Re: List of volunteers for the 2021-2022 NomCom

[John C Klensin <[e-mail]>]

--On Sunday, June 27, 2021 20:12 -0400 Michael StJohns
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> On 6/27/2021 8:00 PM, Mary B wrote:
>> [MB] Per the process, I don't think that it allows more than
>> *2*  from  a single company.  So, I think the problem isn't
>> as bad as some  perceive.  Personally, I see the bigger
>> problem as the fact that  *many* that were qualified didn't
>> volunteer. [/MB]
>> 
> The problem (IMNSHO) is that, statistically, if you (company)
> have a large enough proportion of the pool, you have a pretty
> much guaranteed probability of having 2 members.   If you
> have 2 members for every nomcom, you can have a
> disproportionate impact in the overall composition of the
> leadership of the IETF over time.
>...

Mike, while I completely agree, I am also thinking about how
much bigger we would need to make the pool to overcome the
number of volunteers from that company, i.e., to make their
fraction of the volunteers small enough relative to the total to
significantly reduce the chances of their ending up with two
Nomcom members.  If the goal is to increase pool diversity,
getting more volunteers would probably do it.  If it is to
reduce the influence of a small list of organizations, I'd
doubtful that we could bring enough people out even though I
think it might be worth a try.

I favor extending the period for people to volunteer by a week
or so and believe, as you and others have suggested, that it
falls well within the limits and precedents of other deadlines
we extend when that seems sensible.  However, if the goal is to
prevent an organization from guaranteeing itself one or two
Nomcom seats [1] there are some obvious ways to do that, but
they would clearly require the sort of significant procedural
changes that Joel, Brian, and others seem to be warning against.

best,
   john



[1] Whether that is via a coordinated effort or just as
consequence of the ways in which people are encouraged to
participate (including trying to guarantee support for
attendance at IETF meetings as others have suggested) actually
makes no difference as far as Nomcom diversity (not just pool
diversity) is concerned.