wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM (10/20/90)
> An afterthought...BASIS12 was distributed to us poor souls after it became > obsolete, and thus after it was too late to comment on its adoption. Now the > next meeting has been announced, and BASIS13 made available electronically -- > not in print form, only to owners of Microsoft Word -- with a scant three > weeks notice. I recall something about proposals to the TC needing to be > received two weeks in advance. I got my printed copy the same day this message was posted. I hope that other people on the BASIS mailing list ("observers", etc) got theirs about the same time, accounting for mail delivery time (I'm geographically close to the distribution point). > And, of course, travel on short notice is > usually twice as expensive. Serious question, with no offense intended: is > this just bad planning, or is the TC trying to discourage further input from > the masses? Just bad planning. It pretty much always happens this way. It's a side effect of the "shoestring" nature of the process, with a lot of volunteer labor and a conscious attempt to keep the administration costs down so as many people as possible can afford to participate. As you mention, the travel arrangements are sometimes cut close, but not so close as to be impossible in most cases. The travel data availability is dependent upon the "host" person in the destination city. Some manage to get it out way in advance, others, for whatever reason, can't give as much lead time. Again, think "volunteer". Mitch Bradley, wmb@Eng.Sun.COM