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); (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); and (c) individual consultants and companies with fewer than 5 employees, where the consultant or at least one employee holds an Individual Industry Partner membership.  Allied members may also participate on a non-voting basis. 

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. 

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 current or former 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 member(s) who propose(s) a workgroup may designate, subject to approval of the governing subcommittee, additional HTNG members which, together with the proposers, become the workgroup's initial 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 may 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 in Workgroups

New, Restricted Workgroups

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. 

For NEW workgroups with a maximum participation limit ("Restricted Workgroups"), the workgroup charter will be circulated to the current HTNG membership by the HTNG Executive Vice President 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 may be required to supply:

• The industry category or categories, as defined in the charter (if any), that they believe they are qualified to represent

• A written statement regarding their organization's suitability for participation

• 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

• 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.

New, Unrestricted Workgroups

For NEW 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.

Existing Workgroups

Applications to join EXISTING workgroups are subject to the policies established by each workgroup.  In each case, applications are submitted to the workgroup chair or to a co-chair, and admission requires a majority vote of the current voting members of the workgroup.  Some workgroups impose additional restrictions.

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 is not 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)

• 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)

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

A nominal fee will be assessed to each participating company and independent consultant in each workgroup, 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.  Additional fees may apply to companies that send multiple participants to face-to-face meetings, and credits are available based on factors such as contribution of meeting facilities or catering and distance traveled.

The current fees can be found at www.htng.org/workgroups/common/fees.htm. 

Self-Governance

Each workgroup may set policies, which must be nondiscriminatory within any class of HTNG members, for qualification of new members, disqualification of existing members, provisional memberships, and similar items.

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

Version 1.6 - 08 February 2007