Forums and workgroups are the two building blocks of the HTNG organization, through which members interact.

A forum is a meeting place, where HTNG members with similar interests:

• Meet face-to-face to learn and to share information on topics of general interest
• Coordinate efforts across workgroups to maximize reuse and minimize duplication of effort
• Make personal contacts with potential buyers, sellers, and partners
• Work together to market the results of workgroup efforts to benefit both the participating vendors, and those who have implemented the resulting solutions
• Address issues that require cross-workgroup coordination

HTNG currently has two forums.  Workgroups are not formally part of the forum, but, all workgroups are assigned to one forum based on similarity of their tasks and methods, and the forum provides structure and guidance to their workgroups through various activities and face-to-face interactions.  In the future, some workgroups may be associated with both forums, or a workgroup may be moved from one forum to the other as its needs evolve over time.

• The Infrastructure and Device Forum addresses infrastructure, device, and hardware issues, including wired and wireless networking, guest-room entertainment, telephony, building automation systems, and other applications where the bulk of the cost relates to physical devices or networking.
• The Software Forum addresses software applications, with a primary focus is on architecture and interoperability, including messages to support and extend existing applications by providing simple connectivity to, and interoperation with, other applications.

Forums also have Cross-Workgroup Coordinating Bodies that provide resources and coordination that all of the workgroups in the Forum can utilize.  In some cases, these bodies may set standards for development of technical artifacts to ensure consistency across HTNG workgroups.

How Do Forums Differ from Workgroups?

Workgroups and forums exist for very different reasons:  workgroups do the work, while forums provide the meeting place for coordination, cross-pollination, learning, and marketing — allowing all the workgroups to come together at a single time and location so that travel time and cost are minimized.

This table highlights the general differences.  However, each forum and workgroup is unique, so some exceptions exist.