All, At IETF 89 we will once again offer the IETF Mentoring Program. The goal of the IETF Mentoring Program is to match IETF participants who may be new or otherwise in need of guidance with experienced IETF mentors. As a mentoring participant, your mentor will personally introduce you to the IETF community, help you find your way around the IETF & the meeting, explain things, and introduce you to other attendees you might like to meet. Basically, your mentor will be your personal buddy during the meeting week, and possibly afterwards. Unlike in the past, at IETF 89 we will accept requests for mentors from anyone who wants one, regardless of how many meetings they have attended previously. We cannot guarantee that every request will be honored, but we will do our best. If you wish to participate in the IETF Mentoring Program, you can follow the sign-up procedures described in the program FAQ: https://www.ietf.org/resources/mentoring-program.html After you follow the sign-up procedure, we will introduce you to your mentor by email prior to IETF 89, and invite you to meet up in person at the IETF Meet & Greet event on Sunday afternoon in London. From there on, you and your mentor decide on when and where to meet during the rest of the week and afterwards. You are of course free to withdraw from the program at any time and for any reason, no questions asked, should a need arise. But I sincerely believe the IETF Mentoring Program will be a great way for new participants to get introduced to the IETF by an experienced participant with matching interest. Regards, Jari Arkko IETF Chair
