I agree 100% with George and would just add NANOG to the list of meetings
that went from f2f to online. NANOG used a cute “enter coupon FREE at
at checkout” approach which then discounted the fee to $0.00.
I attended an academic conference online for free today. I also just paid a registration fee to attend another online conference, taking place in a couple of weeks.
Most of all, it seems to me that the timing aspect of this decision
is all wrong. It really doesn’t seem that long ago that we had IETF 107
go online followed shortly thereafter by various lockdowns all over the world.
I agree that the issue is not so much the actual fee as it is a change
in model and the perception of our open process. Those active dedicated
participants who would normally attend in person will probably still
brave the timezone challenge and attend, while “lurkers” and observers
who are otherwise unable to attend might just not bother if they have
to pay. At the end of the day, I do not think that is good for our community.
We’ve put session recordings on YouTube, and made slides, minutes, and other materials available on the website for free for many years. That’s not changing – anyone who is lurking and observing can continue to do so, for free.
One datapoint: The RIPE meeting which went “virtual” in May had *record* attendance (and no fee).
