[AG-TECH] RE: April 13th Meeting

Mon Apr 9 09:06:16 CDT 2001

Thanks Raquell; that's very helpful. I'm looking forward to working with
everybody on this meeting -- it's a great use of the AG. Below are a few
more things we need.

BTW, I'm leaving ag-tech on the CC list only because I'm not certain of
the list of participating sites, or the appropriate technical contacts
for these sites. In general, ag-tech does not need to be cc'ed on mail
regarding specific event preparations (unless the majority of AG sites are
affected by the event).

More stuff we need to prepare:

* Since at least one new node is participating, I'd recommend all
operators arrive at their nodes 60 minutes before the event begins. Also,
when the agenda is finalized please keep in mind that operators need
breaks from time to time, both for any technical fixes which need to be
put in place and for personal needs (say, a 10-minute break every 2
hours).

* It would be very helpful to know the order of the powerpoint
presentations; as long as we've got that information before the meeting
starts, things should go reasonably smoothly. Also, one site needs to
provide the PowerPoint server (the PPT master will rotate from site to
site depending on where the presenter is). BU can provide the PPT server
if desired.

* We need a sense of how fault-tolerant the meeting is. If there are
serious network problems, would it be acceptable to the group if we needed
to break for five minutes while affected sites switch to a network bridge?
If not, we'll need a conference call set up for us to use as a backup
audio solution.

* We need confirmation of which sites are participating. Here's my
understanding:

	* University of Washington
	* University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (CS dept node)
	* Boston University
	* Argonne
	* possibly DC (I assume that's ACCESS)

For each of these sites, we need to know who the technical contact is.
Also, I assume somebody's talking to Tom Coffin about whether the
ACCESS-DC node is availabile; I'm aware they were having some trouble with
their audio last week.

* We need to finalize the date and time for our test session, make sure 
that all participating sites are available and planning to attend, and
make sure a Virtual Venue room is reserved. I'm guessing from some earlier
mails that Fred's taking care of this?

* Since there's at least one new site participating in the meeting, I want
to underscore the importance of using the MUD as a communications
backchannel during the event. All operators should be on the Venues MUD
during the test session and the actual event. A MUD client connects to the
appropriate room in the Venues MUD on the AG display machine during normal
operations; all operators should watch that MUD throughout the event for
communications from other operators.

- Jennifer

On Sun, 8 Apr 2001, Raquell M. Holmes wrote:

> For the agenda, there will primarily be presentations with a round of
> discussions towards the end of the day. People will have powerpoint
> presentations which we are collecting and will have available for download
> from a site that will be set up on Monday.
> 
> Is there more  that you need to know for the technical preparations?
> 
> At 04:35 PM 4/6/01 -0400, Jennifer Teig von Hoffman wrote:
> >Fred,
> >
> >I've put this test session on my calendar for 12:30 - 2:30PM PDT (3:30 -
> >5:30 PM EDT). Thank you for organizing this.
> >
> >I hope that somebody on the organizing committee can provide an agenda
> >soon, so we can determine what technical preparations are necessary (and
> >therefore what we need to test during the cruise in addition to basic
> >audio and video).
> >
> >- Jennifer
> >
> >On Fri, 6 Apr 2001 fred at cs.washington.edu wrote:
> >
> >> I second the proposal for a test, especially since this will be our
> >> first ever attempt to host a "real" AG event.  The space here is also a
> >> conference room that tends to get fully booked, so I should reserve a
> >> time for testing right away.
> >> 
> >> I'll propose Wednesday between 12:30 and 2:30 PDT.  Other times,
> >> particularly on Tuesday and Wednesday are still available if I move
> >> fast.   I also set aside one hour prior to the meeting 8-9am PDT, but I
> >> prefer to have tested before then.
> >> 
> >> Fred
> >> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Juan E. Gilbert [mailto:gilbert at eng.auburn.edu]
> >> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 11:57 AM
> >> To: Fred Videon
> >> Cc: jtvh at bu.edu; roscoe at bu.edu; raquell at bu.edu; p-lenear at uiuc.edu;
> >> Rodney Prieto; ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov; Roscoe Giles; Raquell M. Holmes;
> >> Valerie Taylor
> >> Subject: April 13th Meeting
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Fred,
> >> 
> >> I sent an earlier email with a typo in it.  The scheduled meeting time
> >> is
> >> 9am - 1pm PT.  It has been requested that we extend the meeting my 1
> >> hour,
> >> 9am - 2pm PT, if possible.
> >> 
> >> I also agree that a test would be beneficial.  If possible, Fred, let
> >> everyone know good test dates and times.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Thank you all for your assistance,
> >> 
> >> --
> >> Juan E. Gilbert, Ph.D.
> >> Auburn University
> >> Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
> >> 107 Dunstan Hall
> >> Auburn, AL 36849-5347
> >> gilbert at eng.auburn.edu
> >> http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~gilbert/
> >> 
> >> 
> >
> 