Workgroup Policies

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. For workgroups chartered within an HTNG Special Interest Group, the member(s) must be members in good standing of that Special Interest Group.

Charter Approval and Workgroup Governance

The HTNG board (or, in the case of Special Interest Groups, the Executive Committee of the Special Interest Group) 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

Participation in HTNG workgroups is open to (a) companies that hold Corporate memberships in HTNG (and in the chartering Special Interest Group, if any); and (b) hospitality companies who have at least one employee who holds a Regular Individual membership in HTNG (and in the chartering Special Interest Group, if any). Individual Industry Partner members and Allied members do not have automatic participation rights but may be invited to apply for selected workgroups when they are formed, and may apply to any workgroup after its formation; provided that in HTNG’s sole judgment, they are representing the interest of the industry and not of any particular technology or technology-based service vendor. HTNG may also designate other categories of participants as eligible, such as governmental, regulatory, or non-profit associations, and may waive the requirement of HTNG membership for such categories.

Each workgroup charter may define the types of companies or products that are included within its scope. If it does so, then eligibility for participation in that workgroup is, at the outset, limited to companies that have the characteristics described or that offer the types of products described for commercial sale. HTNG will determine a company's eligibility based on its application materials. Companies deemed ineligible for this reason during the initial application and workgroup formation process may apply to the workgroup for membership after the workgroup has been formed.

All workgroups will include opportunities for hospitality companies and for technology vendors. Some 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.

Applicants’ HTNG membership dues (and Special Interest Group assessments, if applicable) must be fully paid at the date of application, and other accounts with HTNG (whether for the member company itself or for any of its appointed or registered participants for HTNG activities), must be no more than 30 days past due. Applications received from non-members and members whose dues are not current or whose other accounts are more than 30 days past due will not be considered to have been received until all amounts owed have been paid in full, and funds (or pending credit thereof) have been received and verified by HTNG.

Initial Participants

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's iniital participants. Initial participants who remain eligible at the time of workgroup selection are given first priority to participate in the workgroup. The intent of named Initial Participants is to help ensure that a workgroup can achieve critical mass through the presence of a group of customers and vendors already committed to cooperating with each other to address the problem set identified by the workgroup charter. The number of Initial Paritcipants may not be more than half the maximum number of workgroup participants, and may not be more than seven. Initial Participants are not required for a workgroup, but if designated, they must be confirmed prior to the first publication of the charter to HTNG members.

Industry Categories

The governing subcommittee will define the industry categories that 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 hospitality companies, which may or may not be defined for a particular workgroup, may include segment definitions (examples: independents, management companies, franchise brands, resorts, casino hotels) 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 for Restricted Workgroups

For workgroups with a maximum participation limit ("Restricted Workgroups"), 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, as defined in the charter, they believe they are qualified to represent
A written statement regarding their 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) that the company 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, and to the workgroup policies as published on the HTNG web site as of the date of the application.

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.

If HTNG provides a standard form for workgroup applications, it must be used; otherwise, applications may be composed in a standard document format (such as .doc or .pdf) and be submitted to workgroups@htng.org.

Applications to Participate for Unrestricted Workgroups

For workgroups with no maximum participation limit, applications may be submitted at any time prior to or during the initial workgroup meeting, and should include:

The name of the organization and of one or more individuals who will represent it
A signed statement of commitment to the level of participation defined in the charter, and to the workgroup policies as published on the HTNG web site as of the date of the application.

Workgroup Announcements

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, or who have opted out of receiving HTNG general e-mails. In the case of workgroups chartered by HTNG Special Interest Groups, e-mail announcements will only be sent to registered members of the Special Interest Group. HTNG cannot be responsible for receipt of e-mail.

Workgroup Participant Selection Process for Restricted Workgroups

For restricted workgroups as defined above, the 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.

Initial participants designated by the 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.

Hospitality company membership status, for the purpose of determining date of joining and charter membership status, will be determined based on either (a) the actual dates, for corporate membership; (b) the earliest joining date and highest membership status of any individual membership held by a person who was in the company’s employ when their membership was established or last renewed (whichever date comes later). Seniority for this purpose is subject to HTNG's renewal rules; memberships are considered new when a prior membership is not renewed within a specific time limit. Hospitality companies holding individual memberships retain charter membership status as long as at least one individual or corporate membership is active and/or is renewed within the defined time limit.

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

HTNG is a self-funded organization and seeks to operate workgroups on a breakeven financial basis. A nominal fee will be assessed to all workgroup participants, except as noted below, to defray expenses associated with managing the workgroup, which include professional facilitation of the initial meeting, staff travel, interns, meeting rooms, catering, teleconference costs, and similar expenses.

Depending on the nature, size, and likely meeting locations of the workgroup, this fee will generally range from $125 to $250 for each day of face to face meetings. Most workgroups meet 3 to 5 days per year. The initial fees will be announced in the workgroup charter.

There will be a minimum charge of one delegate per participating company per meeting. Participants will be liable for this fee unless they formally resign from the workgroup at least 30 days prior to a scheduled meeting. Participant fees will be billed quarterly to the primary contact for each company.

The participation fee will be waived for:

(a) academic and media participants approved by the workgroup

(b) one delegate each from Association Partners of HTNG, and HTNG members who are (or in the case of individual members, whose companies are) not-for-profit organizations

(c) self-employed consultants, and consultants employed by firms with less than US$1 million gross revenue in their prior tax year

(d) nonvoting participants invited as guests of the workgroup, unless they are admitted as voting members during the course of the meeting

(e) one delegate per meeting from any participating company that has hosted a face-to-face meeting of the workgroup in the prior 12 months (to have included at a minimum meeting space, digital projector and, as applicable based on meeting times, continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, and beverages).

(f) up to five delegates from a workgroup participant company that provides the venue (meeting room) for a specific meeting.

The fee will also be waived for certain individuals who may incur unusually high travel expenses when they attend in person. This waiver applies in situations where a delegate meets all three of the following conditions:

(a) the delegate actually attends the meeting in person;

(b) the delegate is physically based on a different continent and at least 3,000 miles from the meeting location; and

(c) the delegate does not normally spend more than 60 days per year working out of an office on the same continent as, or less than 3,000 miles from, the meeting location.

Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging costs, and for meals outside of workgroup meeting hours.

Participation fees are subject to reassessment over time, up or down, based on the actual costs of each workgroup. Workgroups that are able to identify volunteer hosts for most meetings will generally have lower costs.

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.

Patent Policy

If you participate in an HTNG Workgroup, you agree on behalf of yourself and your company to be bound by HTNG's Patent Policy. This policy requires HTNG members who participate in HTNG workgroups, whether or not as voting members, to disclose the existence of any patents that they believe may be necessary in order to implement a proposed specification. It also requires disclosure of the nature of the terms, if any, under which patented inventions will be licensed to other parties. Disclosure is required within specific timeframes relative to comment periods and adoption votes for proposed specifications.

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

Version 1.2 - 2 December 2004

Version 1.3 - 29 September 2005

Version 1.4 - 06 February 2006

Version 1.5 - 02 August 2006