ned+ietf(_at_)mauve(_dot_)mrochek(_dot_)com wrote:
On 9/7/2010 5:41 PM, Ross Callon wrote:
It's my sense that it's increasingly difficult to do work in the IETF
without being physically present at meetings, as well...
A significant amount of IETF meeting participants that have their
expenses sponsored by their employer might need to have this notion
upheld, or they get difficulties getting their f2f participation
approved. This might be particularly important for those participants
that do not make any presentations on an IETF meeting.
Face-to-face is quite helpful for forming an effort, since it
creates a connection among the group, and it is quite helpful
for resolving specific problems. That is, it is good for
personal connection and rapid interaction.
The effect is similar to team-building events for teams of ones workplace.
Getting to know other team members and talk to them about other things
than some potentially controversial technical issue helps in figuring out
that a different opinion is in fact, a mere technical, rather than a
personal issue when there are competing proposals or differing opinions.
Especially for newcomers, it might significantly improve the level of
the discussion to get to know other WG participants over lunch, dinner,
IETF social or other occasions before getting into technical squabbles
on the mailing list.
The key to making this work is that the people who are at the F2F meeting
have to take steps to facilitate remote participation. This includes, but
is not limited to:
(0) Having meeting materials available well in advance, no "winging it" at
meeting time.
(1) Proper use of microphones.
(2) Serious attention paid to Jabber during meetings.
(3) Timely postings to the mailing list.
I have been participating remotely in two WGs (cat/kitten and Kerberos)
remotely for ~10 years and it worked remarkably well thanks to the
efforts of the WG chairs and WG contributors participating the IETF Meeting.
The audiocast seems to work OK for pretty much all IETF WGs, but the
interactive remote participation through jabber depends significantly
on WG chair and other participants attention -- and seems to be not
used and likely ignored by a number of WGs.
In general, I believe that remote participation of IETF WGs entirely
through the WG mailing list is possible, but participating at least
some IETF meetings goes a long way getting to know the IETF and
some folks in personal, which might ease some of the technical
discussions in the long run.
-Martin
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