Conference 7.286::digital

1) Try posting this request in the VAXnotes_Intro Conference (located at
   WARLRD::VAXNOTES_INTRO), as this appears to pertain directly to the 
   VAXnotes product and those who are "in the know" monitor that conference.

2) Try getting in touch with the Atlanta Customer Support Center (800)DEC-8000. 
   They do support of the product and may be of some help.

Hope this helps...

-Andy

    I know of two cases in which VAX Notes conferences are used exclusively
    for decision-making.  Unfortunately, neither can be shown to customers,
    because both deal with unannounced products, or aspects of products.
    In general, this is true of all VAX Notes conferences on the EasyNet.
    I suggest you explain to them that our decision-making process is
    not available for public viewing, and present them a synthetic example.
        John Sauter

>    I suggest you explain to them that our decision-making process is
>    not available for public viewing, and present them a synthetic example.

And when you do this, you might want to be careful that you use the features
of VAX Notes to good advantage, including such things as titles for topics
that you write.

/john

    We are currently showing VAXNotes as a tool made possible by DEC's
    Networks in the Van Seminar now touring the country.  We are explaining
    what VAXNotes is about and then go into an old file (which is VERY
    carefully watched) and show them an example of how Noting works.
    
    It's been very successful!
    
    							-Steve

        Gee, every time I try to raise major issues requiring
        decisions in notes conferences, somebody will enter a reply
        saying that notes conferences are not the appropriate place
        to reach important decisions (I can point to a location in
        the DECwindows conference -- note 9.9 for instance). 

        Bob

    It depends on the audience of the Notes conference.  Major decisions
    are best made by a small group with lots of input from a much larger
    group. Thus a two-tiered structure of Notes conferences works well: a
    private conference for the actual decision-making and a company-wide
    (there, I *didn't* say public) one for input. 
        
    Some specific issues can often be handled best by a consensus of
    interested individuals.  It would be interesting to compile a list of
    attributes of an issue which make a decision likely in this
    environment.  Off the top of my head, here's mine (in no particular
    order): 
    o	Non-flammable issue (no strong emotions)
    o   Issue breaks naturally into a few packaged alternatives
        (this way or that way?)
    o	Issue is well-bounded (unlikely to raise serious global issues)

    In complicated or emotional issues, a big conference is great for
    getting all the facts and ideas on the table.  When you actually have
    to pull those facts and ideas together into a decision, the very
    factors which make for good undirected brainstorming become a
    hindrance. So for the actual decision, you really have to resort to a
    more restricted conference. 
    
    Also:  How you think about a conference defines what it is.  Whatever
    it is generally viewed as:
    o   a Q&A file,
    o   a place to champion their views or vent their feelings,
    o   a place to have their ideas "sanity checked",
    o   an internal publishing medium, 
    o   a way to give input to another organization, 
    o   a place in which to make real business decisions, 
    that is what it becomes.

    In DEC, most company-wide conferences function as Q&A files, an input
    mechanism, and a place to vent feelings.  This seems to be a part of
    DEC culture.  Unless a conference is started from scratch with an
    emphasis on making decisions, it probably won't be able to do that
    effectively; even then, without a moderator to "direct the meeting", it
    only takes a few people just shooting the breeze to sidetrack it.

    							Ralph

    I'm myself a member of a restricted conference the only purpose
    of which is to be a reporting tool for an internal project whose
    members (less than 10 of them) are scattered between Valbonne, Evry
    and Basingstoke. Depending on who's implicated and the evolution
    of the project, this conference is likely to evolve into a decision-
    making tool, this was agreed by the members at the conference creation.
    I think there is no problem at all with such an use for a conference,
    but I'm afraid this is also an example which cannot be shown outside
    the company (there are good reasons to restrict the conference).
    			Denis.

    Many product and program developments now use NOTES conferences
    to conduct an open brainstorming/decision/review process. The two
    obvious advantages are that the discussions are recorded, and that
    the membership in the discussion can be worldwide as appropriate
    without regard to timezones, travel, or vacation schedules.
    
    As an example, one of our most critical architectures is now actively
    managed with the help of a restricted NOTES conference. Individual
    proposals are made there as proposed ECOs to the standard. Then the
    various conference members vote on the proposal by replying. Finally,
    the architect reviews these responses and posts the conclusion as a
    further reply. 
                   
    Other topics are used by individuals to pose problems they may have
    interpretting the standard. Then various members of the conference
    reply with their comments, observations, and interpretations.
    Frequently, this discussion will bring out informal discussions
    that were had when a particular feature was added to the standard
    originally. 
    
    Sometimes a topic will be posted proposing that a particular problem be
    solved. Various members will then contribute ideas to the solution.
    Others may criticize these proposals. After a reasonable amount of
    discussion it usually becomes clear either that there is a consensus or
    that there is insufficient consensus to address the particular problem.
    
    For particularly complex issues, a subcommittee is selected. In this
    case, minutes of the meetings are posted. Eventually, a detailed memo
    analyzing the situation and proposed solutions is also posted. This
    allows others to review the thinking and amplify on it. Again, the
    result is a much broader review than classic decision processes have
    allowed. 
    
    <<You are welcome to extract this specific reply and use some or all of
    it in your presentation.>> 

           I have a specific example:                         
           
           As a member of a project I was assigned the task
           of writing a functional specification.  The main
           meat of the spec. would be a glossary of terms.
           
           I created a restrict conference (project members
           only) which contained as each base note a single
           term, and an initial definition.
           
           Concerned members of the team add comments and
           suggestions as reply's.  When I was ready to generate
           an initial draft of the spec, I collected the ideas
           and comments from the reply and created a reply
           with a definition.
           
           By adding a keyword to the reply ie V1.0 and using
           the term as the title of the reply, I was able
           to write a command procedure to create a RUNOFF
           document, directly from the notes file.
           
           As new term where needed they where added as base
           notes.  And if a major change occurred a new set
           of keywords "V1.1 or V2.0" could be created and
           a new document printed.