Hector,
You raise an important point - and one that isn't just about mentoring, but the
overall approach in our ability to involve more remote participation. We have
and will continue to improve the facilities to improve the remote participation
experience. Looking back, one big change in the way of working at the IETF in
the last couple of years has been that many working groups have virtual
meetings. Not so much as a replacement of the physical meetings, but as a place
to do the day-to-day or month-to-month work. Like you, I believe the future is
in over-the-Internet collaboration :-) Though as in any human interaction the
physical meeting still have a place as well… And the success of the IETF
depends on the ease of bringing good ideas here and getting them adopted.
Including the ability to start things without always having to wait for a
meeting and attending it physically.
It is true that the mentoring trial is more focused on the participants in the
meeting. See the response from Brian. Perhaps it would be useful to consider
extending it in the future to cover those who are doing work in some of our
working groups but not attending the meetings. But I do think that the mentor
program is focused on making people capable of getting their work done at the
IETF, including both those who might spend a large part of their day with it as
well as those with a narrower interest in a specific topic. It is always useful
to understand the process and get to know others involved in it. As you know,
most Internet technology efforts will in any case involve multiple aspects,
such as the functionality itself, operations, security, etc.
As for your questions about individual I-Ds, the answer is that usually nothing
happens on its own. Whether you are on site or attending remotely or just
participating in mailing list discussions, the procedure is the same. The IETF
is about standards, and standards are about groups of people agreeing to some
common ideas. In order to make this happen, you need to find your group of
like-minded people who have an interest in achieving something similar. Usually
you find this from your colleagues in other organisations, from others in
hallway discussions, or by sending a proposal to a working group and getting
others interested in it. Ultimately, a proposal has to be brought formally to a
working group or a new working group charted for the work. If adopted, it will
be worked on and eventually comes out as an RFC.
Any of the above things - starting new work, talking about I-Ds, finding
like-minded people can and has been done remotely. Although there are some
things that are easier when you are there in person. As a result, most IETF
work involves some amount of activity in the physical meetings. I'd love to see
ideas on how we can make it easier for people to participate without
necessarily attending the meetings.
Jari