Re: Meeting agenda robot

I would like to help work on a system like this. My choice would be Java because of the AJAX libraries (especially GWT) it would bring to the table and the organizational and workeffort modeling in OFBiz. I've already been testing out some ideas on my high school alumni association. You can see the output of the voting system here: http://www.artsalumni.org/VoteResult/10040

The voting interface is really easy to use. I can arrange a demo for anyone who would like to take a look.

----- "Ian Jackson" <ijackson(at)chiark(dot)greenend(dot)org(dot)uk> wrote:

> Here's a draft:
>
> * Data structure maintained is
> For each meeting:
> - Meeting date
> - Whether the meeting is forthcoming or past
> - List of agenda items, which have a title (normally
> the Subject line of some email)
> - Each agenda item may have zero or more draft resolutions
> or zero or more formal reports, each of is
> a message-id of an email on spi-general; normally emails
> in the same thread (done by Subject line) are counted as
> the same agenda item.
> - Because reports may exist on the agenda before a draft
> is available they have a `report name' too (see below).
> Also maintains a list of reports to have by default, so that
> a new meeting cycle starts by default with a Treasurer's report
> and perhaps some other report(s).
>
> * Scans incoming emails on spi-general.
> If you put some magic keyword at the beginning of one of the
> first ten lines of the body,
> FOR BOARD MEETING - DRAFT RESOLUTION
> FOR BOARD MEETING - REPORT - FINANCIAL
> perhaps, it treats the thread that your email was posted
> to as an agenda item and adds your email to the list
> of documents.
>
> * Web interface for Board members (nominally Secretary's job,
> but other members should be encouraged to be proactive
> particularly when there is a short window for actions to
> be confirmed):
> - enter date of next meeting
> - add/remove a proposed report from the agenda
> in advance of the report being available
> - manually link/unlink a previous email to an agenda item
> as a draft resolution or as a draft report
> (eg if it wasn't really a draft resolution, or
> conversely if the magic keyword was misspelled)
> - merge and unmerge agenda items
> - manually add emergency agenda items
> - manually add secret agenda items (these show up as
> `[confidential business; please see ...]')
> - manually add notes to parts of the announcements
> - indicate that the meeting is about to start and
> to send the final agenda
> - cancel a meeting (makes it `past' and therefore
> inactive without sending any emails)
>
> * At the following times
> - entry of meeting date
> - T-14
> - T-10
> sends announcement to spi-announce with current
> draft agenda and instructions for adding items
> to agenda
> - T-7
> sends announcement to spi-general and spi-private
> containing current draft agenda and instructions
> for notifying the Board of any mistakes
> (Secretary and board members should proactively
> fix up any problems in these two days.)
> - T-5
> sends announcement to spi-general containing
> final agenda listing all non-emergency business
> but still possibly with placeholders for reports
> - T-2
> sends announcement to spi-general containing
> final agenda listing all non-emergency business
> including all reports
> - T-0
> when Secretary says meeting is to start, sends
> final agenda listing all business (and makes
> meeting be `past')
>
> * Also of course agenda on web page.
>
> Personally I would like to see reports 7 days in advance if for no
> other reason than that it would make this simpler.
>
> What if there are two forthcoming meetings in quick succession ?
>
>
> My implementation language of choice would be Perl (or perhaps
> Python)
> but I'm happy to use something else if that would make
> co-maintainership with th4e Secretary and others, or interoperability
> with the rest of the website, easier.
>
> Do we already have an https server and user management system that I
> can piggyback on for the `board members' part ?
>
> If this meets people's rough approval I can write a set of quick hack
> code and set some test instance up on my own colo.
>
> Ian.
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--
Ean Schuessler, CTO Brainfood.com
ean(at)brainfood(dot)com - http://www.brainfood.com - 214-720-0700 x 315