Writing Protocols

The protocol of a meeting is the written record of a meeting's discussions and decisions.
It is primarily intended to inform individuals close to an organisation who were not present at a meeting, but can also serve as a template for future decisions.
The protocol usually assumes that the reader has also read any supporting documents related to the meeting.

What needs to be included:

• Who is present (any changes in attendance should be noted throughout the meeting as well)
• What issues were discussed and by whom points were made (in as far as they are relevant and appropriate)
• What decisions were made (topic of the vote and the result)

What should be left out:

• General information about the organisation (e.g. reiterating the statutes)
• An introduction to an agenda point (if said introduction is clear from context)
• Varia (unless something relevant is discussed)

A protocol can either be written as minutes or as a transcript. In German, this distinction is slightly more intuitive, where minutes are called a "Sinnprotokoll" and a transcript a "Wortprotokoll".

A meeting's minutes are an abridgement of what was discussed in the meeting.
Minutes should omit everything that is not directly relevant to the point being made. The intention is to keep concise notes on the topic of discussion without recording everything.

In the following example we see an opinion, a change in attendance, a decision (highlighted in blue to easily distinguish it), and the result of a brief technical discussion:

Florian explains what minutes are. He stresses that details that are not relevant to the reader's comprehension should be left out.

Linn joins the meeting.

Linn agrees with Florian.

Decision: the wiki article describing protocols is accepted unanimously (2 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions)

The board briefly discusses how to make organisations aware of the new wiki article. The discussion concludes that an email with a link to the article would be appropriate.

The minutes' primary focus is what is being done in a meeting. If a protocol records everything said in a meeting, it is called a transcript.
A transcript records what is said in the meeting in a word-for-word manner. Grammatical errors and inconsistencies may be corrected to improve readability (e.g. repetition of words, misspoken words, filled pauses («uhh»),…) as long as the core statement remains unchanged.
The MR is currently the only administrative body within VSETH to use transcripts.

Florian (VSETH)
Protocols are useful means of understanding the reasoning behind past decisions.

Max (VIS)
Yes, they have often helped me to get accustomed when joining a project.

Individuals speaking in a protocol can be referred to by an acronym or another abbreviation, as long as these are explained at the beginning of the document.
At large meetings, the organisation's abbreviation should be appended to the individual's acronym. (e.g. Florian (VSETH), David (FinA), or Maximilian IV (PapperlaPub)) 

Try to write coherently during the meeting to spare yourself too much work finalising the text after the fact.
Finish the protocol as soon as possible, so the discussion is still fresh in your mind and you can fill in any gaps from memory.
Writing protocols gets easier with practice, and as such it is worth considering assigning this task to one individual within your organisation. In this case the hero in question should be recognised for their outstanding work.