RIPE 74 Programme Committee Lunch Meeting

InterContinental Budapest hotel – Budapest, Hungary
Wednesday 10 May 2017, 12:30-14:00

Chair: Benno Overeinder
Present: Leslie Carr, Shane Kerr, Jelte Jansen, Alex Semenyaka, Ondřej Surý, Peter Hessler, Brian Nisbet, Osama I. Al-Dosary, Jan Žorž, Mike Hughes, Maria Isabel Gandía Carriedo, János Zsakó
Guests: Hans Petter Holen, Adam Castle, Nick Hykra, Mirjam Kühne
Minutes: Martina de Mas

Welcome
PC elections
Improving the workflow feedback on Programme Committtee Submission system (PCSS) improvements
RIPE 74 feedback
RIPE Meeting diversity
RIPE 75 planning
AOB

Welcome
PC elections

The voting window for the PC elections was discussed, considering the number of votes received so far along with ideas on how to encourage more people to vote in the election.
Improving the workflow feedback on Programme Committtee Submission System (PCSS) improvements
The PC expressed gratitude for the recent improvements to the PCSS. They also requested the possibility for the system to automatically convert all presentations into PDF format upon submission. This and other features will be added for future RIPE Meetings.
RIPE 74 feedback

The group discussed presentation ratings so far. They went on to discuss the positive and negative aspects of chairing a session at RIPE 74.

The RACI sessions were praised, which led to a discussion on how the RIPE NCC and the PC could encourage more young people to present at RIPE Meetings.

The group then discussed the RIPE 74 programme, highlighting presentations they found particularly interesting. The room set-up was deemed a success in terms of encouraging audience engagement.

The group also considered ways in which they could assist presenters, such as via a mentoring or guidance arrangement, pre-prepared questions for each speaker, and the opportunity for the PC to review the delivery of a presentation before it was accepted to the programme.
The issue of timing was again raised, in order to ensure sessions ran to schedule.
RIPE Meeting diversity
Members of the Diversity Task Force reported on their workshop and explained the focus of the session they would hold in the Friday morning plenary slot. The suggestions coming out of this workshop include:
- More involvement of local communities at earlier stages
- Make sure the PC is reaching out also to smaller groups
- Establish a childcare facility at future RIPE Meetings
- More planning of the net-grrls lunch at the RIPE Meetings
- Extend fellowship tickets
- Encourage remote presentations
- Make the submissions system anonymous at the first stage to facilitate blind reviews
It was understood by the meeting that the task force would be operating through a long-term process and that the first report would be presented in Marseilles at RIPE 76. The task force will initially focus on gender diversity and will then broaden to consider as many diversity segments as possible.
The group then went on to discuss the suggestion of anonymity in the PCSS in order to avoid bias as much as possible. The task force agreed to work on improving the inclusivity of the submission system.
RIPE 75 planning
The group heard that the RIPE 74 Host would be the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which is responsible for the telecommunications and information technology industries in the UAE. The meeting will start on the Sunday instead of the Monday, in line with the working week in the Middle East. Registration will open sooner than usual (on 26 June) to allow more time for the attendees to get a VISA and plan their travel.
AOB
The group gave feedback on the current Meeting Networking Tool and heard the RIPE NCC would pilot its own Networking tool at RIPE 75. The PC also discussed a greater level of proactivity in sending presentation feedback and ratings to presenters, and in reviewing the Lightning Talks.

Shane Kerr was thanked for his hard work as he stepped down from the PC.