Re: A modertor for the IETF list? (Re: A plea for calm)

> (I've seen "moderator" used in 2 ways - the "summarize and state 
> consensus" role Carsten mentions below, and the "sanction 
> inappropriate behaviour" role that is commonly used with "mailing list 
> moderator" - these roles don't have to be done by the same person....)
Ah, words.

Moderator in the sense of "control rod in a nuclear power station" 
(i.e., your second meaning) -- this is something the IETF chair has the 
authority to do, and has done in the past.  (You may of course choose 
to delegate some of this work.)
Given the prevalence of the mailing list moderator concept on the net, 
we may need a different term for "role that facilitates generating 
consensus", which is often called moderator in meeting management.  
Secretary somehow implies "administrative assistant", at least to my 
cultural background, unless it's called "secretary general" or such 
(somehow Kofi Annan comes to mind as a good example of such a 
moderator, but this example may be lost on US/UK people at the moment). 
 "Facilitator" may focus too much on making things possible, but at 
least it's not taken yet on the net.
If we want the latter role, I believe it needs to be somebody the IETF 
would be comfortable to have in the IAB (though not necessarily a 
[current] IAB member).
I also believe this role is best separated from the first role, 
although this may vary with the topic at hand.
All of this, of course assumes that we do have useful discussion on the 
IETF list, which has not happened too often in the recent past, but 
could increase with the establishment of this role.
Gruesse, Carsten