IETF/Interop Tokyo conflict

[Scott Bradner <[e-mail]>, Jeffrey Case <[e-mail]>, Ralph Droms <[e-mail]>, Geoff Huston <[e-mail]>, Carl Malamud <[e-mail]>, Craig Partridge <[e-mail]>, David Piscitello <[e-mail]>, Marshall Ro]

The Summer 1994 meeting of the IETF is scheduled for July 25-29, 1994.
This conflicts with the Interop Tokyo Conference.

The Interop conference has long been a venue for the dissemination of
Internet-related information, through the conference and tutorial
program.  As such, several senior members of the Internet community
make commitments to attend Interop to teach courses, make
presentations, or hold meetings.

The date for the Interop Tokyo Conference was first announced on June
21, 1993.  Based on this announcement, several senior members of the
community made commitments for teaching, speaking, and presenting.
This includes both members of the IAB and the IESG.

The date for the Interop Tokyo Conference was made six months prior to
the announcement of the Summer 1994 IETF meeting, so it is reasonable
to surmize that the date was known well in advance before the date for
the Summer 1994 IETF meeting was decided.  Regretfully, the meeting was
scheduled in conflict, despite specific requests from the IESG, and
without consulting the IAB.

Ours is a volunteer organization.  It profits us little to knowingly
schedule meetings so as to conflict with large industry events;
particularly when significant numbers of the senior membership are
likely to be impacted.

Whilst scheduling conflicts often are unavoidable, the current
situation is only the latest of several unexpected and painful
conflicts.  Although each is explained as being unavoidable, a
disturbing trend has developed.

At the very least, the IESG and IAB must be included in the approval
cycle for future meeting venues and dates.  Any additional measures
that would minimize the potential for this type of conflict to 
reoccur, such as scheduling IETF meetings further in advance, must 
also be undertaken.

Signed (in alphabetical order),

Scott Bradner,	     Area Director, Operational Requirements and
		     Trustee, Internet Society

Jeffrey Case,	     Chair, FDDI MIB WG and
		     Chair, UPS MIB WG

Ralph Droms,	     Chair, Dynamic Host Configuration WG

Geoff Huston,	     Trustee, Internet Society

Carl Malamud,	     Internet Multicasting Service

Craig Partridge

David M. Piscitello, Area Director, Internet

Marshall Rose,	     Area Director, Network Management

Jeffrey Schiller,    MIT