Yao, I sympathize. However, there are other things for you to consider: 1) There are available discounts - a) the price for full time students is significantly lower (although several times what it has been in the past) and requires only that you can produce a student ID card to show that you are a full-time student b) the IETF offers "fellowships" in certain cases for people who cannot otherwise attend. 2) "Membership" in the IETF is precisely what you do not need, nor can you get it right now. The right to be a participant in the IETF comes for free, and is a thing you can lose, rather than a thing you have to gain. Attending meetings is what costs money, and you don't absolutely have to attend meetings (though it is much more difficult to participate effectively if you don't). 3) An annual membership fee - as applied in several other SDOs - can actually be a larger "threshhold" that must be overcome by the small company because (without small company discounts - which are resented by those larger companies that don't qualify) the fee will typically be significantly higher than the attendance fee total (for a year's worth of IETF meetings) and is nearly always insufficient to cover meeting cost. This is because an annual fee is usually not strongly correlated to the number of attendees that a company will send. That means you will pay an additional fee (often slightly more than half of the IETF attendance fee) for each attendee. All of that said, however, it is my impression (likely exaggerated - without actually looking into it) that the meeting fees have climbed by $50 each meeting for the last several meetings. The perception is that the IETF fees may be getting out of control, and I am deeply concerned that a person wishing to attend - but unable to determine if they will be able to in advance - will soon have to pay more than a thousand US dollars to do so. It is an interesting question what changes are likely to occur in the way the IETF does business if the only people who can attend are: o those people who are sufficiently destitute as to qualify for the discounted rate (without being so destitute that they cannot actually pay even that rate), o the very small number who are so wealthy that they can afford to attend for completely altruistic purposes (betterment of mankind, etc.), o those professionals who are funded for support of one or more specific commercial or agency agendas. -- Eric Gray Principal Engineer Ericsson > -----Original Message----- > From: YAO [mailto:healthyao@xxxxxxxxx] > Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 7:03 AM > To: IETF Secretariat; ietf@xxxxxxxx > Cc: irsg@xxxxxxx; wgchairs@xxxxxxxx; bofchairs@xxxxxxxx > Subject: joining the IETF is luxury Re: 70th IETF - Registration > > > the early-bird > > price of USD 700.00. > > > > After Early-Bird cutoff - USD 850.00 > > so expensive. > > > joining the IETF is luxury for individual. > > IETF should not take the money from the individual pocket. > and should absorb more finance support from big company > > Why is it so expensive? > > IETF lives in more luxury hotel? > IETFer eat more than before? > Meeting room is more expensive? > Salary is higher? > > the price of ticket to join the IETF is not to encourage the > individual with little dollars and small company to join the IETF. > > Raising the ticket price is to raise the doorsill of IETF to > exclude those who want to join but not enough dollars. > > it seems that IETF is becoming a wealthy club. > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "IETF Secretariat" <ietf-secretariat@xxxxxxxx> > To: "IETF Announcement list" <ietf-announce@xxxxxxxx> > Cc: <irsg@xxxxxxx>; <wgchairs@xxxxxxxx>; <bofchairs@xxxxxxxx> > Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 6:30 AM > Subject: 70th IETF - Registration > > > > 70th IETF Meeting > > Vancouver, BC, Canada > > December 2-7, 2007 > > > > Registration is now open for the 70th IETF Meeting! > > > > You can register on line at: > > http://www3.ietf.org/meetings/70-IETF.html > > > > REGISTRATION INFORMATION: > > Early-Bird Registration - USD 700.00 > > > > If you register and pay for your attendance to the IETF-70 > before NOON ET > > (17:00 UTC/GMT), Friday, 23 November 2007, you will pay the > early-bird > > price of USD 700.00. > > > > After Early-Bird cutoff - USD 850.00 > > > > You can still register and pay online at USD 850.00 until 17:00 > > Canada/Pacific Time Friday 30 November 2007 (01:00 UTC/GMT, > Saturday 1 > > December 2007). > > > > Full-time Student Registrations - USD 250.00 > > > > Full-time students with proper ID are eligible to receive a > special USD > > 250.00 student rate. Student rate is not subject to any late-fees. > > Students will also be able to register on-site at the > special student > > rate. Failure to provide valid student ID on-site will > revoke the special > > student status. > > > > CANCELLATION: > > > > The cut-off for registration cancellation is Monday, 26 > November at 17:00 > > ET-US (22:00 UTC/GMT). Cancellations are subject to a 10% > (ten percent) > > cancellation fee if requested by that date and time. > > > > ON-SITE REGISTRATION: > > > > You can register onsite at the meeting in Vancouver, BC, > Canada starting > > Sunday, 2 December at 12:00 noon (local time). > > > > The IETF meetings start Monday morning and run through > Friday lunchtime, > > with late scheduling changes. Most training session take > place on Sunday > > afternoon 2 December. Participants should plan their > travel accordingly. > > > > The IETF Secretariat > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > IETF-Announce mailing list > > IETF-Announce@xxxxxxxx > > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf-announce > > > _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf