Re: Proposed Experiment: More Meeting Time on Friday for IETF 73

[Fred Baker <[e-mail]>]

On Jul 18, 2008, at 7:50 AM, Cyrus Daboo wrote:

> Rather than expanding the number of slots why don't we look at using  
> the time we have more efficiently.

Let me throw in v6ops as an example. We are very efficient, I think -  
we have 10-15 minute discussions on each of a number of drafts in our  
time. I would often like to allow a discussion to be longer, for the  
same reason that we meet f2f in the first place - we'd like to get all  
the opinions on the table and come to some sense of closure. I am  
having two meetings in the course of the week and finding myself  
rushing discussions along.

No, cramming things in tighter isn't the solution. Interims perhaps,  
but that means more travel. I'm all for teleconferencing, but there  
are issues with that as well - that implies IP Multicast deployment,  
relatively high bandwidth for multiple unicast sessions, or access to  
a central server, and all that has to pass through firewalls. The IAOC  
conferencing committee has tried Skype (limited person count and not  
that great of sound) and Marratech (works well for IAOC, ISOC Board,  
and various ISOC committees), but the IESG and IAB have not to date  
tried Marratech. Other alternatives like WebEx imply ongoing finances.  
ISOC could beef up its Marratech server and make it available to IETF  
WGs, or the Secretariat could, but making that investment requires a  
commitment that it will be productively used - the IESG and IAB have  
to get on board.

 From my perspective, I have been attending meetings on the weekends  
fore and aft of the IETF meeting for years, and consider using the  
time Friday (as noted, RAI already does) to be very reasonable.


The thing that surprises me in this discussion is, frankly, the  
representation of it as an "experiment". In my book, it's not an  
experiment, it is an expansion of available meeting slots. It is  
neither successful nor unsuccessful, as I doubt that that terms having  
the kind of meaningful criteria that Brian suggests exist. The  
question is whether the meetings are effective, and whether the  
Secretariat finds it easier to meet the various demands placed on it.  
I don't see how "more resources" can avoid making the Secretariat's  
job easier. The question is how we use them.
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