TC39 hosts six plenary meetings per-year that all permit remote participation. Ordinarily three meetings are fully remote and three are in-person, a.k.a. "hybrid". This document describes how to host an in-person meeting.
Full details are below. The big ticket items you need budget for, and access to, are:
- A room that can seat ~35 people for three days that has a large display to show slides and the video call.
- High quality internet, speakers, and microphones for the video call
- Catering for breakfast and lunch over the three days
- One social dinner outing for all attendees
Contact the Chair Group who will be happy to talk through the requirements.
It's wise to do this at least one year before you might consider holding the event, but don't let that hold you back volunteering at any time. It takes time to build the schedule of in-person meetings, and usually the limiting factor is lack of volunteer hosts. So the Chair Group are likely to be very grateful for your interest.
Meetings are three days in the middle of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) to permit Monday and Friday as travel days. The date must be committed and advertised to committee at least four months in advance, ideally longer.
A standard schedule is:
- 09:00 Attendees begin arriving and having breakfast
- 10:00 Formal meeting begins
- 12:00 Lunch hour begins
- 13:00 Formal meeting resumes
- 14:50 A 20-min mid-afternoon break with snacks
- 15:10 Formal meeting resumes
- 17:00 Formal meeting ends
- 18:00 All attendees have exited
The final day (Thursday) finishes one hour earlier than this.
There are no hard requirements on meeting locations other than it achieving sufficient interest from potential attendees. The Chair Group measure this using Interest Surveys that happen 3-4 months ahead of the meeting.
We generally aim to cover the three geographies over a year: AMER, APAC, EMEA. We aim to be accessible so proximity to an international airport helps. Delegates appreciate venues that are close to accomodation and public transport.
- It is essential that guests can gain access to the meeting without being forced or asked to sign an NDA.
- Any requirements for building access must be communicated to the Chairs as early as possible.
- Requiring Photo ID is reasonable and should be advertised at least one month before the meeting.
- Ideally the check-in area should be close to the meeting room and the process should not involve needing to block on waiting for a host chaperone.
- The meeting room must be for the exclusive use of TC39 over the three days and be reasonably quiet.
- There must be seating with desks for at least 35 people.
- The ideal seating layout is a three-sided U-shaped arrangement where everyone can see each other and the main display. Other arrangements, such as lecture-style rows of seats are possible but discouraged.
- Power must be available at all seats.
- WiFi must be fast and reliable.
- There must be an area outside the room for attendees to step away for phone calls or meetings.
- Ideally there are nametags/placards at each desk visible to other attendees.
- These need not be pre-printed - attendees can write their own.
We will have many people participate in the meeting remotely. It is critical that we give these people the best possible experience so that their experience is not degraded compared to in-person attendees. This means the AV equipment and video conferencing system must be high quality. If internet connectivity were to fail, the meeting would need to be suspended.
- There must be one person assigned to resolve AV issues if they arise at any time.
- It is ideal if they are an AV professional but it is not required.
- There must be at least one large main display visible to everyone for slides, etc.
- Ideally there would be two large displays: one for slides, one for showing video for remote participants.
- There must be at least 8 individual high-quality low-latency microphones and they must have a mute function.
- Ideally there would be a ratio of at least one handheld microphone for every three attendees.
- Bluetooth is discouraged.
- Ideally each seat would have a dedicated wired podium-style microphone but this is not essential.
- Hand-held microphones are preferred to lapel microphones as they are easier to share and pass around.
- Ambient whole-room microphones are not acceptable because they capture side-conversations and make it hard for remote participants to hear clearly.
- There must be amplification of in-room speakers when they use the microphone.
- The host is encouraged to provide video conferencing using Zoom or Google Meet.
- Ideally the room has at least one rear-facing camera near the front that can provide a view of all the participants.
- The AV must be setup and tested prior to the meeting beginning
- We encourage a tech-check to be held the day before the meeting (e.g. Monday afternoon) to verify the full AV setup works.
- Whiteboards and marker pens are optional.
- Tea and coffee should be available throughout the day.
- Breakfast and Lunch must be provided for all attendees.
- Breakfast usually starts at 09:15.
- Most people will arrive around 09:30.
- Food does not need to be cleared when the meeting starts - it is fine to leave food out for latecomers.
- Lunch is usually at 12:00.
- The lunch location should be on-site to minimize any travel time.
- It is important this is held in an area that is reasonably exclusive to permit delegates to easily talk in smaller groups.
- Shared cafeterias are discouraged unless a designated area can be secured.
- Vegan/vegetarian options must be available.
- Individual's dietary requirements are collected on the registration form.
- Chairs will relay this information to the host two weeks before the meeting.
- On one evening the host will arrange a social dinner at a nearby restaurant.
- It is usually Wednesday but could be Tuesday.
- Make sure you reserve the restaurant well ahead of time. It is hard to get a room for 30+ people so getting started early is recommended.
- Ecma will share half of the cost.
- Please liase with the TC39 Secretary to discuss this.
- We try to meet with the local JavaScript community on one evening.
- It is usually Thursday but other days, including Monday, are possible.
- Hosts are free to create their own event, but usually it is easiest for them to seek out a local Meetup group who have a pre-existing list of members.
- You are welcome to host it at the same location as the meeting or to have it somewhere reasonably close, e.g. <30 mins travel time.
- TC39 Delegates are usually happy to give talks.
- Often we end with a Q&A panel taking questions from a moderator or the audience.
- Feel free to be creative. Delegates also enjoy hearing talks from the community.
- Recording/streaming of the event is possible so long as that is communicated in advance and individuals who do not wish to be captured can opt-out.
This is the general timeline of events leading up to the meeting.
- Potential hosts reach out to the chairs for early discussions.
- The host books the meeting room and confirm you have budget secured.
- The chairs will announce the meeting, normally as part of the annual schedule.
- 3-4 months before the meeting the Chairs will conduct an Interest Survey to determine go/no-go.
- 3 months before the meeting the host should pass all meeting logistics to the chairs so they can update the TC39 Reflector meeting post, e.g. address, where to park, how to get in, contact details, entrance criteria, etc.
- 2 weeks before the meeting the Chairs will relay the registered attendee list including dietary requirements to the host so that they know how many people to expect. Send the contacts to your registration desk so credentials can be printed ahead of the meeting.
- On the day before the meeting, the host should be prepared to conduct a tech-check with the TC39 Chairs to verify the AV setup.
- On the meeting day the host should be prepared to give a short presentation on the facilities, e.g. where to find the bathroom, how to use the WiFi, etc.