Re: I-D Action: draft-hardie-iaoc-iab-update-00.txt

[Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>]

Hi Brian,

See below.

On 2/2/16 8:19 PM, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I think this draft mixes up two things.
>
> (1) A proposal that the IAB Chair's ex officio seat in the IAOC be changed
> to be a seat for an IAB voting member designated by the IAB. That of course
> can only be achieved by an RFC that formally updates RFC 4071 and so becomes
> part of BCP 101.
>
> (2) A description of some IAB internal organisational matters, which the IAB
> is clearly free to arrange how it wants, and publish if it wants. IAB
> internal arrangements don't need to be BCPs.
>
> I've got nothing to say about (2).
>
> About (1), I think we should hear the pros and cons, because I doubt if
> this proposal arose in a vacuum. In particular, how would this help the
> IAOC be more effective and more responsive to community concerns?
>

Pro:  it is best to have the possibility of delegating responsibility to
someone who really can devote all the time necessary to the role.  You
may recall that the IAB chair's time is in quite high demand.  The IAOC
is only one of many matters that can come to her or his attention.  I
view this as a simple matter of scaling.

Pseudo-Con (really a pro): the IAB chair keeps substantial context in
his head, and can bring that to bear when dealing with the IAOC. 
However, it is better to have the chair share that context with other
board members, and particular any delegate to this role.  For one thing,
it reduces the impact when the chair departs the board.

Eliot