Weekly group meetings serve several purposes, building communication, improving group cohesion, and professional development. By describing some of the motivations, you should be able to figure out how to take advantage of and contribute to group meetings more effectively.

Purposes:

1. Gathering for technical interaction which helps all group members keep abreast of

• research developments and results (papers, results, etc.)
• commercial developments (products, standards, partnerships, etc.)
• other professional developments (conferences, workshops,
• fellowships, awards, etc.)

Some Tips:

• Make a point to note things of general interest and relevance bring them up.
• Raise topics for future discusssions, informal interactions, etc.
•  Note calls for papers, product annoucements, or standards announcements which are of interest

2. Progress Reports to keep all members of the group abreast of what's going on in the group. Progress reports should be:

• terse and to the point (think about what you're going to say in advance)
• targeted at your peers (e.g. not Andrew), be understandable to them and engage their interest
• an opportunity for you to learn to speak tersely and precisely about your research (with papers and longer talks providing more context)

3. Presentations which provide an in-depth coverage of a paper and put it into perspective in an area of research. Investment here in putting together a good talk pays off for the group.

•  pick papers on relevant topics that are likely to be of general interest to the group (discuss topics and papers w/ Andrew several weeks in advance). It is worth the effort to dig in and make sure the paper is of good quality.
•  use your expertise to put the work in context, explaining it clearly, its significance, and how it relates to other work in the area, specific references are good
•  use the opportunity to hone your presentation skills (put the necessary effort in to do a good job), as the communication of research results is an important part of the research process.

Finally, remember that there are a range of different mechanisms for communication in the group (individual meetings, project meetings, etc.) and concentrate on the types of communication and interaction which is most appropriate for group-level interaction at the group meetings.