On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 8:14 AM, Melinda Shore
<melinda(_dot_)shore(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com>wrote:
On 5/23/13 6:37 PM, Juliao Braga wrote:
Maybe they can not submit drafts, but can
contribute to foster the knowledge of those who produce drafts or
working as reviewers.
Anyone can submit a draft and anyone can review a draft. The
barrier to that sort of participation is extremely low. So
the question is why we aren't seeing more drafts, reviews, and
discussions from people in Central and South America, and
what we can do as an organization to change that. I have no
problem with meeting in Buenos Aires but I do not have reason
to think that having a meeting there will do anything to
increase active participation from that region.
English is not a first language in many countries other than the US.
Spanish is the predominant language in Central and South America. There are
several cultural barriers as well such as people being hesitant to ask
questions if they have not met people in real life. Not everything about
the IETF is googlable or RTFM'ed. Maybe several co-located meetings or
having people from the IETF speak at universities and regional ISOC
chapters around the meeting might help. Also showcasing the good work done
by their Latin American peers might help as well.
-- Vinayak