Subject: [Tools-team] Contacting the Secretariat

From: "Barbara B. Fuller" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 2004 11:42:59 -0400

Dear TOOLS Team:

Harald suggested that I send you some information on the Secretariat's 
current effors to update its contact information on the IETF Web 
site.  This project has become a high-priority since several people have 
expressed confusion over the use of the aliases "iesg-secretary" vs. 
"ietf-secretariat" vs. "ietf-action."

We are now in the process of updating the "Points of Contact" Web page 
(http://www.ietf.org/IESG/poc.html), and adjusting the aliases on other 
pages to eliminate inconsistencies.  The new page will contain the 
following information:
----------------------------------------------------------------
IETF Secretariat Points of Contact

Below is a list of active e-mail addresses for use in contacting the IETF 
Secretariat.  Please use these addresses for the indicated purposes 
only.  Please do not copy them in correspondence unless your message 
includes a request for Secretariat support.  To contact the IETF Executive 
Director, please send a message to [email-masked].

For general information about the IETF: -- [email-masked]

For administrative support (e.g., request publication of an I-D as an RFC, 
update milestones, as questions about procedures, etc.): -- 
[email-masked]

To submit Internet-Drafts: -- [email-masked]

To submit liaison statements: -- [email-masked]

To submit IPR disclosures: -- [email-masked]

To coordinate IETF meetings with other meetings: -- [email-masked]

To request meeting slots or submit agendas for IETF meetings: -- 
[email-masked]

For information on or assistance with registering for IETF meetings: -- 
[email-masked]

To submit minutes and presentation slides for IETF meeting proceedings: -- 
[email-masked]

To report technical problems (e.g., problems related to servers, mailing 
lists, archives, Web tools, etc.): -- [email-masked]

To report problems with the IETF Web site: -- [email-masked]

The following addresses, which are equivalent to addresses in the list 
above, will be retained for the foreseeable future because they are 
mentioned in RFCs or other documentation that cannot be changed at this time:

[email-masked] (equivalent to [email-masked])
[email-masked] (equivalent to [email-masked])
[email-masked] (equivalent to [email-masked])

----------------------------------------------------------------
For your information, I am also forwarding the text of a message that I 
sent to the IESG and others regarding a plan for streamlining Secretariat 
contact information.  As you will see, the plan was prepared in May of this 
year, but was put on hold due to technical difficulties with the ticket system.

Regards,

Barbara
----------------------------------------------------------------
TEXT OF MESSAGE

Early in 2004, the Secretariat began a project to replace the existing 
ticket system, Wreq, with RT, and concurrently, to streamline the set of 
tracking system and other e-mail aliases that the community uses to contact 
us.  The reasons for wanting to make these changes are fairly obvious:

- To deploy a better tool for the ticket system: RT is better than Wreq.
- To make the names of the tracking systems and other e-mail aliases more 
intuitive: for example, "tech-support" is more intuitive than "ietf-action."
- To direct tickets more efficiently: currently, all members of the staff 
rummage through the same bins to find their tickets.  Furthermore, some 
aliases (such as "internet-drafts" and "agenda") should be directed to 
tracking system queues rather than to individuals.
- To eliminate duplicative or unused aliases: no comment needed.

The first phase of the project was the replacement of Wreq with 
RT.  Unfortunately, the conversion to RT did not go as smoothly as we had 
hoped.  Specifically, in order to function adequately, RT required a 
machine with more memory and a faster CPU than the machine that was 
available to host it.  Therefore, we needed to fix this problem before we 
could successfully use RT in rapid turn-around situations such as posting 
Internet-Drafts or handling requests for session slots before an IETF 
meeting.  We are now in the process of moving RT to a more appropriate 
machine.  Once RT is functioning adequately, we can proceed with the second 
phase of the project, which is streamlining the e-mail aliases.

The draft plan for streamlining the IETF Secretariat e-mail aliases, which 
I prepared in May of this year, is presented below this message.  My 
intention was to submit the plan to the IESG for approval when we were 
certain that RT was functioning properly.  As you will see, the plan 
addresses many of the concerns expressed in the recent e-mail exchange with 
thread "Re: Submission of Internet Drafts."

Since it may take some time to gain consensus on this plan and implement 
it, I will certainly revisit the current instructions on the Web site and 
try to update them as best as possible using the existing aliases.  Please 
let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,

Barbara

P.S. Messages sent to the alias "ietf-secretariat" currently go to the same 
RT queue as messages sent to "iesg-secretary."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STREAMLINING IETF SECRETARIAT E-MAIL ALIASES

The IETF Secretariat proposes to make several changes to the e-mail aliases 
that the community uses to contact it.  This document presents a 
description of the proposed tasks and a plan for implementing them.

TASKS

The project includes three tasks.

Task 1: Redirecting Existing E-mail Aliases to RT Queues

The Secretariat proposes to redirect selected aliases, which currently 
point to individual mailboxes, to RT queues. Doing so will enable the 
Secretariat to coordinate efforts on tasks normally addressed by more than 
one staff member, and to easily assign additional staff members to tasks 
during "crunches." Furthermore, it will enable the Secretariat to log 
requests and track their progress, and will help to prevent the loss of 
messages to desktop Spam filters.

The following existing aliases, which currently point to the e-mail 
addresses of specific members of the Secretariat staff, will continue to 
point to specific members of the Secretariat staff:

- exec-director -- To contact the IETF Executive Director -- 
[email-masked]>
- developers -- To report bugs/ask questions about IETF Web 
[email-masked], [email-masked]
- meeting-planning -- To coordinate IETF meetings with other meetings -- 
[email-masked]
- webmaster -- To report bugs/ask questions about the IETF Web site -- 
[email-masked]

The following existing aliases, which currently point to the e-mail 
addresses of specific members of the Secretariat staff, will be redirected 
to RT queues:

- agenda -- To request meeting slots or submit agendas for IETF meetings
- ietf-info -- To request information or ask questions of a general nature 
about the IETF
- ietf-ipr -- To submit IPR disclosures
- ietf-registrar -- To request information on or assistance with 
registering for IETF meetings
- internet-drafts -- To submit Internet-Drafts for posting
- proceedings -- To submit minutes and presentation slides for the IETF 
Meeting Proceedings
- statements -- To submit liaison statements

Task 2: Retiring Aliases that are Redundant

The Secretariat proposes to retire selected aliases that are 
redundant.  The following existing aliases will be eliminated due to 
redundancy:

- ietf-web -- Redundant with webmaster
- webadmin -- Redundant with webmaster
- ietf-rsvp -- Redundant with ietf-registrar
- ietf-proceedings -- Redundant with proceedings
- ietf-minutes -- Redundant with proceedings
- tominutes -- Redundant with proceedings
- minutes -- Redundant with proceedings
- proceedings-request -- Redundant with proceedings
- iesg-secretary-request -- Redundant with iesg-secretary
- ietf-secretariat -- Redundant with iesg-secretary
- iesg-admin-request -- Redundant with iesg-secretary
- iesg-tech-request -- Redundant with iesg-secretary
- iesg-sec -- Redundant with iesg-secretary
- ietf-secretary -- Redundant with iesg-secretary
- action -- Redundant with ietf-action
- ietf-ops -- Redundant with iesg-action
- ietf-action-req -- Redundant with iesg-action
- ietf-ops-req -- Redundant with iesg-action

If a message is sent to an alias that has been retired, then the sender 
will receive an auto-response message directing him or her to a Web page 
that lists the active aliases.  The message will not be redirected to the 
new alias to encourage the sender to learn and use the new alias.

Task 3: Replacing Two Existing RT Queue Aliases and Creating a New RT Queue 
and Alias

The Secretariat proposes to replace the ietf-action and iesg-secretary RT 
queue aliases with more meaningful ones: tech-support and iesg-support, 
respectively, and to create a new RT queue with alias wg-support.  The 
functions of these three RT queues are as follows:

- tech-support -- To request technical support or report technical problems
- iesg-support -- To request assistance with tasks related to IESG business
- wg-support -- To request assistance with tasks related to working group 
business

The reasons for making these changes are to provide the community with more 
"user-friendly," intuitive aliases, to improve the Secretariat's efficiency 
in responding to tickets, and to minimize messages to the ticket system 
which do not contain requests for support and are often sent inadvertently.

The ietf-action queue, which was originally intended for submitting 
requests for technical support, receives many tickets that are unrelated to 
technical issues or problems.  Replacing it with a queue named tech-support 
should reduce the number of non-relevant tickets, as well as the amount of 
effort expended in redirecting them.

The iesg-secretary and ietf-action queues both receive requests from 
working group chairs to update charters, advance Internet-Drafts to an 
RFCs, and for other types of assistance.  Creating a wg-support alias will 
help funnel all such messages to one queue, which will be monitored by the 
members of the Secretariat who support working group activities.

Finally, the Secretariat frequently sends messages "From" The IESG 
Secretary ([email-masked]).  Even if another return address is 
specified in the "reply-to" field, members of the community sometimes use 
that address to include the Secretariat in discussions.  If the address is 
directed at a ticket system queue, then such messages generate spurious 
tickets.  Replacing the alias with iesg-support will alleviate this problem 
and will provide a meaningful address for the ADs, as well as for the 
Liaison and Ex-officio members of the IESG, to request assistance from the 
Secretariat.

If a message is sent to ietf-action or iesg-secretary, then the sender will 
receive an auto-response message directing him or her to a Web page that 
lists the active aliases.  The message will not be redirected to the new 
alias to encourage the sender to learn and use the new alias.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The Secretariat will perform these tasks in two phases:

Phase I

- Redirect selected aliases, which currently point to individual mailboxes, 
to RT queues.
- Retire selected aliases that are redundant.

The first task of Phase I, redirecting selected aliases to RT queues, 
should have little impact on the community.  That is, individuals will 
continue to send requests for information and assistance to the same 
addresses that they have always used.  The second task, retiring selected 
aliases, may have an impact on the community since some individuals may 
still use these aliases.

To prepare the community for the changes, the Secretariat will do four things:

- Create a Web page that lists the current active aliases and their 
purposes, as well as the aliases that are being retired.  Since three of 
the latter aliases, ietf-secretariat, ietf-web, and minutes are referenced 
in RFCs, the Web page will also list the RFCs that reference each of these 
aliases.  The list is as follows:

* ietf-secretariat -- RFC 3160
* ietf-web -- RFC 3160
* minutes -- RFC 2418 and RFC 3160

- Remove all references to retired aliases from the IETF Web site.

- Send a message to the IESG and working group chairs mailing lists that 
describes the changes and includes a link to the Web page.  The changes 
described in the message will include:

* A general revamping of e-mail addresses to eliminate redundancy.
* The use of auto-responders to notify people of addresses that are no 
longer active.
* Implementation of a series of RT queues to facilitate requests for support.

- Send a message to the IETF Announcement List that describes the changes 
and includes a link to the Web page. The message will be similar to the one 
sent to the IESG and working group chairs lists.

Phase II: Replace the ietf-action alias with tech-support, replace the 
iesg-secretary alias with iesg-support, and create a new RT queue and 
alias, wg-support.

The replacement of the ietf-action and iesg-secretary aliases with 
tech-support and iesg-support, and the creation of the new RT queue and 
alias, wg-support, will be implemented independently of the other 
alias-streamlining tasks.  The reason for doing so is that these tasks are 
expected to have a significant impact on the community since ietf-action 
and iesg-secretary are well known aliases, and both are commonly used by 
working group chairs to request support.

To prepare the community for the changes, the Secretariat will do four things:

- Update the Web page created in Phase I by adding tech-support, 
iesg-support, and wg-support to the list of current active aliases, 
removing ietf-action and iesg-secretary from the list of current active 
aliases, adding ietf-action and iesg-secretary to the list of aliases that 
are being retired, and updating the list of RFCs that reference retired 
aliases as follows:

* iesg-secretary -- RFC 2418 and RFC 2436

- Remove all references to ietf-action and iesg-secretary from the IETF Web 
site and add references to tech-support, iesg-support, and wg-support to 
the IETF Web site as appropriate.

- Send a message to the IESG and working group chairs mailing lists that 
describes the changes and includes a link to the Web page.  The changes 
described in the message will include:

* The rationale for replacing the aliases ietf-action and iesg-secretary 
with tech-support and iesg-support, and for creating the RT queue alias 
wg-support.
* The use of auto-responders to notify people that ietf-action and 
iesg-secretary have been replaced.

- Send a message to the IETF Announcement List that describes the changes 
and includes a link to the Web page.  The message will be similar to the 
one sent to the IESG and working group chairs lists.

The Secretariat will develop a timeline for completion of the project after 
the project has been approved by the IESG.
------------------------------------------------
Barbara B. Fuller
Acting Executive Director
Internet Engineering Task Force

Natick, Massachusetts Office:

Phone: +1-508-650-4020
Fax:     +1-508-650-4639

Reston, Virginia Office:

Phone: +1-703-620-9053
Fax:     +1-703-620-9071

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[email-masked]
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---

From: Alex Rousskov <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004 22:35:36 -0600 (MDT)

On Thu, 9 Sep 2004, Barbara B. Fuller wrote:

> Harald suggested that I send you some information on the 
> Secretariat's current effors to update its contact information on 
> the IETF Web site.  This project has become a high-priority since 
> several people have expressed confusion over the use of the aliases 
> "iesg-secretary" vs. "ietf-secretariat" vs. "ietf-action."

Barbara,

 	Thank you for sharing these details with us! I do not know 
whether TOOLS team can generate a coherent analysis of this complex 
problem. We may not have enough information, or we may have 
conflicting reactions to it. Nevertheless, we should at least try as 
this is an important issue, partially within TOOLS scope.

 	I have read your e-mails and tried to identify specific 
problems your actions seem to address. I drafted a response based on 
that dissection. I will send that draft with the next e-mail. Please 
note that I do not know whether other team members agree with my 
draft. I suspect there will be significant changes; the whole draft 
may be thrown out!

 	If you decide to read that draft before it is reviewed by the 
entire team, please check whether my identification of problems is 
accurate. We should probably postpone debates regarding analysis and 
team suggestions until the team polishes or throws out the draft...

Thank you,

Alex.