From: John Lemon [JLemon@luminous.com] Sent: Friday, October 17, 2003 6:16 PM To: Bob Grow; Howard Frazier; Tony Jeffree; Geoff Thompson Cc: Bob Davis; Mike Takefman; Don Messina; Noelle Humenick; David B. Gustavson; David V James; David Law; Roger Marks Subject: Clarification of FrameMaker template ad hoc work It has come to my attention that several misconceptions have been held by some people about the IEEE FrameMaker Editing Template Ad Hoc. This is an attempt to address the following misconceptions: a) This effort was under one person's control or leadership. b) This effort was part of {MSC, 802.17}. c) This effort was an attempt to force {802, all IEEE WGs} to {convert existing documents, make all new documents} to use the new template. d) This effort was a means to wrest control of IEEE editing away from the IEEE editing staff. e) This effort was being done in secret. No one person was controlling this effort. There was no formal chair or equivalent. The closest we had to a chair was Don Messina (or Noelle Humenick as Vice Chair) in their role to make sure that we stayed within the boundaries acceptable to the IEEE editing staff. David James was our editor; and like any editor, he made only those changes that we all agreed to. And we achieved complete consensus on all decisions. While there were editors in the ad hoc who are members and/or editors of MSC and/or 802.17, these groups had nothing to do with the ad hoc, other than a desire to use the end result (and other than that it grew out of an MSC request). No one working on the ad hoc was doing so as part of or as a representative of any other IEEE working group or standards committee. The editing template was being built only for those who wanted it. The ad hoc was well aware of the fact that the IEEE editors have no ability to require anyone to use any template (although they hope groups will do so in order to reduce the IEEE editing workload). The ad hoc had no belief or desire that any coercion to use the template would take place. All were volunteering their efforts for the overall good of IEEE. Of course, all probably hoped many would adopt the template, just as any engineer hopes that his or her creations are well adopted. As currently true, and always true (as far back as I know), the template was an option for those wishing to adopt a template (such as those who were starting a new project and needed or desired something to help them get started), and who wanted to make sure that their document would pass through the IEEE editors as quickly as possible and as unchanged as possible. The goal also included generating a template useful enough that it could be used by all interested groups within the IEEE (and even possibly individuals, groups, or organizations outside of the IEEE). Rather than taking power away from the IEEE editing staff, the ad hoc was trying to help them do their job more efficiently. The ad hoc's goal was to replace the current IEEE editing template with a new template that was (a) easier for volunteer editors to use, (b) easier for IEEE editing staff to use, (c) more fully featured, and (d) better documented. The needs, requirements, and limitations of the IEEE editing (and post-editing) processes were always a constraint that was a requirement for us to work within. The IEEE editors within the ad hoc validated that nothing would adversely effect their processes or jobs. Their post-processing SGML consultant was brought in to a few meetings to also make sure that he was favorable with what was proposed. While the initial ad hoc consisted of only members of the MSC, Dave Gustavson and David James, and members of the IEEE editing staff, Don Messina and Noelle Humenick, several attempts were made from both the volunteer members and IEEE staff members to find any additional interested parties. In the effort to be inclusive of more than the MSC's needs and desires, members of 802/LSMC were requested to join. The original editors added from 802 were Roger Marks and John Lemon. Later, Roger dropped out and David Law joined. (Additional requests for members were issued at least within 802 and the MSC several times. One such letter is reproduced below. Unfortunately, this is not the type of task that draws hoards of eager volunteers.) Additionally, just as the ad hoc dropped into the current (hopefully short term) coma, the proposed template was just about to go out for review by any and all interested FrameMaker editors that could be found. I hope this has helped clarify the background, purpose, and structure of the IEEE FrameMaker Editing Template Ad Hoc. Respectfully, John Lemon -----Original Message----- From: n.humenick@ieee.org [mailto:n.humenick@ieee.org] Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 11:58 AM To: dvj@alum.mit.edu; dbg@SCIzzL.com; David_Law@eur.3com.com; marks@nist.gov; tom@veriwave.com; John Lemon; stds-802-sec@ieee.org; dany.cheij@ni.com; robert.canik@ni.com; ra_sultan@yahoo.com; Galm@corrigent.com; gparsons@nortelnetworks.com; hpeng@nortelnetworks.com; Jason Fan; jkao@cisco.com; leonb@corrigent.com; holness@nortelnetworks.com; nuzun@cisco.com; rhett@kealia.com; rcastellano@c-cor.net; swood@cisco.com; tom@veriwave.com; ltsc@ieee.org; rrobson@eduworks.com; stds-msc@ieee.org; PJohansson@ACM.org; stds-dasc-sc@eda.org; d.messina@ieee.org; j.longman@ieee.org; s.amanatidis@ieee.org; Andrew_Ickowicz@ieee.org; m.d.turner@ieee.org; ckbpublishing@rcn.com; hgarfinkle@earthlink.net; dwlacey@zoominternet.net; svanvree@ptdprolog.net Cc: y.hoSang@ieee.org Subject: FrameMaker templates--request for comment Hello: Earlier this year, a combined IEEE volunteer/IEEE-SA staff ad hoc task force was appointed to review and update the IEEE-SA FrameMaker template. The purpose of this review and update is to incorporate more functionality into the template. It is expected that this new template will allow for easier format of standards documents by working groups and also enable swift and efficient publication by IEEE-SA editorial staff. (FrameMaker is the software used by IEEE-SA editorial to publish standards documents.) You have been identified as a possible user of the IEEE-SA FrameMaker template or as a member of a working group that has submitted documents to IEEE-SA editorial in FrameMaker format. If you are interested in participating in a review of this revised template before it is made available to the larger standards community, please reply to n.humenick@ieee.org no later than 16 September 2003. The review period for this template will begin on 17 September 2003 and end on 17 October 2003. Your comments will be reviewed by the ad hoc task force for possible incorporation into the template. Also, if you know of any individual who uses FrameMaker and/or the FrameMaker template, please forward this message to that person. Your comments are important, and you are strongly urged to indicate your interest in this review. We thank you in advance for your participation. Regards, IEEE-SA FrameMaker Template Task Force -- Noelle D. Humenick Coordinating Program Manager IEEE Standards n.humenick@ieee.org PH: +1 732 562 3818; FX: +1 732 562 1571 http://standards.ieee.org/ The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USA ***************************************>>