TelePLoP™
Call for Participation

The telecommunications industry is, in many ways, ideally suited for finding, writing and using patterns. Telecommunications is both old and new: old in that it has been around for a comparatively long time, and new in that it is constantly changing, embracing new technologies and applications. Telecommunications practitioners have learned a lot, and have a lot to share with each other, and with the broader software community. Moreover, there are more than enough new problems to go around, that there's no need to spend time reinventing solutions to old ones. Patterns make sense in this industry because they provide a concise, effective means to capture what we've learned, so that this knowledge can be remembered, and passed on to others.

The TelePloP "hot topic" workshop at ChiliPLoP'98 focused on the formation of a community of telecommunications practitioners, who would work together to identify, refine, and publish patterns within the telecommunications industry. At ChiliPLoP'99 our goal will be to build on that foundation in two ways:

  1. Building the literature. We need to expand the body of publication-quality telecommunications patterns, so that we can begin to publish our work.

  2. Building the community. We need to expand our ranks to include participants from all aspects of our industry, and from academia.

With these goals in mind, we are soliciting participation from candidates who fit into one or more of the following categories:

  1. Pattern authors, who can contribute patterns to be "workshopped" at ChiliPLoP'99.

  2. Pattern "boosters" who are in a position to help us spread the word within their companies or universities.

Candidates are requested to send an e-mail providing a brief description of their experience both in telecommunications and patterns. Pattern authors should attach their pattern papers in HTML form. Pattern boosters should provide a brief description of how they can help move patterns forward within their sphere of influence.

If the thought of gathering together with other highly experienced telecommunications software practitioners, telling jokes, swapping war stories, and in general discovering and discussing our common joys and sorrows in producing telecommunications software; if you think that Phoenix in March sounds a whole lot better that what you're dealing with right now, if you want to get in on the ground floor of something that one day may become more than a bungalow, and if you want to make a difference in our industry, please respond via e-mail to Jim Doble by January 15, 1999.

Note: PLoP is a trademark of The Hillside Group, Inc.