On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 02:34:03PM -0700, Fred Baker wrote: > our Asian colleagues, that means flying to a major US or Canadian airport > like EWR, ORD, or YYQ, and taking another flight to YQB. [other air routings elided] Also, note, the passenger rail service to Québec from either Montréalor Toronto is not frequent; not real fast; not convenient; and notespecially cheap, given that Canada partly came into existence as anexcuse to run rails across the continent. So your alternative optionsfor travel are somewhat limited [1]. The above diversion aside, I think there are really two topics beingdiscussed, not always separately, in this thread, and I think the oneI (at least) think is more important is not getting exposed as well asit might. 1. The IAOC sometimes picks places that are $wrong_somehow. I findthis issue hard to get worked up about, and I find I have littlesympathy with arguments talking about how inconvenient travel to$location is. I'm aware I don't have the onerous travel obligationssome do, and perhaps there is a real problem I don't understand.Nevertheless, if we're going to have single large physical meetings ofinternational contributors, some people are always going to have to beinconvenienced. It's good for the community, I think, if sometimesthose of us from North America (and large North American cities, atthat) are the inconvenienced ones. 2. It is hard to understand what the IAOC is doing, and what factorsweigh in their decisions. This is partly because the IAOC minutesaren't published as quickly as perhaps some would like; and, when theyare, they do not contain as much detail as some might like, either.(This basic issue is doing a lot of the important work in JohnKlensin's arguments, for instance, and though he's stated this fairlyclearly, I don't have the impression it's getting as much attention asit ought.) To the extent we think this issue is a real one, it seemsto me that it's important to get this one fixed. If I am right about these two different topics, then (if we are tocontinue this thread) I'd prefer to hear clearly stated arguments --and suggestions for improvements -- about (2). If (2) is true, then(1) is just a symptom, and not a compelling one for some of us. Best regards, Andrew [1] That said, if you can put up with the hassles of getting to thetrain from wherever you land, and the fair chance that your train willnot have functioning climate control or will fail to run on time (orboth), some of the route is pretty and worth looking at from a train.Also, Via Rail's seats are quite comfortable and, in my experience,the staff are loads more cheerful than the surly lot that seems tohave taken over Air Canada in recent years. Since this is not yetofficially the grouse-about-lousy-travel-options list, however, I'llstop with my reviews now. -- Andrew Sullivanajs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Inc._______________________________________________Ietf mailing listIetf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf