Re: [73attendees] Attendance by country

[John C Klensin <[e-mail]>]

Hi.

While I generally agree with Marshall's comments -- especially
about the suggestion that we should be looking harder at, and
experimenting more with, remote participation arrangements of
different types -- the time zone shift issue is very much one of
personal habits, adaptability, and circumstances.  I've been in
job situations in which I've lived "shifted" by six or eight
hours or more for a few weeks at a time. 

Being expected to be available for conference calls every
morning at 0830 European time while living on the US east coast
isn't easy either, but I've done that too.  One learns a lot
about naps, which are apparently easier physiologically for some
people than others.


None of those options are lots of fun.  They often do require a
lot of effort to avoid meeting remotely all night but then being
expected to carrying out normal daytime responsibilities, just
as having a week-long meeting (IETF or otherwise) within easy
commuting distance of one's normal office is often a lot more
stressful than being a few hundred (or a few thousand) miles
away.

Different people adapt to these situations differently, some
lots better than others.  But most of them are really no worse
than a typical night-shift or swing-shift job, much less a
rotating-shift one, and _lots_ of people around the world get
used to those and manage to function reasonably well in them.
And, yes, I've seen the studies about reduced decision-making
quality in long-shift medical interns.  But I've also see the
studies (and anecdotal evidence) about jet lag and ability to
focus attention).  YMMD and almost everyone's does.

   john


--On Friday, 05 December, 2008 09:13 -0500 Marshall Eubanks
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> 
> 
> On Dec 5, 2008, at 8:53 AM, Roni Even wrote:
> 
>> This may work for one night, but try doing it a whole week,
>> this is   like not
>> being home for the whole time.
> 
> It would be worse in my opinion.
> 
> I do a lot of work with India (10.5 hours from the US East
> Coast), so I have some experience here.
> 
> A few hours per day on the phone starting at 5:00 AM EST (==
> 3:30 PM IST), sure.
> 8 hours per day for a week starting at 10:30 PM EST would be
> very problematic. Jet-lag is
> tough when you IN a new time zone, with the Sun telling you
> when it is day. It
> is impossible (for me, at least) when you are NOT in the new
> time zone. For
> example, right now the morning Sun is pouring through the
> windows, and
> if the IETF was meeting in India I should be going to bed.
> 
> Plus, many people have home or office environments where there
> are disruptions at certain times of day
> (e.g., kids getting ready for school) that are hard to avoid
> if you are present. Whenever I attend a interim meeting or
> something similar remotely I miss pieces of them due to this.
> 
> I should point out that Cisco, Polycom and Tandberg all send
> people to the IETF and all have sets of Telepresence demo /
> rental suites around the planet. Going to such a facility for
> a remote meeting would be very attractive to me if it  was
> within a reasonable distance and would be an effective form of
> sponsorship in kind IMO. Given the likely time zone
> differences, some cots would be useful too.
> 
> Regards
> Marshall




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