Re: [Mtgvenue] Comments on draft-baker-mtgvenue-iaoc-venue-selection-process-02

[Yoav Nir <[e-mail]>]

> On 2 Nov 2016, at 15:01, Dave Crocker <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> On 11/2/2016 4:53 AM, Fred Baker wrote:
>> That is part of it. But there is also benefit, a huge one, in human networking. The difference between having scheduled remote meetings using tools such a MeetEcho and an in-person meeting is unscheduled meetings - two or more people can have a meal together or talk in the hallway on a topic of their choice at will. This possibility is maximized if they are physically co-located. When we are housed in a number of smaller hotels, this is still possible, of course, but it is not as accessible.
> 
> 
> As paradigm choices go, this is a major topic.  Potentially major in how it affects the tone of the IETF meeting and definitely major in its effect on the search for venues.
> 
> So I suggest we consider both the dynamics of the feature and the effect of alternatives.
> 
> By way of example:
> 
>     If an area has many, smaller hotels nearby, is the convenience of getting together hurt significantly?  Why or why not?

I believe that the answer to this varies significantly. I tend to leave my hotel room in the morning and go to the venue, hang around there until late at night, and only then go back to my hotel room. It doesn’t matter if the hotel room is upstairs or a 30-minute travel by city bus away (as it was in Quebec City).

Others don’t go to as many sessions as I do, so they’re more likely to either go and explore the city or go back to their hotel room. If their hotel room is far away, they’re likely to not return to the venue until the next day.

The distressing part is that belonging to the second group may be positively correlated with being a newcomer.  So all those productive getting together could be lost on the newcomers, who will only experience the IETF meeting as a series of formal sessions with presentations.

>     Also, how much more work would it be to arrange the same number of reserved rooms, but in a mixture of hotels.  (I believe we have some experience of doing this?)

I think we already do that, no?

Yoav