My first thought when I receive an email titled “Update on X” is usually “Aha, X is shutting down.” This is not the case, MPS Office Hours are not shutting down. They will continue to take place every Wednesday at 14:00 CE(S)T.

However, attendance has been very low in the past few months, quite often nobody came at all. Low attendance is good for you: it means that if you come with a question, you are guaranteed to get my attention. On the other hand, it is not the best use of my time to sit around for an hour waiting for people to come. So I am going to optimize my presence.

I will be present during the first 10 minutes of the meeting and if nobody comes during that time, I will leave the meeting. This does not mean that you absolutely must come in the first 10 minutes, however. Zoom sends me an email every time somebody joins while I’m absent. During Office Hours I will monitor my email and will rejoin the meeting if somebody comes. So if you come to the meeting and I’m not there, don’t leave immediately but wait for a few minutes.

And if you wanted to attend but didn’t or couldn’t, I’m open to suggestions on how I can make Office Hours work for you.