I'm trying to work out why anyone (outside the IESG anyway) really cares about this issue. Areas are a bureaucratic invention of the IESG - they have their uses for sure, but their real purpose is for dividing up the WG's amongst ADs who are able to handle them. Deciding how many areas should exist, and how many ADs they should have has always been an IESG decision - about the only effect that it really has on anyone else is perhaps which particular AD gets assigned to a WG (people who don't like the AD they're getting should submit comments to the nomcom - about now is a good time to be doing that). The other issue I suppose is that the secretariat schedule WG meetings differently inside areas, than between areas, so I guess there's some minor impact - but not enough that anyone should be making all this noise. Whatever the IESG thinks is best is what should be done on this one. kre