Back in the heady days before COVID, we'd regularly all get together in new and interesting cities[0], and almost everyone knew everyone else.
We were all friends; we all got on really well together; there were never any arguments[1]…
… and then one day COVID started stalking the lands, and we suddenly went from a happy, carefree community[1] to instead being somewhat isolated and participating in remote meetings all day. This has led to some loss of our community feel.
Just before COVID, I had start organizing "Affiliate Groups" — these were basically mailing lists where people who shared an interest could plan to get together at the upcoming meeting. This all stopped when we stopped having upcoming meetings where we actually met.
Now that COVID seems to be in retreat, and we are starting to meet in person again (there are 750 on-site people registered for IETF115), it seemed like the right opportunity to revive this effort - now, more than ever, it is useful to be able to rebuild friendships and make new ones.
So, here is the (very basic) Affiliates page: https://www.ietf.org/about/groups/affiliate/
Have a look and see if there are any groups of interest to you.
If, instead, you'd be interested in forming and helping organize a community around some sort of interest or hobby (e.g model-trains, hiking, art museums, cheese-rolling, whatever), please let me know and we can get the ball rolling.
I'd like:
1: at least a few people willing to "champion" and help lead the group,
2: an expectation that there is some community of IETF people interested (at least 5-10 people)
3: the leaders to help keep some communication going, help newcomers become involved, etc. For example, if the group is interested in art museums, a few mails before the meeting with info on some interesting nearby museums, possibly a time when some people may be planning to go, etc.
Thanks, all,
W
[0]: Usually Prague.
[1]: Nor any hyperbole
