants need to be patient with each other's skill in creating text and with the minor typographical errors that will be present. The use of copy and paste from a clipboard or editor to submit previously prepared text can reduce typing delays. Preparation for the meeting can also allow for a more coherent exchange of ideas.

Equal Access to Everyone in the meeting...

With the ability to whisper each participant has the ability to influence anyone else in the meeting. The benefits of this side-conversation capability should be balanced against the disruption caused and the potential for developing hidden agendas. All participants must be aware of this need for balance.

Meeting Media

Enforcement of Rules...

The rules associated with the conduct of the meeting are enforced by all in attendance. The chat mechanism may be able to assist enforcing some of the rules but cannot fulfill enforcement of the intent of the rules which is each participants duty to observe and assist in leading all other participants to observe.

Presentation of Visuals...

Often the use of overhead slides or flip charts are used in the meetings to help focus the discussion and convey information. These aids are not available in standard IRC so it is very important to provide each attendee the supporting material ahead of time and for the attendee to prepare comments accordingly.

Summary

The common threads that run throughout this discussion dealing with limitations and trouble areas are -- preparation and cooperation. Important for any meeting, they are essential for e-Conferencing where it is more difficult to detect misunderstandings, hostility, and other emotionally based behavior. Productive and cost-effective meetings with anyone any where at any time are possible, if the proper approach to meetings is practiced by all.

Training for Electronic Conferencing

Introduction

The training required for electronic conferencing covers the three major aspects in each communications mode: tool installation, tool operation and familiarization, and meeting fundamentals. Although it is possible for someone who is already experienced in the tool used for a type of meeting (for example, IRC for synchronous meetings) to participate in a meeting without any training at all, it is preferred that all users take at least the Meeting Fundamentals training. A fourth level of training is also available for meeting facilitators. This training is structured in two levels: basic facilitator for synchronous and asynchronous meeting facilitation, and advanced facilitator for synchronous brainstorming.

New user training

Training for new users begins with how-to's for the installation, setup, and basic operation of the software tools. This training is typically included either with the product or is developed and provided by the E-conferencing Tools Team. Links to online resources are included in the tools chart in Appendix 2.

Meeting Fundamentals

The primary training course is Meeting Fundamentals. It teaches the proper usage of the tool along with meeting preparation, proper protocol, syntax and acceptable abbreviations. In order to assure the maximum benefit and efficiency from electronic conferencing, this course is required of all participants regardless of experience. This course presently consists of a reading of the chapter "Description" (desc.html) and the participation in a premeeting familiarization activity with the tools (or 'lurking' in a meeting other than your own to see the dynamics of interaction in this new medium. The group has a training coordinator (c.j.lord@ieee.org ) who is available to assist you and your group in coming up to speed in this new environment.)

Facilitator Training

Detailed training will be available for those individuals that will be facilitating electronic conferences. Skills to be taught include scheduling, meeting preparation and participant coaching, protocol and meeting flow control, and channel control for synchronous meetings. An advanced course will be developed to teach the multitasking skills necessary to facilitate brainstorming sessions.

Evaluation Form

IEEE Region 3 Electronic Conferencing Special Project

The rules, procedures, and process of meeting via the Internet are still under development and subject to continued revision. Your candid feedback is critical to the continued improvement of this medium and its documentation.

Thanks for your input!

Appendix 1 - Design Decision Documentation

This appendix attempts to briefly answer "Why we choose what we did?"

Why was IRC chosen as the baseline technology?

The use of the word "baseline" is important as there are many other products (Microsoft NetMeeting, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Pager, etc.) which feature text chat capability. IRC was chosen as the baseline technology for the Synchronous Work for the following reasons (+ means positive feature, - means "accepted negative) feature:

• + Low bandwidth requirements
• + Star configuration (server does replication of conversation instead of the client that is transmitting a new item
• + Near realtime text transmission to all participants while still providing the best effort guarantees of connection-oriented protocols
• + Highly developed feature set based on many years of use on Internet
• + Ability to add bots (not yet done)
• + Diverse support for a large number of platforms including Windows platforms from Windows 3.1 up.
• - Text only
• - Chat technology's protocol is often prohibited by company firewalls

Note that many of the techniques discussed in the main body of this report apply equally well to IRC and other text-based chat mechanisms.

Why was port 7000 chosen?

TCP (transmission control protocol, a connection oriented protocol) uses a fixed port choice (often referred to as well-known port number) to connect the client process to the server. Firewalls, which allow owners to block some TCP/IP uses while allowing others, can block on a variety of characteristics including port numbers.

The normal port used by IRC servers is 6667. Use of this standard eliminates some configuration effort on clients as most client software defaults to this standard value. However, if a particular owner has decided to exclude normal IRC chat (due to other chat services that are not considered "important" to the owner) then using another port may allow the chat user doing "electronic meetings" through a firewall to a IRC server set up for electronic meetings.

Our present IRC server allows users to connect on either port 6667 or 7000 (the former for ease of setup and the latter for firewall issues.) MSChat limits port choices to 6000-7000 and 7000 was arbitrarily chosen as the alternate port number. [[We are requesting that e-conf users behind firewalls research this issue and give advise on the alternate port number. See the note below for an alternative approach to firewalls.]] [[The tools folks may wish to take this on as a sub-topic in the other appendix.]]

Note: Another solution to the firewall problem is to approach the firewall owner and seek to have an additional rule added to the firewall rules which allows IRC conversations to a particular meeting server based on fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP number.

Why is auto-flood protection turned off?

Auto-flood protection is used by IRC clients to solve a "denial of service" problem where some (bad) IRC user tries to deny another (victim) IRC user access to the groups information. The bad IRC user does this by "flooding" the victim with so many lines of input that they can't handle any other input. The client setting which helps fix this problem is to auto-ignore IRC users who send more than some number of lines in a time period.

Alas, this features prevents an IRC user like a moderator from sending multiple lines by a "cut & paste" method without risking becoming ignored by meeting participants. In closed IRC environments such as the one being proposed for meetings, the "benefits" of multi-line sending exceed the problems of multi-line sending and thus users are advised to permit this multi-line sending.

Note: This setting is often "missed" by beginning participants so the moderator should be prepared to assist them in real time "fixing" of their clients. [[Note to tools folks --> you might wish to emphasize this setting on a tool by tool basis in the documentation.]]

Why is the recommended meeting time 2 hours or less?

Electronic chat meetings generally proceed slower than the equivalent face-to-face meeting depending upon the amount of preparation by all participants. Unlike face-to-face meetings, participants who are "listening" can actually handle a minor interruption or stretch without impacting the meeting. Our recommendation is to limit meetings to a maximum of two hours, and strive to keep the meeting as short as possible while ensuring full participation.

Appendix - Internet Relay Chat

Introduction

The purpose of this page is discuss the acquisition and installation of chat client software which uses Internet Relay Chat (IRC) protocol. The focus of this installation is to support the conducting Project Oriented Work Sessions including Brainstorming and other electronic meetings for IEEE volunteers using Synchronous Electronic Communications methods. For the purpose of this work, synchronous means that both parties are "on-line" at the same time and are able to see each others' inputs and respond in near real-time. This technology is similar to a telephone conference call except 1) it is conducted over the Internet (lower cost) and 2) uses typed text instead of voice for communicating, and 3) maintains a log that serves as a record of the meeting.

Project Oriented work is a group activity with the purpose of performing a design activity, solving a problem, discussing an issue, etc. It usually precedes and is followed by individual efforts on the project.

IRC Clients - Some examples and where to find them

The table below summarizes a variety of clients that are available that allow users to chat using the IRC protocol. The Volunteer column relates which members of the e-conf project have tried the client and might be able to offer some support. In a typical meeting three or four of the clients have been in use.

Note 1. *** marks the recommended client per platform.

Note 2. Shareware, normally $20 registration but the mIRC author Khaled Mardam-Bey has informed us that "I allow non-profit organizations to use mIRC freely, so in the above case, for IEEE meetings, IEEE is licensed to use as many copies of mIRC as it needs freely for group meetings, etc." The Region 3 e-conf team hereby thank him for his generosity. Note that if you use this fine product for other than IEEE business you should register the program.

The following table gives the URLs for those reading a paper version of this report. The links match the ones associated with the links in table above.

An excellent source of IRC clients is Stroud's CWSApps, www.stroud.com. This site is one of the Internet's best directories of freeware and shareware. All of the most popular IRC clients are indexed along with user reviews. Please note that the IRC applications for Windows platforms are categorized by 32 bit and 16 bit. Make sure that you download the application that fits your operating system.

IRC Clients - How to install

Each of these clients comes with install instructions and some sort of install procedure. Follow the procedure and install the product.

After installing the software, some configuration is necessary. The exact details vary per program, but you wish to set up the following information:

Nickname:     nickname     (i.e. DaveG)
Real Name:    full name    (i.e. Dave Green)
Chat Server:  irc.ewh.ieee.org
Password:     xxxxxxxx
Chat Room:    #ieee3 (the Region 3 chat channel but 
                      any name with leading "#" is fine)
Port:         6667   (or 7000)
Auto-ignore:  Turn off (Sometimes know as anti-flooding.
                      This setting allows more lines to be 
                      sent quickly to you.  This can be
                      dangerous on normal chats but very 
                      useful for quickly sending out
                      lists of items to participants.)

Installing mIRC (cheat sheet)

1. Download the mirc56x.exe (or later) file from the www.mirc.com web site (or acquire a CD with the install file)
2. Run the mirc56x.exe (or later) install program and choose to install it into the directory c:\mirc (or your choice)
3. Go to the c:\mirc directory
4. Delete or rename the files mirc.ini and servers.ini
5. Run mIRC from the Start Menu or by double clicking on the .exe file
6. Add server:
   
   Description: IEEE
   IRC Server: irc.ieee.org
   Port: 6667 (default)
   Group (leave blank)
   Password: Obtain
   
   Click "ADD"
7. Add server:
   
   Description: UAB
   IRC Server: ccc.chat.uab.edu
   Port: 6667 (default)
    Group (leave blank)
   Password: (leave blank)
   
   Click "ADD"
8. Enter the following personal info:
   
   Name:
   Email:
   Nickname: (usually First Name plus last initial unless this in not unique in group -- example: DickR, DaveG)
   Alternative nickname: (pick another unique name)
   (Note: nicknames cannot contain spaces or symbols)
   
9. Under options, go to IRC, flood.
   Make sure that "enable flood protection" is not checked
10. Under options, go to IRC, logging.
    Check "Automatically log channels" and "Date filenames"
    Click OK to save options.
11. Log onto your ISP if not already connected.
12. In mIRC, click on File, Connect.
    When the Channels window appears, type in #ieee3 and click "ADD".
    Click "Join"
13. To close a channel, close the channel window or type /quit .

Specific Comments for Microsoft Chat

The Win98 CD contains a relatively recent release of Microsoft Chat. Alas, this version does not support passwords and thus can not be used on the IEEE irc.ewh.ieee.org server. You will need to download the new client at the URL above. You will need at MS Chat Version 2.5 or later in order to connect with the IEEE server.

1. Some users have found it difficult to set a server password in MS Chat (2.5). Try the following:
   1. When you get denied, pick "cancel" and with luck you move to "working offline".
   2. While offline, choose from the Menu: View | Options.
   3. From the dialog box, choose the "Servers" tab
   4. The "Network" box may show something, use the drop-down to cause ">None>" to be selected.
   5. In the bottom left hand area, there may be 'irc.ewh.ieee.org' listed in the list area. If not, type it "irc.ewh.ieee.org" in the textbox just above the list area and hit the "add button".
   6. Now, select irc.ewh.ieee.org from the list area by single clicking on it, looking to the right, in the "Advanced Settings Area" change the radio button to select "IRC username/password". Then enter the password into the password text field leaving the username blank.
   7. Click on the "Remember Password" so we don't have to do this again <GRIN>.
   8. Hit "OK".
   9. Exit the program, come back in choosing irc.ewh.ieee.org as your server and you should be going.
2. On View | Options Menu, Settings Tab, Make sure that "Don't Send Microsoft Chat specific information is checked". (This allows "friendly" inoperabilty with non-Microsoft IRC clients and the log.
3. On View Menu, choose either the "Text" view or "Comic Strip".
4. On View | Automation Menu, General Tab, Make sure "Auto ignore enabled" is NOT checked.
5. TO SAVE A CONFERENCE MEETING (LOGGING)
   1. If you are in COMIC mode, switch to TEXT mode.
   2. On the FILE menu click on SAVE
   3. Double-click on the folder you want to save the meeting.
   4. In the FILE name box, type a name for the log, and then click SAVE.

mIRC Specific Information

To install this program, simply run the install program that is downloaded. After installing the program, configure it by

1. On mIRC Options: Connect, click on add to add "IEEE" server with address of irc.ewh.ieee.org and the server's password. Fill in any miessing identification while this option is highlighted.
2. On mIRC Options: IRC | Flood, disable the checkbox "Enable flood protection".

To save or log a session, right-click on the top "tab" (right below the buttons) which contains the "channel" name and select the "Logging..." option to both turn-on logging and selecting the log file. The file is a text file and each session is appended to any existing file. One may wish to adopt a usage/naming convention of renaming the file to channel-date.log at the end of the session.

Chat technology usage

The following "rules" are offered as suggestions to improving the efficiency of meetings using this technology. Attendees who meet frequently may adopt additional techniques to make their efforts more efficient.

1. When "talking" use "..." when at the end of the line when you have not completed a thought and "." at the end of line to imply that you have finished your thought. Of course, you can use a "?" if you are ending with a question or "!" if you are done exclaiming! Note that while many of the clients allow you type multiple lines before sending, if you send a partial thought with the "..." appended, the other participants feel more connected to the conversation.

2. Try not to "double", i.e. speak at the same time as someone else. A combination of the above "signaling" and the guidance of the facilitator should help keep this problem to a minimum.

3. Choose a "nickname" that is related to your name, easy to type, and which will not generate confusion with other attendees. Example e-conf team member names are DaveG, BobD, dickriddl, and CharlesL. Nicknames must be short and it is helpful if they do not contain spaces.

4. Use "whisper" (Microsoft Chat) or "/msg" to send messages to individual participants if your comments are not intended for all attendees.

5. Keep in mind that logs of chat sessions like tape recordings of meetings represent something beyond minutes. Use of the these logs should be carefully considered and all participants should be aware that recordings are being made.

6. In large meetings, some "short-hand" way of recognizing individuals may be necessary. One approach is to use the "Q" or "C" signal. When an individual wishes to talk, they can either type a single "Q" or "C" to signal to all that they have a question or comment respectively. The facilitator can keep a list and recognize individuals when it is their time to speak. The facilitator may choose to allow questions first (before comments) or to take speakers in order, or some other scheme appropriate to group dynamics.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are often used in chatting to save typing.

1. <BG> - (BIG) grin see <G>
2. BTW - By the way
3. FWIW - For what it is worth
4. GA - go ahead
5. <g> - grin
6. <G> - (big) grin see <BG>
7. LOL - laughing out loud
8. ROFL - rolling on floor laughing

Some additional abbreviations to convey "feeling" are documented as emoticons. See for example http://http://www.fingertek.com/smilies.htm.

IRC - How do I find a server to host my chat

The Region 3 E-Conference Project used the IEEE IRC Server (irc.ewh.ieee.org) that is currently in beta phase of installation and release. There are hundreds of servers on the Internet that allow public use of their system for group chats. Many of these servers are dedicated by subject but others allow general use for any subject (blessing and curse!). Sources of IRC servers that can be used include the following:

The IRC Help Organization, http://irchelp.org/irchelp/networks/nets/big4.html

YAHOO, http://dir.yahoo.com/computers_and_internet/internet/chat/irc/

The Ultimate IRC Resource, http://www.familychat.net/

The Undernet IRC Network, http://www.undernet.org

mIRC, http://www.mirc.co.uk/servers.html

For use of a particular server, go to the server's web site and follow their instructions. Some of the chat applications such as Microsoft Chat, have built in servers for public use. Other servers can also be used.

Keeping your connection alive

Some users (especially AOL users) have reported problems keeping their connection alive during the time they are chatting (and thus NOT using the AOL client). Users in similar predicaments suggest obtaining the shareware ($19.95) software "Stay Connected!" from http://www.inklineglobal.com/.

Additional IRC Documents and Help Information

If you are seeking additional information on IRC, check out http://www.irchelp.org/. At this site, you will find links to basic topics such as "IRC Prelude", "IRC FAQ", "IRC Primer", and "IRC Tutorial" and also links such as "Nukes & Trojan Attacks" and a variety of other links for the serious IRC user and operator.

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Appendix - Glossary

Brainstorming

An interactive mix or reinforced exchange of ideas. A brainstorming session may include a combination of "random" ideas that are offered at will to answer a need, along with reinforced ideas that are "bounced off" other attendees and offered back with the other attendees' modifications and additions. To facilitate the collection and mesh of ideas, the initial idea exchange part of a brainstorming session would more often be held in "synchronous" mode with all attendees taking advantage of the short delay between offered ideas and counter-offered answers and suggestions. The second, or prioritizing, segment of the meeting may take place either in a continued synchronous mode or in an asynchronous mode. The choice between modes would be made by the facilitator; the workload of providing immediate vote synopses or lists versus an off-line tally that could be assembled after the initial meeting and voted on by the attendees (and perhaps others) once all have had a chance to reflect on the ideas offered. Other variations may be made in brainstorming whereas all segments of the meeting are held in asynchronous mode. In this case, the rules and procedures of asynchronous meetings would be followed.

e-conf

Electronic conferencing (shortened form)

IRC

Internet relay chat and the protocol and programs that support it. A system for conducting on-line discussions using line by line typing with information sent to all participants in near real time.

Facilitator

Person whose role is to help the group have an effective meeting

Strawman

First draft of a document put together to be the basis for discussion

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Comments on this page may be sent to This page: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/e-conf/guidelines/master.html Region 3 E-Conference Project: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/e-conf/ Last modified: Mon Dec 15 22:21:39 2003