Chartering a New Workgroup

Any HTNG member in good standing, or any group of HTNG members, may propose a new workgroup.  Workgroup proposals should generally follow the format used in the charters of existing workgroups, but initial submissions may be in the form of a rough draft for discussion purposes. 

Charter Approval and Workgroup Governance

The board will evaluate each workgroup proposal and, if it is deemed credible, will appoint a governing subcommittee consisting of one or more HTNG board members, executives, or advisors.  The subcommittee is responsible for negotiating and approving the group's charter and for overseeing the selection process and performance of the workgroup.

Eligibility

Hotel companies may participate in HTNG workgroups either by holding a corporate membership in HTNG or by maintaining individual memberships for all workgroup participants in their employ.  Individual memberships may be purchased after workgroup selection, provided that at least one individual in the company’s employ holds HTNG membership at the time of the application. 

Vendors may participate in workgroups by holding a corporate membership. 

Consultants, media, academics, and other can participate in workgroups by holding individual memberships.

All workgroups will include opportunities for hotel companies and vendors.  Many workgroups will provide a limited number of opportunities for consultants, media, and academic participation.  Those that do may establish selection criteria that are based on a subjective assessment of the merit of the application.  This assessment may be made either by the HTNG board subcommittee responsible for the workgroup, or by the other workgroup participants.

Sponsors

The HTNG members who propose a workgroup may designate, subject to approval of the governing subcommittee, additional HTNG members which, together with the proposers, become the workgroup sponsors.  Sponsors who remain eligible at the time of workgroup selection are given first priority to participate in the workgroup.  The intent of sponsors is to help ensure that a workgroup can achieve critical mass through the presence of a group of customers vendors already committed to cooperating with each other to address the problem set identified by the workgroup charter.  The number of sponsors may not be more than half the maximum number of workgroup participants, and may not be more than seven.  Sponsors must be invited prior to the first publication of the charter to HTNG members and their participation confirmed prior to the public announcement.

For workgroups chartered by the Board after 1 January 2005, a sponsorship fee may be assessed to sponsors who are Industry Partner members.  This fee will be uniform within each workgroup but will vary from workgroup to workgroup, and may not apply to all workgroups.  The amount of the fee will be communicated to each company invited as a potential sponsor.

Industry Categories

The governing subcommittee will define the industry categories which should be represented to make the workgroup solution-set credible and representative of the market.

• The industry categories for vendors will specify the type, or business characteristics of, business solution provided; they may also specify aspects of the way in which the solution is provided, but only if this is relevant to the problem set (for example, a workgroup with a charter to achieve cross-platform compatibility might include categories or subcategories for each relevant platform, while a workgroup with a charter to focus on a specific platform might restrict categories to vendors who support that platform. 

• Industry categories for hotels, which may or may not be defined for a particular workgroup, may include segment definitions (examples:  independents, management companies, franchise brands, resorts) if representational balance is considered important to the workgroup’s success. 

• Industry categories may be as specific or as broad as the sub-committee deems necessary, may include subcategories, and may include special categories (e.g. consultants, media, academics, other trade organizations). 

• Industry categories may give preference for one or more slots to companies meeting certain size or scope criteria.

• Criteria for industry categories may be no more restrictive than is reasonably necessary to achieving balanced representation of industry interests to address the business problem defined in the charter.

The governing subcommittee may assign a count of minimum and/or maximum representatives per industry category.  The subcommittee may also set a minimum and/or maximum count within relevant objectively defined subcategories, and/or to groups of categories.  The aim of this is, again, to make the workgroup credible, productive and reasonably representative of the market.  The industry categories and other criteria will be added to the workgroup charter document prior to circulation.

Industry categories are used for selection and balance purposes only.  While participants selected in each category are expected to represent that category, their role in workgroup activities is not restricted to that category.

The governing subcommittee may disqualify an applicant from a category if, in their sole and reasonable judgment, it concludes that either an applicant organization, or the proposed workgroup representative(s), are not qualified to represent that category.

Applications to Participate

The workgroup charter will be circulated to the current HTNG membership by the HTNG Executive Director to solicit participation. Applicants for participation will have 30 days to respond.  Measurement of “first-come, first-served” begins at 21 days after charter circulation; applications submitted earlier will be deemed to have been submitted on that date.  Applicants should supply:

• Which industry category or categories they are applying (may apply for more than one, and if accepted for participation, HTNG will determine which category they will represent)

• A written statement regarding your organization's suitability for participation (one for each category applied for)

• A company profile

• A resume, CV, or statement of credentials of the specific individual(s) you are committing to participate in the workgroup (one for each category applied for)

• A signed statement of commitment to the level of participation defined in the charter

The workgroup charter will be posted on the Web for public viewing, and circulated to interested non-members, seven (7) days after circulation to the membership.  Non-member applicants will have the remaining 23 days to join HTNG and apply for participation in the workgroup. 

There is no standard form or format for applications.  Applications should be composed in a standard document format (such as .doc or .pdf) and be submitted to workgroups@htng.org.

Workgroup announcements and charters will be sent via e-mail to the address of record of each individual HTNG member and to each individual who has registered as a representative of each HTNG corporate member; but excluding individuals who have not been issued a login ID and password to the HTNG private collaboration site.  HTNG cannot be responsible for receipt of e-mail.

Workgroup Participant Selection Process

Determination of final participants will be based on these priorities for filling slots in each category, subject to any aggregate maximums set for groups of categories or for the workgroup in total.

• Sponsoring organization(s) of a charter

• Charter members of HTNG (those who joined prior to 30 June 2004, or those who have purchased a Charter Membership)

• Other HTNG members in good standing as of the date and time of the first circulation of the charter to members

• New HTNG members who join after the date of first charter circulation

• Date application received by HTNG mail server (Central U.S. time)

The preference for Charter Members will continue for as long as Charter Memberships are offered for sale, and for a period of at least five years thereafter.  Charter Members whose underlying memberships lapse for more than three consecutive months will lose Charter Membership status and must repurchase it (if still offered) after reestablishing the underlying membership. 

Workgroup categories may not be defined based such that Charter Membership is a factor for eligibility.  However, there may be occasions when categories, or preferences within categories, will tend to favor non-Charter members.  For example, representation of small companies may be deemed necessary to address a particular workgroup's charter.  In such a situation, if small companies are likely to be excluded or under-represented in a workgroup category because of too many interested larger companies who hold Charter Memberships, then some number of slots within that category might be preferenced to smaller companies. 

Hotel company membership status, for this purpose, will be determined based on either corporate membership, or membership of any individual who was in the company’s employ when their membership was processed or last renewed.

In the case of over-subscription in a particular category where multiple companies in the same membership category and responding on the same day are eligible for a smaller number of available slots, participants designated for the other categories will be asked to vote on applicants.  These participants will be supplied the written statement and credentials (with individual names removed) of the applicants.

Vacancies created by resignation prior to the first meeting of the workgroup will be filled according to the same process.  If no applications received prior to the last application date can be used to fill vacancies, then late submissions will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.  If there are no late submissions, then HTNG may solicit participation, and solicited organizations may, at the discretion of HTNG, be given priority over subsequent late applications.

Workgroup Participation Fees

A nominal fee will be assessed to all workgroup participants to cover HTNG expenses associated with managing the workgroup.   The fee will be waived in the case of academic and media participants, trade organizations, self-employed consultants, consultants employed by firms with less than $1 million gross revenue in their prior tax year, and nonvoting participants invited as guests of the workgroup. 

• For workgroups formed prior to 2 December 2004, this fee is set at $500 per organization per year or portion thereof.  This fee will be billed when a member is approved for participation in the workgroup and must be paid within 30 days.  If payment is not received within 30 days or prior to the first face-to-face meeting (whichever is earlier), then the member’s participation rights may be rescinded.

• For workgroups formed after 2 December 2004, this fee will be set at $175 per delegate per face-to-face workgroup meeting.  It will not apply to members who host the meeting.  This fee (or a lower one, based on projected costs) may also be assessed for face-to-face meetings of workgroup teams if (a) a third-party meeting room, catering, audiovisual equipment, or video conferencing are required; or (b) travel is required by HTNG staff or student interns.  Delegate fees will be billed based monthly based on actual participation in any part of the meeting. If payment is not received within 30 days, then the member's participation rights may be rescinded.

Commitment Fulfillment

By majority vote of workgroup participants, or at the discretion of the governing subcommittee, participants may be removed from participation in a specific workgroup, and replaced with another member to be selected by majority vote of the workgroup, if they fail to meet their commitment to participation as defined by the charter, or if the manner of their participation becomes materially detrimental to the cohesion or progress of the workgroup. 

Confidentiality

The identity of individuals proposed for participation, and the materials provided in support of participation, will be held in confidence by HTNG (except as noted above with respect to the tie-breaking process).  The identity of companies applying for participation will be withheld upon written request accompanying the application, but only until the workgroup participants have been selected.  Once the workgroup participants have been selected, it is HTNG's policy to publicly identify all participating companies, but not to publicly identify those not selected for participation.  HTNG will also identify and share contact information of all participating individuals to representatives of other companies participating in the same workgroup, but will not identify participating individuals in public statements without permission. 

Miscellaneous

By applying to participate in a workgroup, you agree to be bound by these policies.

Issues or objections to the selection of workgroup participants will be settled by the governing subcommittee.  The subcommittee is authorized to speak on behalf of the HTNG board and membership.

These rules may be changed by HTNG at any time.  The rules in effect at the time your application is submitted will govern your application.

Version History

Version 1.0 - 14 July 2004

Version 1.1 - 24 September 2004