On plenary functions

[Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>]

> On 17 Aug 2020, at 16:30, Warren Kumari <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> I'd like to ask y'all to reconsider leaving this list, because voices
> matter, individually and in the aggregate.

+1 but from a slightly different perspective.

I think we have made some progress in improving how we interact with one another, but of course there is clearly room for improvement.  I have previously written that I view the IETF list as a plenary forum for general discussion.  That broke when we split the list into two, and now that people are leaving, we have none.

I claim that’s bad.

From time to time, some really good ideas crop up on this list, and when we run into challenges, such as COVID and the like, we need a way to communicate with one another that allows us to adapt to the times.  This list can still be quite useful, but to begin conversations that lead to discussion points, when necessary.  This is different from gendispatch in that sometimes we don’t know whether there is anything to dispatch.  But the S/N ratio is a bit of a problem.

Thinking out loud a bit, I wonder if we need to think in different terms.  As has been pointed out, and is not unique to this organization, we often have better interactions “in person”.  While we’re still learning “in person” means these days, perhaps what the key is that when difficult issues arise, we have the ability to interactively discuss, without 1,000 emails flying in every direction.

I also believe that we should allow for the fact that there is some cabin fever going on in various parts of the world, and perhaps we need a lower key way for people to take a break.  To that end, and keeping in mind John Levine’s and Patrik Fältstöm’s 
comments, I wonder if we should have a daily message limit, at least at the thread level, and if people couldn’t hold themselves to that, then at the aggregate level.  That allows for due process, fair warning, and a bit more inclusivity, perhaps even leading to people giving a lot of thought before they press <send>.

Anyway, I hope that people are open to new approaches that allow for a plenary function to continue to exist.  We need it now more than ever.

Eliot
* Yeah, I was the guy who wrote draft-lear-we-gotta-stop-meeting-like this.  Talk about Overtaken By Events.