> i suppose we could say that the meeting rooms are subsidizing > the food, but frankly, i'd prefer that we didn't spend the additional > $340K/year, and folks who want food can have breakfast at the hotel > restaurant and snacks at whatever's available at the lobby level. As most people I know of have to eat and drink, this suggestion would only increase the cost of going to IETF meetings, and the ones who would win something would be the hotel restaurants. I also agree with Harald that the convenient food service makes us work more efficient, and I further think it is an important social component. To reduce the costs, John made a good point about terminal rooms, and especially computers. These days, providing wireless connectivity would probably be sufficient. Since we do not have that many parameters to play with, I think we will have to adjust the meeting fees to the current financial situation. What we should further do is to make sure people can participate even if they can not afford to go to the meetings (f2f meetings are supposed to be an optional component of IETF work, right?). /L-E