Re: IETF Meetings - High Registration Fees

Michael Richardson <mcr@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca> · Mon, 18 Mar 2002 13:56:08 -0600

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>>>>> "Keith" == Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu> writes:
    Keith> And as much as the meeting costs annoy me, I haven't thought of a better 
    Keith> way to fund IETF.   But I'd be curious to know whether holding meetings 
    Keith> in other venues (say university campuses during break periods) might 
    Keith> allow us to lower meeting fees.

  It certainly would eliminate some of the terminal room costs. 
  The problem that I understand it from trying to organize other conferences
at Carleton University in Ottawa is that there are really only two breaks at
most universities: reading-week/march break, and summer. At schools with
extensive co-op programs many have a normal 4 month summer term
(e.g. Waterloo University), so no time is available, period.

  For many academic conferences, the availability of residences during the
summer or between sessions is what makes them possible.
  (Phil Karn would be pleased to stay in residence at Carleton despite the
weather as one needn't never go outside for an entire term...)
  Residence is usually not available during march break. The alternative is
nearby hotels, if any, which may involve moving a lot of people distances
that are not walkable. As anyone who has had to stay in third hotel has
learnt, even a short distance reduces the amount of chance meetings in the
hall that make the meetings so effective.

  I think that all of these issues are resolvable for quite a number of
campuses, for a summer IETF.

  The idea of coming back to the same places regularly appeals to me on many
fronts. Knowing what to expect is valuable to me.

  I was involved in the terminal room setup this time. The fiber from the
basement to the third floor (where the hotel has a telco closet) was left
from last year, but we had to have fiber pulled to the second floor. The
cabling on the tables themselves is the same cables as last year. That
represents quite a savings in man-power and logistics.  

  I note that we still do not know anything about fall or 2003 meetings. 
I would also like to know if anyone has any estimates about hotel and food
costs in Yokohama. I know that Japan is seldom cheap, but I do not know if I
should plan on $150US/night, $300US/night or simply bring the deed to my
house. 

  As another independant consultant, I am actually far more price sensitive
on the hotel and food costs than I am on anything. (And the ritzier the
hotel, the higher the cost of the food, and the availability of a peanut
butter sandwidth goes way down).

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