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RE: Sunday tutorials, newcomers, and remote participants

2014-11-08 08:55:31
Some tutorials from the past (slides and video for some) are available at 
https://www.ietf.org/edu/tutorials.html. 

I agree with John that it would be good to have the materials posted in advance 
and have them included also in the proceedings.

Regards,

Dan




-----Original Message-----
From: ietf [mailto:ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] On Behalf Of John C 
Klensin
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2014 3:11 PM
To: ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: Sunday tutorials, newcomers, and remote participants

Hi.

As others debate things we should do about allowing people to attend IETF
meetings in the future, I want to note a present issue that has been raised
before but apparently not addressed in practice.

We've developed a tradition of doing a number of tutorials on Sundays.
There are "only" four of them tomorrow, but they all seem interesting and at
least three, maybe all four, are relevant to newcomers -- whether those
newcomers are local or remote and even whether they are likely to be local
in future meetings.

Done well, they have the potential to be immensely helpful to people not
familiar with a particular topic (or the IETF in general).  Even a poor job is
better than nothing.  That help is even more important for those who are
remote because things are harder to understand when one is not in the
room and because we offer nothing in the way of support, even to the
extent of little smiley faces on badges.

We've also been told, repeatedly, that, for those not extremely able in
listening to spoken English, having slides and other materials available in
advance is extremely helpful, even to the point of making the difference
between a session that is understood and one that is an incomprehensible
waste of time.

And yet, as of now, the day before those sessions, there again appears to be
no arrangements for video or even audio or those sessions.  Neither the
tools agenda nor the meeting materials page indicates any of them as having
either an outline or slides posted.  Nothing.  The newcomer's introduction
itself is given, with small variations, at every meeting.  I know the slides 
from
previous ones are online.  They would at least provide hints, but it isn't
obvious from any of the meeting pages where to find them.

So, assuming the IETF actually cares about remote attendees and
newcomers, perhaps even about newcomer remote attendees, why is
there no video or audio for those Sunday sessions?   Why does
there not seem to be a plan for getting those sessions online so they can be
viewed between meetings?  And why are slides and background materials
not posted?  As a final question, since the Nomcom is presumably starting to
make decisions this week, who is accountable for the apparent lack of
progress on this subject despite the fact that it has been pointed out as a
problem several times before?

Grumble.
   john