Skip to content
Snippets Groups Projects

Meetings

Last edited by Gaba

This is documentation about best practices when running virtual meetings at Tor.

Software for virtual meetings

  • IRC: we usually run public meetings via text only. Those are logged in Meetbot.
  • Tor's Big Blue Button: we run voice/video meetings for public or private meetings. When those meetings are recorded we use Youtube to publish the recordings.

Documentation on conferencing software to run virtual meetings.

Writing meeting's notes

Notes are taken collaboratively in etherpads in https://pad.riseup.net. They are saved in https://nc.torproject.net at the end of the meeting.

Agreements we have for the All Hands's meetings.

Best Practices when preparing and running meetings

  • Check list before the meeting

    • Check your audio setup before joining the meeting, ideally with another participant on the same platform you will use.
    • Find a quiet place to meet if possible.
    • Mute your microphone when you are not speaking.
    • How to create the agenda
      • It should include:
        • goals: why this meeting should happen.
        • desired outcome: what do you want to get from meeting.
        • process: how it will happen (is it a presentation, discussion, etc)
        • time: how much time people need to reserve for it. Include the starting time in UTC.
        • room: room where you are going to meet.
      • Send the agenda before the meeting so everybody know what to expect.

  • Roles to consider having at the meeting

    • Note taker: the role could be rotated through the meeting (if it is a long one).
    • Time checker: this role will check that we are on time. If the meeting will take more time then this role will check with people to see if it is ok to extend the meeting.
    • Energy checker: check periodically on how people are doing (if they need longer breaks, energy levels).
    • Facilitator: this role will facilitate the process to go through the agenda. They will
      • hold space and pace of the conversation
      • use the agenda as a roadmap to guide the group toward desired outcomes
      • clarify the process as the meeting progress

  • Time

    • Take a break every 40 minutes
    • Get consensus from the group if the meeting needs to be extended.

  • Have a list of norms/agreements for engagement for the meeting. An example could be:

    • Listen deeply, listen for understanding and intent.
    • Make "I" statements.
    • Take space/Make space.
    • Confidentiality of the current space.
    • Practice empathy and compassion.
    • Always take a moment before you react or speak.
    • Recognize & take responsibility for gaps between impact and intention.
      • What is the impact in what you’re about to say?
      • Are you venting? Is this the right place to vent?
      • Will your comments derail the original conversation?
    • Be present.
    • We do not have to agree.
    • All questions are valid.

Information about All Hands's meetings

Core contributors are meeting every Wednesday at 1600 UTC in Tor's Big Blue Button instance.

Schedule

  • Monthly topics:
    • Every 3 months: Second Wednesday of the Month: Finances Updates
    • Every 3 months: Last Wednesday of the Month: DEMO days (last day of the month) - we will organize it asking people to propose stuff to demo (example the awesome work from Gus, Anto and others with user feedback and front desk)
  • Quarterly topics:
    • Retrospective
    • All Teams Roadmap Review

Past meeting notes with drawings: https://nc.torproject.net/f/38010

Face to Face Annual Meeting Notes

Last Meeting was in Portugal in May, 2024.

Next meeting TBD

How To Organize a Tor In Person Meeting: this document gives guidelines on how to go about preparing a Tor meetup as well as what to consider when meeting in person. The goals of meetings in person are: . connect with fellow Tor contributors in the community . discuss important topics that could benefit of face to face interaction . internal training to Tor Project's staff

Past Meetings

Based on documentation archived from https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/meetings

Comments

    Please register or sign in to add a comment.