Questions about the XForms evening at the XML conference

Dear Working Group,

I am continuing to make arrangements on our behalf for the XForms evening 
on Dec. 3rd.

The typical 'evening' session is about two hours long.  We might be able 
to get away with 2.5 hours by starting at 6:30pm instead of 7pm.
I am thinking we could arrange it in the form of one hour for 
talks/presentations (3 x 20 mins), then a 30 minute keynote, then one hour 
more of talks/presentations (3 x 20 mins).  If we have to fit into two 
hours, I would think the regular talks would be 15 minutes instead of 20 
each (including question time, so about 12 minutes to present + 3 for 
questions and changeover). 

Should we strive for a two hour session or 2.5 hours (or longer)?

If we go for 2.5 hours, should the individual talks still be 15 minutes so 
we can fit in more speakers?

Regarding the format, do we still want a CFP (call for papers) model, or 
do we simply want to select/invite people to present (i.e. more like 
preparing a session, less like a conference)?

Finally, it wasn't clear from the last telecon what to do about the 
keynote invitation.  I can't make multiple invitations, then only choose 
one and send apologies to the others.  My gut feel is that we should 
invite Mike first as we know he will positively affect attendance.

Please give these points some thought; esp. if you cannot attend the 
telecon on July 4, please send your response by email.

Thanks,
John M. Boyer, Ph.D.
STSM: Lotus Forms Architect and Researcher
Chair, W3C Forms Working Group
Workplace, Portal and Collaboration Software
IBM Victoria Software Lab
E-Mail: boyerj@ca.ibm.com 

Blog: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/JohnBoyer