Note: This only applies when there is a meeting with an agenda and moderator. That is often not the case, but these rules will help everyone be able to keep the discussion civil and organized.
Once a meeting is in progress, the topic (title) of the channel will change to "MEETING IN PROGRESS" and meeting rules will apply. At the end of the meeting the topic will be changed back to something more general, by the moderator.
There is a moderator/facilitator for each meeting, who will announce the agenda, ask for discussion, and recognize people who wish to speak. If it's not obvious who is running the meeting, their name can be added to the topic, such as "MOD: Ty"
During meeting discussions, only one person should be talking at a time.
To get put in the queue, simply type a single exclamation point and hit Enter. The moderator will acknowledge you in first come, first served order, and will tell you to "ga" or go ahead when it's your turn.
While typing, add "..." to each line other than the last one so people know you're still talking. Hit enter fairly frequently so that we don't all sit around for 30 seconds wondering what's going on, only to be flooded with a dozen lines that we have to assimilate at once. When you're done, type two semicolons on a line by itself or type $done or similar. Mostly, make it obvious that you're finished.
If a request is made for comments, the moderator will only wait a few seconds for a response. At least send a "!" to show you need the floor.
A sample if useless session:
--> Ty changes topic to "Meeting in progress - Mod: Ty" <JimF> ! <Ty> JimF: ga <JimF> I had some thoughts on whether or not we want to drive... <JimF> up to Dallas and confront Romero personally on this... <StanGula> ! <JimF> issue of portability. <JimF> ;; <phares> ! <Ty> Stan: ga <Stan> I wanted to point out that Dallas is down, or at least right,... <Stan> from Jim. <Stan> ;; <Ty> Phares: ga <phares> Nevermind--Stan got it. Left for me, mostly. <phares> ;;
etc...
Any questions, contact Ty. BTW, these meeting standards are not new--they were used in the Evilution project heavily and others since then.