>> if we could get rid of wireless and powerpoint, we'd be much better
>> off.
>
> Personal opinion: disagree. Wireless is immensely useful to grab a
> document, check something on another SDO's web site, and - yes - for
> instant messaging (e.g. "we need you in here right now"). And some
> people simply have to multitask in order to be able to attend IETF
> meetings in the first place. The jabber scribing has become very
> important for remote participants - this time we even had one Area
> Director who was partcipating actively by jabber (and audio
> streaming). The wireless glitches that interrupted jabber were a real
> problem this time.
yes, yes, and yes. but in many meetings it's hard to escape the
impression that most of the people in the room aren't really paying
more than say 10% of their attention to the meeting.
I completely agree with this assessment, having made it and gotten angry about
it myself. However, I recall reaching this conclusion at the first IETF I
attended - St. Louis, circa 1990. Recall the state of laptops at the time -
wireless connectivity didn't enter into it.
The reality is that a fair number of the people who attend our meetings do not
participate in any meaningful way. It was true 15 years ago and it is true now.
The distaction of choice may have changed, but that's about it. And IMO
the benefits of wireless connectivity to thhose who do participate are
well worth it.
maybe this is age setting in,
but it seems to me we used to get a lot more work done when we used our
meetings primarily for discussion rather than scheduling presentations
for most or all of the meeting time. these days some IETF WG meetings
remind me of Apple's 1984 commercial...except that there's nobody to
throw a hammer through the screen.
The only significant change I've noticed over time is that since the dot-bust
we no longer seem to attact nearly as many lookee loos. For a while there you
had a room where the majority of the overly large audience clearly didn't have
a clue what was being discussed, irrespective of whether or not they were
actually paying attention to what's going on.
The past two meetings I've been to (San Diego and Minneapolis) have to some
extent gotten us back to the way things used to be. But excluding the tourists
of the recent past I don't see any significant change in the amount of
attention people are paying to things.
one benefit of our somewhat reduced attendance should be that we can
get more work done by reverting to a more effective meeting style. (or
maybe our reduced attendance can be attributed to a widespread
realization that we're not getting much work done in these meetings?)
There was a big change in the overall tone of the meeting this time. But it had
to do with the audio streaming and the need for everyone to use a microphone.
This plus the absence of microphones on stands created a flow control problem
we're unaccustomed to.
There were quite a few occasions where I noticed someone start to say
something, consider the microphone issue, and simply give up. Of course it is
impossible to know whether any of the comments they might otherwise have made
would actually have been useful, but the fact remains it has changed the scope
of participation materially.
Someone in another message suggested that better microphone technology is the
answer. Speaking as a someone with a fair amount of experience in this area,
there are effective solutions (for the smaller rooms at least) but they tend to
be expensive. Less expensive solutions are possible, but they tend to require
manual adjustment.
The ability for people to participate remotely was incredibly useful, however,
and it isn't something I would want to lose. I would therefore suggest that:
(1) We continue to stream all the sessions.
(2) One or two (depending on the room size) microphone stands be added to
the "standard" setup. This should avoid wasting time fumbling for
the wireless mic.
(3) We experiment with micing the entire room in one or two of the smaller
meeting rooms the next time around.
Ned
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