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Re: Newcomers [Was: Evolutionizing the IETF]

2012-11-12 06:25:10
On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 9:18 AM, Mikael Abrahamsson 
<swmike(_at_)swm(_dot_)pp(_dot_)se> wrote:
On Mon, 12 Nov 2012, Brian E Carpenter wrote:

For WGs that do *not* have a low bar for entry, a detailed complaint to
the chairs and the AD would be very appropriate (and probably more effective
than a rant on this list).


Well, it's hard to say what caused an email I sent (new thread, pitching
idea, asking if it was relevant to the WG) to not get responded to.

Perhaps it was irrelevant or uninteresting but nobody wanted to say so. I
don't know, if I don't get a response, I tend not to push the issue.

I can add another (likely) reason: low S/N ratio in everyone's
mailbox.  It happened to me too: I see an e-mail, I think it is
interesting and that I should reply, the reply is not just a
one-line-email and it requires so thought,  so I say "I'll reply
later," I get drowned under a ton of other mails and I forget about
this one...  It should not happen, I agree, but it does...

You could say that if the message had enough interest for me, I would
have replied at once and I can agree with that. The matter is that
"interesting" is somehow in between "totally boring" and
"life-or-death matter," so that an e-mail can have some interest and
still remains unresponded too.

About my strictly personal experience of the entry bar in IETF, I must
say that when I went to Maastricht I was really impressed how I felt
"welcomed" and part of the group, while carrying the red label of the
rookie :-).

   ( BTW, part of my "welcomed" feeling was due also to the "reception
for  new attendants" and the  "crash courses" for newcomers given the
first day [suggestion for potential newcomers: go to that courses, it
is worth it] )

I had my fair share of interaction (I am quite shy a guy, so it is not
really in my nature to jump for the mike at every occasion) without
feeling a "second class citizen" because of my newcomer status.
However, this was *my* personal experience and your mileage may vary.
Maybe if someone else interacts with people less friendly than the one
I interacted with, they could experience a different situation.



--
Mikael Abrahamsson    email: swmike(_at_)swm(_dot_)pp(_dot_)se