Dear TF members,

Here are the minutes from our last call.

Cheers

Ant

***

Draft Minutes – CoC TF 30th Call

18 August 16:30 (UTC+2)

Attendees: Denesh Bhabuta, Antony Gollan, Karla Liddle-White, Brian Nisbet, Leo Vegoda, Salam Yamout

Scribe: Karla Liddle-White

Summary: The TF discussed meeting with the WG Chair Collective to discuss coordination with the CoC Team. Leo said he would speak with the RIPE Chair Team to schedule a discussion. Leo also updated the group on his outreach efforts on recruiting members to the CoC Team. The TF then considered the Code of Conduct team size. They agreed that they there would be a larger team at first, with the ability for the team size to decrease over time once the team was established within the community. Next on the agenda was a discussion on outreach. The TF decided on several avenues which included speaking to individual community members, writing to the Diversity and RIPE mailing lists to communicate the intention to launch the recruitment process at RIPE 85. The group also considered whether there would be a shadow CoC team and what data the team would have access to. Finally, the group decided to make the meetings leading up to RIPE 85 biweekly.

1. Minutes

Review of the meeting minutes was deferred until the next meeting.

2. Agenda

There were no changes to the agenda.

3. Actions

- (Ongoing) TF to think about how the CoC Team and the WG Chairs would work together to manage discussions on mailing lists. Including tools, e.g. Mattermost channel

The TF discussed bringing an agenda item to a Working Group Chair meeting and it was agreed that they would organise a meeting either before or after RIPE 85. Brian said adding that as an agenda item at the RIPE 85 lunch was not advisable, since there were usually so many items on the agenda already.

Action: Leo to ask the RIPE Chair Team to schedule a discussion with WG Chairs.

- (Ongoing) TF to think about the appropriate level of process to allow further improvements to the CoC.

This item was put on hold.

- Leo to reach out to candidates to see if they would be interested in joining the first CoC Team.

Leo reported that Rob had did not to intend to stand for the CoC team. He had also raised concerns of the size of the team and the volunteer nature of the roles; Leo added that he understood his decision here.

- RIPE NCC to revise the draft process and recruitment process documents and share them with the CoC consultant for review.

Leo marked this action as completed.

- Athina to investigate data retention and potential court proceedings against the RIPE NCC and appeals.

Action put on hold until Athina returned.

4. Team Size - How large should the Code of Conduct Team be and do we need to balance ideal size with sustainability?

The TF discussed the consultant’s suggestion of ideally having a slightly larger team for investigations. However, Leo noted that this may not be sustainable since they were looking for volunteers with particular skills and qualities and would need a regular turnover of volunteers to ensure people didn’t burn out. Brian also raised the issue that there was a relatively small volunteer base within the community. He added that they would need a mechanism that also worked for fewer people and Salam noted that they would need to add wording to the procedure to incorporate the variation in team size. Denesh said that it should be okay for the size of the team to vary over time, since it would depend on the complexity of the complaint and an assessment could be done on how long investigations were likely to take.

The TF agreed that they would begin with the largest possible team size with the idea that it might vary and shrink over time as the CoC team became more established.

The group also discussed the minimum size of the assessment group and confirmed that it would be three RIPE Community members and a member of the RIPE NCC.

Leo suggested that they contract an expert to support the new team at the next RIPE Meeting, since they didn’t have specific step-by-step operating procedures and wouldn’t necessarily have strong expertise on the initial team. There was general agreement among the group for exploring this idea. Salam noted that they should add wording to the procedure document so the RIPE NCC could contract external people to be part of the team for given periods of time.

Action: Antony to investigate what is practical in terms of consultant support at RIPE 85 and what the RIPE NCC would be prepared to support.

5. Outreach - Develop a plan for outreach to potential team members before and during RIPE 85.

The TF discussed how they would outreach to specific people and the community overall. It was agreed that they would launch the recruitment process at RIPE 85 and would therefore need to communicate this prior to the meeting. The group agreed that they would reach out to individuals who would bring established credibility to the team and Salam suggested using the Diversity and RIPE mailing lists.

Brian noted that communications should also include the benefits of joining, flexibility in the initial terms and available support for team members.

The group also agreed that the drafts of the documents would need to be ready to go out with the announcement in the first week of September. Antony raised the question of a shadow team which hadn’t yet been confirmed in the documentation. The group then discussed the concept of a shadow team and what data would be available to them. Brian raised a concern that there may not be enough volunteers for one team, and that perhaps a second team could be left as a possibility if a number of people applied.

Leo added that that if they were to have a shadow team, there was a question of what data the team should have access to, since they would not be directly involved in the decision-making process. He suggested asking for professional legal advice on the matter.

Action: Athina to check what data the shadow team could, or should, have access to.

6. Schedule - Decide on pace of meetings leading to RIPE 85

The group agreed on a biweekly schedule of meetings going forward with a new day and time.

Action: Antony to change the meeting time in the calendar to Wednesdays at 13:00 UTC/15:00 UTC+2, with Wednesday 31 August being the first meeting going forward.

7. Actions

- Leo to speak with the RIPE Chair Team to schedule a discussion with WG Chairs
- Antony to investigate what is practical in terms of consultant support at RIPE 85 and what the RIPE NCC would be prepared to support
- Athina to check what case data the shadow team could, or should, have access to
- Antony to adjust calendar invites for new bi-weekly meetings