--On Thursday, October 27, 2011 14:24 -0500 Mary Barnes <mary.ietf.barnes@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> No food or beverages are allowed to be brought into the >> meeting rooms and working group sessions unless >> specifically served by the IETF. > [MB] In my opinion, everyone should be sharing their views > about this. I'm hoping that this is similar to the movie > theater rule in the U.S. as those of us with dietary > restrictions for medical or personal reasons will most likely > need to bring food (I certainly will). And, given that it's > recommended not to drink the water, I wonder about the > quality of the potable water, so I plan also to bring my own > water. [/MB] I've already mentioned this to the Secretariat and IAD. IMO, there are three separate issues: (1) The restriction itself, for precisely the reasons you give and some obvious variations on them. (2) The fact that the restriction has only now been announced, after I assume that a large fraction of those who had planned to attend have made non-refundable commitments. If it is the case that the rule can safely be ignored on your "movie theater" principle when necessary, that is no big deal. If the intention were to enforce it strictly enough that it might make the difference between attendance and non-attendance for some people, then the late announcement is a very big deal indeed. (3) It is normal in the facility contracts, as with many other types of contracts, to have a provision that the contract and its attachments are the entire agreement and that neither party can change or add to the rules without the consent of the other. Do the contracts negotiated by the IAOC not have such provisions? If they do, why is this announcement being made at this time? And, if not, does anyone have any predictions about the next little surprise? john _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf