Re: [Qirg] draft-irtf-qirg-principles-01

[Bruno Rijsman <[e-mail]>]

> I would also like to use this opportunity to ask for some help. I don't
> actually know what is the best way to drive the development of a draft,
> so if people on this mailing list who have more experience in this
> could help me out that would be greatly appreciated!


Hi Wojchiek,

Putting the draft in a public GitHub repo and inviting pull requests is already a great step towards fostering collaboration. Here are some additional steps you could take:

(1) PERIODIC VIDEO CALL

* Have periodic (I suggest bi-weekly) video conference calls.

* Allow anyone to attend the call (in reality, you will get a small core team of a few people, and a varying cast of tourists). Avoid secretive “core teams” and "backroom meetings".

* Always have the call at the same weekday  (e.g. every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month) and time. This creates a habit of attending. 

* Pick a time that works for as many time-zones as possible (e.g. 9am California = 6pm Western Europe).

* Always use the same URL for each call.

* A few days before each call, re-announce the call on the QIRG mailing list (once is not enough), including date, time, URL, and link to the GitHub repo for a summary of open issues.

* Avoid postponing or rescheduling calls (people mostly attend out of habit and generally miss rescheduling announcements).

* Use a low-friction video conference call platform such as Zoom or BlueJeans. (Apologies for being opinionated here, but if have wasted a lot of time calls not working.)  Don’t use a free plan that cuts off the call after 40 minutes.

* Record the meetings and store the recordings in a public place (e.g. in the GitHub repo itself). Make sure you let people know that the call is being recorded at the beginning of each call.

* Immediately after the call, post a short (< 1 page) summary of the call on the QIRG mailing list and store it in the GitHub repo.

(2) FORMAL ISSUE TRACKING

* Use GitHub Issues (instead of a text file) to track open issues. The main advantage is that it allows people to take formal ownership of an issue.

Some other suggestions, unrelated to collaboration:

(3) MARKDOWN FORMAT

* You may want to consider using the new markdown format (instead of the older XML format) for the draft. It should be easier to use and I suspect (but don't know for sure) that I may have better support for mathematical formulas and for diagrams (i.e. doesn't force you to use ascii art).

-- Bruno