On Aug 8, 2012, at 3:40 PM, Michael Richardson wrote:
Simon> Does nobody care about going to new places so that new people
Simon> are exposed to the IETF and may start getting involved?
Simon> We've seen this positive effect many times when we went
Simon> outside our comfort zone...
Simon, it *is* important.
But, we don't have to go to a new place every meeting.
If 1/3 meetings are in North America, I see no reason why we can't
return to places that work. I think the same mostly applies to Europe
as well. (We don't have to go back to the *same* place every year,
although there are advantages of that. So a Paris/Prague would be fine,
but please, not Paris in the summer... nor Orlando on spring break)
Let's innovate for that third meeting, realizing that we do not yet
have a preferred place in Asia, or any place in Africa or South America,
but maybe we should.
I think this is a fine idea.
And while some see value in going to new places so as to expose new people to
the IETF, there is one benefit to revisiting venues that has not been given. By
revisiting well trodden venues, attendees have the opportunity to learn what
works for them as far as hotel, travel, etc… and can learn to optimize based on
their needs and hopefully that will enable them to reduce costs in both money,
time, and mental energy.
-andy