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General Information and Participation in
CalConnect Interoperability Test Events
What is a CalConnect Interoperability Test Event?
A CalConnect Interoperability Test Event (IOP Test Event) of The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium is
an interoperability testing event for developers of Calendaring and Scheduling products or
implementations which are based upon Calendaring and Scheduling standards and
open specifications, in particular the IETF iCal, iMIP and iTIP RFCs and
related drafts; CalDAV; and so forth. At the event,
implementers test their implementations for accuracy in implementing
the Calendaring and Scheduling Standards, and test interoperability
with other implementations. Goals of the event include
assessing the C&S standards, assessing the implementations, and
determining interoperability. A CalConnect Interoperability Test Event normally lasts
2 to 2.5 days depending upon the number of implementers
participating in the event.
CalConnect also hosts Mobile IOP Test Events for mobile calendaring, based
upon the Mobile Calendaring
Interoperability Test Suite. These events may take place in parallel with
regular IOP Test Events, or at a separate time and place.
In-Person Events, "Virtual" Events, and Remote Participation
An in-person or
regular Calconnect Interoperability Test Event is one where representatives from each participant
gather in the same location to conduct interoperability testing of their
products and implementations. The Consortium provides the
location, internet connectivity, and the on-site IOP Test Manager who
will conduct the actual interoperability testing and ensure that all participants are
able to participate in and complete the testing. The Consortium will also produce
a members-only and a public report of each event.
Regular CalConnect Interoperability Test Events are held in conjunction with a
Consortium Roundtable; the IOP Test Event usually begins Monday morning and generally
runs to noon Wednesday, with the Roundtable following from
noon Wednesday through noon Friday. Mobile IOP Test Events may be held in parallel
at the same time and place, or by themselves at a separate time and place.
A Virtual Interoperability Test Event is
one where participants do so from their home locations,
communicating via Jabber Conference and conference call as necessary.
These events are held as supplements to the regular IOP test events between actual meetings,
and serve to validate fixes to
problems discovered in a previous IOP Test Event or in preparation for the next major
event. CalConnect is working on a more comprehensive Virtual Test Lab
facility to allow remote registration and testing between testing pairs under
CalConnect auspices.
Remote Participation
may be required for a participant who cannot attend an in-person
CalConnect Interoperability Test Event and therefore
participates from a remote location, generally communicating via Jabber
Conference. This option is open to an organization participating in the
IOP Test Event at the discretion of the IOP Test Manager, and requires at
least one person from the organization to be present in person while other(s)
join via the conference. While the Consortium strongly encourages
in-person participation for the reasons stated above, we will attempt
to allow remote participation for overseas participants, for
non-commercial vendors with extremely limited budgets, and on a
case-by-case basis given special circumstances.
Participation fees for remote participation will be the same as for in-person
participation as the Consortium is incurring all of the expenses for
the in-person event even if one of the participants is not there in
person. We cannot guarantee that remote participation will be
possible at any particular event, so participants who need this capability
should bring it to our attention as early as possible.
CalConnect Interoperability Test Event Confidentiality Agreement
All participants and observers at a CalConnect Interoperability Test Event
must explicitly agree to and be bound by the
CalConnect Intereoperability Test Event Confidentiality Agreement.
Planning for a CalConnect Interoperability Test Event
We recommend registering for the event as soon as you have decided to
participate. Also, since space is limited, we request that
organizations which are considering participating but have not fully
decided give us a "heads-up" in advance. This will help us with
logistics arrangements for the event and allow us to warn undecided
organizations if the event is becoming fully subscribed. Please
note that registration for an event is not confirmed until you have
paid your registration fee. The base registration covers two
participants from your organization; you may have additional
participants by paying a small additional fee per participant.
Participants must supply their own hardware. Wired connectivity, outside
of any firewalls, will be offered unless it cannot be arranged; we will indicate
whether the site will be "wired" or "wireless" in advance, but we strongly
recommend you come prepared for either contingency, and bring your own
wireless card and ethernet cable.
We may ask to be put in touch with your organization's marketing or
publicity department prior to the event so we have a working
relationship with them and can work quickly after the event is complete.
Our
goal is to ensure that we coordinate any Consortium Press Releases or
publicity with any efforts your organization is making to achieve the
maximum benefit for the Consortium and the participant. The
Consortium will not issue Press Releases concerning expected
participants or activities prior to a CalConnect Interoperability Test Event. However,
necessary information on goals, rules, and participants will made available to
participants prior to the event.
During the Event
Attendance at a CalConnect Interoperability Test Event is limited to personnel from participating
organizations and Consortium support personnel (i.e. the IOP
Manager), and to Observers at a single IOP Test Event.
Participants must have an existing implementation or
product to some degree, rather than only plan to have a product.
In general, attendance is limited to technical staff; journalists, marketing staff,
etc. are not allowed at the events.
The activities of the CalConnect Interoperability Test Event will be managed by the IOP Manager
who will provide scripts, monitor and note the achievements and
problems encountered by the implementers, and ultimately report on the
results (see below). All participants in and any observers of the event agree to act
in accordance with the confidentiality agreement presented above.
CalConnect Interoperability Test Event Reports
The IOP Test Event Manager will produce two reports: a detailed report on the results based on
participation in the test event as well as material received from
each participant, available to Consortium members, and a more generalized
public report published on the Consortium website. The public report will be written in such a way as to
identify the participants and report on the results experienced by each
implementation, but will not identify any participating organization
with any particular set of results. All participants will be able
to review the report and request necessary changes before it is published
Publicity and Press Releases
After a CalConnect Interoperability Test Event, the Consortium expects to issue one or more
Press Releases about the event. We expect to identify the
organizations who participated unless specifically requested otherwise.
We would like to be able to
identify significant achievements or successes so long as the
participants are willing.Any other publicity including
results achieved by any particular participant
will
be reviewed and cleared with the participant before it is
published.
Each participant can issue their own publicity about participating in the
event, including the fact that they attended and their own
results. Participants are expected not to publicize the names of
other participants nor the results of other participants'
efforts. Participants are asked to avoid implying that successful
completion of the event "certifies interoperability", or that their
implementation is "better" than other implementations as a result of
having completed the interoperability testing. Participants are welcome to
talk about the number of participating organizations, name your
products that you tested, make general comments about the state of the
Calendaring and Scheduling industry, about your experiences at the
event, and related material.
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CalConnectSM is a Service Mark of The
Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium.
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© 2008 The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium
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