The chairperson introduces him-/herself and welcomes everyone to the meeting while he asks everyone to sign the attendance register by way of introducing themselves to the channel bot Maaz.
eg: Maaz: I am FirstName LastName
http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2012/07/16/%23ubuntu-za.html#t17:30
The chair gves a brief background about procedures and makes a few announcements or allows somebody to talk on his behalf.