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.  Proposals should be sent to the HTNG workgroups mailbox. 

Charter Approval and Workgroup Governance

Initial discussions on a proposed workgroup are generally held with HTNG staff and interested members, which can result in a more formal proposed charter.  HTNG staff will help assess what may be needed in order to gain approval of the HTNG board of directors.  Once it has been presented to the board, the board may accept the proposal, decline it, defer it, or appoint a subcommittee (consisting of one or more HTNG board members, executives, or advisors) to work with the member(s) proposing it to refine it.  In that case, the subcommittee is responsible for negotiating and approving the group's charter and for overseeing the selection process and performance of the workgroup.

The HTNG board will prioritize proposed workgroup efforts according to available financial and management resources.  The board may consider any factors it deems relevant in prioritizing proposed workgroups, including the breadth and magnitude of anticipated benefit, the level of interest expressed by existing members, the potential for rapid deliverable of meaningful results, and any available sponsorship funding.

Eligibility

Participation in HTNG workgroups is open to (a) companies that hold Corporate memberships in HTNG; (b) hospitality companies who have at least one employee who holds a Individual Hospitality membership in HTNG; (c) consulting companies with fewer than 5 employees, or independent consultants, where the consultant or at least one employee of the company holds an Individual Industry Partner membership in HTNG.  Allied members other than media may participate on a non-voting basis, except that voting rights may be granted at the discretion of HTNG to Association Partners whose specifications are being used by the workgroup.  Allied media members may participate only if approved by a formal vote of the workgroup, which may attach restrictions on reporting in their discretion.  HTNG staff, consultants, board members, and advisors may also participate on a non-voting basis.

Applicants’ HTNG membership dues 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.

Hospitality members of HTNG may participate as business advisors to an HTNG workgroup.  The business advisor role is limited to participating, on a non-voting basis, in meetings designated as business review meetings.  Colleagues of individual Hospitality Members not holding an HTNG membership may also participate in business review meetings based on the invitation of the workgroup.  Consultants may participate as business advisors to an HTNG workgroup subject to the approval of the workgroup.

Individuals who are not current members of HTNG may be eligible to participate in HTNG workgroups on a limited basis.  This policy is intended to allow a workgroup to enlist expert assistance, on a volunteer basis, without requiring that the volunteers pay membership dues.  This option requires the approval of HTNG management and a majority vote of the workgroup, or of any formal subgroup of the workgroup, which approval shall be for a term of no more than one year.  Participation is always on a non-voting basis.  Approval may be revoked at any time by HTNG or by majority vote of the workgroup or formal subgroup, and expired or expiring approvals may be reinstated or extended by the same process as initial approvals.  HTNG will generally not approve non-member participation for companies that would expect to realize commercial benefits from the workgroup's output.

Initial Participants

The HTNG member(s) who propose(s) a workgroup may designate, subject to approval of the HTNG board or governing subcommittee, additional HTNG members which, together with the proposers, become the workgroup's initial participants.  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.  Initial participants are announced when the workgroup is first publicized to HTNG members and the general public.

Applications to Participate in Workgroups

New Workgroups

An application timetable and hyperlink will be announced when the workgroup is publicized.  All companies applying prior to the deadline will be eligible to become initial voting members of the workgroup, subject to payment of any applicable fees. 

Existing Workgroups

Applications to join EXISTING workgroups are subject to the policies established by each workgroup.  Most workgroups welcome new participants who have a business interest in their deliberations, but occasionally a workgroup may defer new applications until a future date in order to avoid the need to bring new participants up to speed mid-project, and all workgroups retain the right to reject any applicant for any reason.  In each case, an application form is submitted, and admission requires a majority vote of the current voting members of the workgroup. 

Workgroup Participation Fees

A nominal fee may be assessed to each participating company and independent consultant in each workgroup, to defray expenses associated with face-to-face meetings.  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 and policies can be found at www.htng.org/workgroups/common/fees.htm. 

Ongoing Participation Requirements

Workgroups may establish policies that cause voting members to become nonvoting members based on repeated failures to vote; if they do so, they also provide a means for regaining voting membership status.  Workgroups may also establish policies to remove members automatically based on failure to actively participate over an extended period of time; once removed, a member must reapply as a new member unless a workgroup provides an alternative procedure.  HTNG may also remove members who fail to pay workgroup participation fees.

Intellectual Property

All workgroup participants agree that they will contribute only intellectual property that they have the legal right and authorization to contribute under these terms and conditions.  The owner of the intellectual property retains all ownership rights  The Contributor agrees to disclose (in advance of, or at the time of, the contribution) any possible restrictions on the use or modification of contributed intellectual property, as well as any expectations of royalties.  Such disclosure shall be made in writing to the workgroup chair or co-chairs, to the workgroup facilitator assigned by HTNG to the effort or to the effort's sponsoring workgroup or team, and to HTNG's Chief Executive Officer.  It shall also be included on the first page, or the first page after the title page, of any documents or artifacts submitted.  If posted on HTNG's collaboration site, it shall also be included in the document description (header).  In the absence of such written disclosure, it is understood that HTNG, its members, and the general public may use or modify the contributed property in any way authorized by HTNG. 

The form of the disclosure must be substantially as follows:

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CLAIM

By providing this document to HTNG, I certify that I and/or [XYZ company] own or have the right to use any intellectual property contained within and that I am empowered to, and do, grant the rights to use and/or distribute and/or modify the information as presented, subject only to any limitations listed below. Additionally, neither I nor my company will seek any royalties or impose restrictions on such use, except to the extent that we have listed the specific intellectual property(ies), and the rights retained or restrictions imposed, below.

Limitations and reserved rights:

(list here, or state "None")

Without limitation, this section applies to contributions made (a) by posting to the HTNG collaboration website; (b) by electronic dissemination using workgroup or team mailing lists; (c) by electronic or nonelectronic dissemination to individual workgroup or team members, if those members could reasonably interpret said dissemination to be related to the workgroup effort; (d) by presentation before a meeting of the workgroup or other HTNG members, whether or not physically distributed; and (e) by requesting that HTNG staff or other HTNG members or workgroup participants effect the contribution on behalf of the Contributor.

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 participating in a workgroup, you agree, individually and on behalf of your employer, to be bound by these policies.

By participating in a workgroup, you agree that workgroup meetings may be recorded for the benefit of members unable to attend. Notice of the intent to record a meeting will be provided in a notification of the meeting to members by e-mail at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. As a convenience, it will also be announced by the facilitator at the start of the meeting, but if you arrive late, you may not hear this announcement. Access to recorded meetings will be provided on a nondiscriminatory basis to members of the workgroup, its parent forum, or to all members of HTNG.

Issues or objections to charter or workgroup formation process 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 by publication on this website.  The rules in effect at the time your application is submitted will govern your application.  The rules in effect at any point in time govern ongoing participation.

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

Version 1.7 - 27 March 2007

Version 1.8 - 14 May 2009

Version 1.9 - 13 June 2009

Version 2.0 - 25 August 2009

Version 2.1 - 24 November 2009