Re: Background on Singapore go/no go for IETF 100

[Benson Schliesser <[e-mail]>]

Hi, Ted.

Ted Hardie wrote:
> After the first message on from the IAOC related to this announcement, I
> asked a clarifying question of the IAOC on their understanding of what
> "Singapore can function as a meeting location for IETF100" entailed (see
> http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf/current/msg98101.html).  In
> Leslie's mail of the 23rd
> (http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf/current/msg98176.html), there
> was an acknowledgement that the IAOC had not yet responded to this request.
> 
> If this message is meant to contain that response, I do not find it.  I
> would like to know if the IAOC has an answer or, if not, when it expects
> to provide one.

First: I am explicitly /not/ speaking on behalf of the IAOC right now,
but I am responding as one IAOC member that is somewhat familiar with
the investigation into Singapore. I'm probably speaking a bit "out of
turn" here, but I think it's better to be more transparent and answer
your question to the extent that I'm able.

That being said, I do think the IAOC would have liked to say more about
this (very reasonable, IMHO) question. And I think that we may still do
so in the near future. But we were not prepared to (officially) do so
today.

Nevertheless, the IAOC felt that it would be better to provide partial
information quickly, about the finances etc. - rather than wait until we
had a perfectly complete message - and from this emerged the message
that you saw recently from Leslie.

Without enumerating the details at this time (most of which I don't know
firsthand), I think it's reasonable to let you know that: The IAOC's
Meetings Committee (with the IAD and AMS, et al) have inquired and
gotten feedback from a number of sources about whether Singapore was
appropriate for IETF 100. These sources included (but were not limited
to) travel professionals employed at agencies that specialize in travel
for clients in the LGBTQI communities, clients of various religious and
ethnic backgrounds, etc.

The investigation was meant to be aligned with the sort of process that
is being documented in draft-baker-mtgvenue-iaoc-venue-selection-process.

The summary of their findings, as reported to the IAOC, was consistent
with the message that "Singapore can function as a meeting location for
IETF100". Given the short timeframe to make a decision for IETF 100 it
didn't seem useful to postpone the opportunity for community feedback on
that conclusion while we investigated further, second-guessed the
process, etc.

I'm sorry that I don't have a complete set of details, and that this is
an imperfect answer. But I hope this helps.

Cheers,
-Benson