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Re: Newcomers [Was: Evolutionizing the IETF]

2012-11-08 11:36:22
Hi Andy,
At 07:31 08-11-2012, Andrew G. Malis wrote:
There's obviously a subset of the "newcomers" who only attend because a meeting is local or otherwise convenient to attend, or come with narrowly focused interests, and never planned to become a regular.

Yes.

Since attendance is largely flat over last few years, obviously newcomers that become regulars are offset by existing participants that drop out or cannot make a particular meeting. Drop outs have to be expected for any number of reasons, such as change in job function, change in (or loss of) employer, end of a work item of interest, and so on.

I suggest looking at this differently as it might provide a better answer to Adrian's comment. Is there any data to explain why attendance is flat?

I, for one, think we're actually not in a bad place right now, and would not welcome a return of the 2600-attendee meetings, where meeting rooms and hallways were filled to overflowing, with no real commensurate increase in the set of participants doing the work.

I was following this working group which will likely be shut down because there is not enough participation. There are quite a few working group which fit that profile. I prefer not to view things as "actually not in a bad place" as it encourages complacency.

Personally, I like to see messages such as http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf/current/msg75744.html as it helps to understand the views which often go unheard.

Regards,
-sm