Subject: NEW TOOL: IETF Meeting Session Request Tool

From: IETF Secretariat <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 17:06:43 -0500

Dear IETF Working Group Chairs:

The Secretariat had developed a Web tool for requesting working group 
sessions at IETF Meetings: the "IETF Meeting Session Request Tool."  
This tool will allow you to submit, via a Web form, all of the 
information that the Secretariat requires to schedule your working 
group sessions.

The tool does not perform any actual scheduling.  It simply replaces 
e-mail as the method for requesting session slots with a well-structured 
input of those requests, which will make the scheduling process easier 
and more efficient.  The basic features of the tool are summarized at 
the end of this message.

We plan to deploy the tool for IETF 65, and it will be available to you 
when scheduling opens on January 16, 2006.  On that date, the Secretariat 
will send you a message announcing the opening of scheduling for IETF 65.  
The message will contain the information that you will need to use the 
tool, including:

(a) The URL for the tool (you will use the same User ID and password that 
you use for the "Meeting Materials Management Tool."), and

(b) The URL for a Web page with instructions for using the tool.

Please note that the tool cannot be used to request BOF sessions.  
Therefore, please continue to submit requests for BOF sessions via e-mail.

We hope that you will find this tool to be a convenient alternative to 
e-mail for submitting your requests for session slots at IETF meetings to 
the Secretariat.  If you have any questions about the tool at this time, 
then please send a message to [email-masked].

Regards,

The IETF Secretariat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Features of the IETF Meeting Session Request Tool

(1) A user can request a new session, modify the requirements for a 
previously requested session, or cancel a session.

(2) If a user requests more than two sessions for a single working group, 
then the request will be forwarded to the Area Directors for that working 
group for approval.  The tool will provide a separate interface for the 
Area Directors to review and approve or reject the request.

(3) Requests will be submitted via a Web form with pre-defined fields and 
drop-down lists.  The tool will ensure that all required information is 
included before a request is submitted.

(4) Once a request is submitted, the working group will appear on the 
user's main page of the "Meeting Materials Management Tool" so that the 
user can upload an agenda.

---

From: Martin Duerst <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 13:08:38 +0900

>information that the Secretariat requires to schedule your working

Short question: can the tool also be used to request/indicate that
a group does not want/need to meet?

Regards,    Martin.