Open Stack

Sean McGinnis wrote:
> [...]
> But part of my concern to getting rid of the meeting is that I do find it
> valuable. The arguments against having it are some of the same I've heard for
> our in-person events. It's hard for some to travel to the PTG. There's a lot
> of active discussion at the PTG that is definitely a challenge for non-native
> speakers to keep up with. But I think we all recognize what value having events
> like the PTG provide. Or the Summit/Design Summit/Forum/Midcycle/
> pick-your-favorite.

It's a great point. We definitely make faster progress on some reviews
by committing to that one-hour weekly busy segment. I think the
difference with the PTG (or midcycles) is that PTG is a lot more
productive setting than the meeting is, due to increased, face-to-face
bandwidth combined with a flexible schedule. It's also an exceptional
once-per-cycle event, rather than how we conduct business day-to-day.
It's useful to get together and we are very productive when we do, but
that doesn't mean we should all move and live all the time in the same
house to get things done.

I think we have come to rely too much on the weekly meeting. For a lot
of us, it provides a convenient, weekly hour to do TC business, and a
helpful reminder of what things should be reviewed before it. It allows
to conveniently ignore TC business for the rest of the week.
Unfortunately, due to us living on a globe, it happens at an hour that
is a problem for some, and a no-go for others. So that convenience is
paid in the price of other's inconvenience or exclusion. Changing or
rotating the hour just creates more confusion, disruption and misery. So
I think we need to reduce our dependency on that meeting.

We don't have to stop doing meetings entirely. But I think that
day-to-day TC business should be conducted more on the ML and the
reviews, and that meetings should be exceptional. That can be achieved
by posting a weekly pulse email, and only organizing meetings when we
need the additional bandwidth (like if the review and ML threads are not
going anywhere). Then the meeting can be organized at the most
convenient time for the most critical stakeholders, rather than at the
weekly set time that provides the less overall inconvenience. If we need
a meeting to directly discuss a new project team proposed by people
based in Beijing, we should not have that meeting at 4am Beijing time,
and that should be the only meeting topic.

Cheers!

-- 
Thierry Carrez (ttx)