Re: Further update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and IETF 107 Vancouver

["Carlos M. Martinez" <[e-mail]>]

Hi,

On 26 Feb 2020, at 16:13, Ron Bonica wrote:
>
>
> The IETF’s current practice of holding three in-person meetings per 
> year is not sustainable. If not today, at some time in the future, the 
> IETF will be forced to hold a fully on-line meeting. This may be 
> motivated by:
>
>  
>
>   * The next public health issue
>   * Environmental concerns
>   * Geopolitical or visa concerns
>   * Economic concerns

I personally don’t agree with this, a bit apocalyptical, view. I think 
we are letting our fears and our imagination get the best of us. It’s 
hard, I’ve been nervously checking https://wuflu.live several times a 
day, even though the rational side of my brain tells me that doing that 
is plain silly.

Three meetings a year is perfectly sustainable, just maybe not everyone 
needs to attend all three. Put numbers in perspective: three meetings a 
year of around 1400 people is like 1/5th of a single rock concert of any 
popular band (yes, a lot of people fly to go to concerts), or even less 
of CES or similar trade shows. In actual numbers, we are a tiny 
community.

Regardless of this comment, I believe developing the ability to hold 
virtual meetings should be a top to-do item for the IETF. While it has 
got a lot better lately, it’s still way behind other industry 
solutions.

There is a lot of work to do. The sooner it starts, the better.

But don’t let fears get the best of us.

/Carlos