Re: [Ietf108planning] Registration open for IETF 108

[S Moonesamy <[e-mail]>]

Hi Colin,
At 05:34 PM 10-06-2020, Colin Perkins wrote:
>>One datapoint: The RIPE meeting which went 
>>"virtual" in May had *record* attendance (and no fee).
>
>I'd be interested to see how the RIPE funding model compares to that of IETF.

I'll disclose that I am a Board member of Afrinic 
Ltd.  The funding model is different from the IETF.

Sometimes I hear the word 
"micromanagement".  That word is also included in 
the document which the IETF wrote for the 
LLC.  There are matters which a community has 
strong views about.  I can either listen to the 
views of the community or argue that the 
community should not discuss the matter as it is 
akin to micromanagement.  As an example, I could 
say that the community does not have any right to 
ask questions about the attendance fee.

The second word is "oversight".  I could be 
silent about the potential issues which I noticed 
or share some thoughts/advice for free.  As an 
example, the "broadcast rights" could potentially affect the "Note Well".

It is very difficult to strike the right balance.

It has been said over the years that the IETF is 
funded through attendance fees.  The travel 
restrictions due to COVID-19 could cause a 
potential loss of revenue of $2,311,531 [1].  I 
took a quick look at the information [2] which 
was shared at IETF 107.  Is there a risk of the 
IETF facing financial difficulties in 2020?  Are 
the persons attending that meeting allowed to ask 
questions about that?  Would it be prudent to 
initiate the funding model discussion at that point in time?

Section 7.5 of RFC 8711 states that: "The IETF 
Executive Director sets those meeting fees, in 
consultation with other IETF LLC staff and the 
IETF community, with approval by the IETF LLC 
Board."  The assumption when that RFC was 
approved by the IESG is that a meeting is a 
physical meeting.  What is the appropriate course 
of action when the assumption is no longer 
valid?  I have not come across those 
circumstances before.  There are well-established 
protocols [3] which could be used to guide the decision-making.

The IETF (used loosely) will be making the same mistake twice.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy

1. It is complicated to come up with a good 
estimate as I don't have access to information 
which would be required for that.
2. 
https://datatracker.ietf.org/meeting/107/materials/slides-107-ietf-sessa-ietf-107-ietf-llc-report-01
3. The word "convention" would be a better fit.