[Lynn Yarmey]

Dear 11th WG/IG Chairs Meeting in person and remote participants,
I am excited to welcome you to beautiful Cologne for Day 1 of our meeting. I have a few notes for you in preparation for tomorrow:
* FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDEES: It is hot here. If you didn’t check the weather forecast before you started traveling, you surely realized this fact in due time! The temperature is supposed to cool slightly tomorrow (yay!), however the status of the air conditioning system in our main meeting room is uncertain at the moment. Our friends at GESIS are working hard to make us comfortable, and the technicians will be out tomorrow morning to hopefully keep things nice and cool. Please dress for heat though just in case!
* FOR REMOTE ATTENDEES: Should the A/C start working however, there are possible repercussions for the remote participation quality as the room speakers are positioned near the A/C vents. For our remote participants, I will aim to be online an hour before our meeting starts to see if we have a problem or not, and if so, how we might solve it. There was no issue testing the sound today, though the A/C was down so the environment may be different tomorrow.
* FOR ALL: Note that the breakout rooms we have reserved on Thursday have a different set up which should work better for both the in-person and remote attendees all around.
* For anyone presenting: The laptop setup is such that I ask you to put any slides on a thumb drive and get them to me before your presentation session to load onto the main laptop. This laptop will be running the remote connection as well, so those joining from home can also see.
* For all: Your 3-piece homework assignment is a short but important one:
* Please review the 10th Chairs meeting report, especially the table of problem statements, Recommendations, and Actions, the table is 5 pages with large font and a lot of spaces – it is a very quick read!
* Make sure you have RSVPed (by adding your name to the appropriate columns) for group dinners Wed and Thursday evenings
* Skim the suggested breakout session topic list and add a note on anything important that you think is missing (less than 10 topic suggestions as I write this, it will be quick!).
I am really looking forward to starting one of my favorite RDA meetings with you tomorrow! Let me know if you have any questions, and otherwise I will see you prior to our 1pm start at the GESIS building tomorrow!
Lynn
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Lynn Yarmey
Research Data Alliance/US
Director of RDA/US Community Development
RDA Secretariat

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