[EFM] ad hoc, ad nauseum
For some reason, I have seen a brief but intense
flurry of e-mail on the subject of "ad hoc" groups,
both within the 802.3ah EFM Task Force, and within
other 802 working groups. I am not sure what has
sparked this interest in "ad hoc" groups.
First, there are no officially sanctioned,
recognized, or chartered (whatever that means)
ad hoc groups within 802.3ah at this time.
Second, there is no instance of "ad hoc"
in either the 802.3 or the 802 operating rules.
Third, any one can gather a group of people
together on an "ad hoc" basis to work on
solving a problem or developing a proposal to
address a topic of interest. As long as you
are working to achieve the goals and conduct
the business of the 802.3ah EFM Task Force,
you are welcome to use the available resources,
including our email reflectors, subject to
the IEEE's acceptable use policy, as described
at: http://eleccomm.ieee.org/email-aup.shtml,
and subject to the rules of the 802.3ah EFM Task
Force and its parent committees.
Fourth, gathering a group together on an
"ad hoc" basis doesn't grant the group or its
output any special status. It's just
a group of individuals working on a problem.
You can call it an ad hoc, you can call it
a tiger team, you can call it the Magnificent
Seven (if there happen to be seven of you).
The goal is to convince >=75% of your peers
to support your solution. The quality of
the solution, not the source of the solution,
will be the determining factor in meeting
this goal.
Now, let's return to the business
at hand. 802.3ah has a lot of work to do.
We are still in need of baseline proposals
that support our objectives, with the notable
exceptions of our objectives for PONs and
extended temperature 1000BASE-LX optics,
which are being met via the baseline
proposals adopted in St. Louis.
Use conference calls. Use e-mail. Use
face to face meetings where practical.
Gather your supporters and your detractors,
and hammer out compromises and find
solutions. Don't take on new problems
until we have solved the problems at
hand. Our meeting in Edinburgh is a
mere 6 weeks away. Focus on drafting
proposals that will win the day.
That's my preachy pep talk for
the day. Go get 'em!
Howard