Re: [Manycouches] [admin-discuss] Follow up on consultation on planning for IETF 111

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

--On Sunday, April 11, 2021 17:29 -0700 Fred Baker
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Apr 11, 2021, at 1:17 PM, Andrew Campling
>> <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> 
>> Without these in-person meetings I believe that the IETF
>> risks fracturing into a number of largely separate activities
>> with minimal overlap, increasingly driven by the interests of
>> companies and with little regard for the "big picture".
>> In-person meetings build a sense of community as well as
>> fostering the cross-pollination of ideas, diluting the former
>> risks harming the community over the medium-term.  
> 
> I am of a similar opinion/concern.

To be clear, I agree.  I was not proposing elimination of
in-person meetings and one of my biggest concerns about the IETF
in recent years is that several activities seem to be sliding
toward isolated activities and losing that big picture, since of
community, etc.  The question I think is worth asking --and the
one I, perhaps incorrectly, took Brian as asking-- is about how
many of those meetings we need.   More specifically, is the
incremental value of three meetings a year over two meetings a
year, or over five meetings in two years, high enough to justify
the additional costs (to the IETF and to participants), travel
time, etc.  Conversely, if we need three meetings a year to
foster the sense of community and other good things you are
talking about, would we be even better off with four a year or
some other larger number?

best,
   john