Meeting with newcomers… At a physical meeting it’s easy: spot the Newcomer ribbon; walk up; say hello. In Gather.Town it is only complicated by: - You’re not in Gather.Town
- They’re not in Gather.Town
- You don’t know they’re a Newcomer
😊 Adrian From: ietf <ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Victor Kuarsingh
Sent: 30 July 2020 18:06
To: John C Klensin <john-ietf@xxxxxxx>
Cc: IETF <ietf@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Disappointing take-up of Gather.Town
--On Thursday, July 30, 2020 11:19 -0400 Kathleen Moriarty
<kathleen.moriarty.ietf@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It came out of a conversation with Allison and Karen, and
> without enough coffee today I am not sure who had that
> thought, maybe Allison? But, I agree it is a good idea.
I just learned something else about this that, in retrospect,
should be no surprise but may tell us something about ways to
think about this.
I got on it more or less to look around (stimulating my earlier
note) but, just as a was about to sign off, had Joel start a
conversation which was interesting and helpful. But the reality
is that all of us know each other: Joel (both of them), and
Kathleen, Ben, Victor, and I have all had enough conversations
over the years (even though I don't think I've met the latter
two f2f) that, given a bit of motivation reaching out and
talking with each other is rather easy.
The interesting part, however, is that the conversation Joel and
I were having was joined by a newcomer to the IETF who didn't
know either of us or our work. Led to a very interesting
conversation and, for me, the most fun I've had this week... and
maybe some useful advice and contacts for him in finding work of
interest in the IETF.
I think the regular chat session windows are a good idea but I
also see a great deal of potential for what would amount to a
periodic equivalent to a newcomer's meet and greet session,
maybe even encouraging people to connect and start conversations
who would be too shy to approach one of us current or former AD
types in a physical hallway.
This makes me wonder how we will poll any newcomers from IETF108, or even relatively new contributors from IETF108 to see how it may have compared to in-person meetings. I think you are right that many of us have had longstanding relationships with others, therefore meeting-up is more of a re-connect vs. a first-connect (very different). I recall Erik Kline chatting with me and helping me out. I am sure that was based on him already knowing whom I was, and that I was apparently lost (my first day, I was trapped in lobby as I was not good at navigating the landscape).
john
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