Start times/dates of meetings held across different time zones

[Guest John Harnett]

In a meeting held virtually and participants span different time zones, what time would be recorded as the meeting start time in the minutes?

[Atul Kapur]

Pick one thst makes sense. Options include:

Where is the headquarters of the association? Use that time zone.

Where is the presiding officer located? Use that time zone.

If it's worldwide, consider using Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), which has the benefit of not having to figure out whether a particular time zone is on Daylight Savings Time (aka "Summer Time") or not.

Edited June 10, 2020 at 02:41 PM by Atul Kapur

[Weldon Merritt]

Or if the meeting notice includes a time zone (e.g., "8:00 PM US Central Time"), use the same one in the minutes. 

[Atul Kapur]

And if that raises the question, "What time zone do we put in the meeting notice?" look two posts above this one. 

In the example that Mr. Merritt uses, I believe Central time zone is used because that is where the headquarters of the association is located.

[Gary Novosielski]

And whatever time you decide upon, make sure the time zone is put in the minutes so future archaeologists who dig them up won't have to wonder.

[Joshua Katz]

Oh, this is a fun one. I once was part of a board that conducted email ballots that close at midnight on the 10th day and had members across the country.

[Richard Brown]

Ahhh, I think I’m familiar with that board! Their email ballots now end at 11:59:59 PM Pacific time.

[Joshua Katz]

2 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

Ahhh, I think I’m familiar with that board! Their email ballots now end at 11:59:59 PM Pacific time.

 A sensible change. Then there's me: I'm currently on Pacific time, but after DST ends, I'll be on Mountain time. Arizona is a strange place.

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 6/11/2020 at 2:36 AM, Joshua Katz said:

 A sensible change. Then there's me: I'm currently on Pacific time, but after DST ends, I'll be on Mountain time. Arizona is a strange place.

In other words, Mountain Standard Time?

[Joshua Katz]

Yes. 

[Shmuel Gerber]

4 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

Yes. 

Well, I'll leave this comment here and you can decide whether it's smart, stupid, irrelevant, or just pedantic:

https://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/arizona-no-dst.html

“There is a common misconception that Arizona is on Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) during the summer and on Mountain Standard Time (MST) during the winter. Because MST and PDT have the same UTC offset of minus 7 hours (UTC-7), Arizona has the same local time as neighboring states California and Nevada during the summer season.

“Although the time is the same, Arizona uses standard time (MST) all year. “Daylight” time zones, such as MDT, are mostly used for areas that switch to DST every year.”

[Joshua Katz]

Fair enough. In practice, about half the time people set up appointments with me during DST, they write something like "EST" and I don't know if they're just wrong or if they modified it on purpose. Also, Zoom and Google calendars do not seem to allow me to specify MST when DST is in effect, requiring me to pretend to be on Pacific Daylight Time. But yes, you are correct, of course. Gut shabbos.

[Atul Kapur]

Zoom has Arizona as a separate option when I'm choosing a Time Zone to schedule a meeting. Windows also recognizes Arizona.

Canadian content: They both also recognize Saskatchewan as a separate time zone
(SK stays on Central Standard Time year-round, so = CST or MDT).

1 hour ago, Joshua Katz said:

Gut shabbos

Gut shabbos to you, as well. I assume that hasn't started for you as yet, but I guess that depends on what time it is. 😀

And I hope the situation in Arizona with the outbreak is sparing you and yours.

Edited June 13, 2020 at 12:40 AM by Atul Kapur

[Joshua Katz]

3 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

Gut shabbos to you, as well. I assume that hasn't started for you as yet, but I guess that depends on what time it is. 😀

And I hope the situation in Arizona with the outbreak is sparing you and yours.

Thank you, you too. No, but we'll hold services before sunset, in about 5 minutes, so that we can use Zoom. It is something to behold - people who stayed home for months with 5k cases now refuse to wear masks with 30k cases. Such is life.

[Gary Novosielski]

1 minute ago, Joshua Katz said:

Such is life.

If you're lucky.

[Atul Kapur]

4 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

people who stayed home for months with 5k cases now refuse to wear masks with 30k cases. Such is life.

As an emergency physician, I tell them that if they don't like a mask, they really won't like a breathing tube and ventilator. [non-RONR digression over]