Maybe we would do better if we required attendees to dress as furries. Their conventions seem to attract a younger crowd. Sent from my iPhone > -----Original Message----- > From: ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx [mailto:ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of > Phillip Hallam-Baker > Sent: Friday, April 27, 2012 7:07 AM > To: IETF Discussion Mailing List > Subject: Is the IETF aging? > > A question arose on the RFC-interest list, I observed that 20 years ago > I was one of the youngest IETF participants and 20 years later that > still seems to be the case. > > I see some grad students and some postdocs in their 20s but not as many > as I think there should be. By now at least a third of the organization > should be younger than me, preferably half. That is certainly not what > I see when I attend IETFs. And yes, the lack of women is also highly > noticeable. > > If this is the case it should worry us greatly. But first I think we > need to determine if it is the case or not. I suggest an optional > demographic survey of participants in the next IETF meeting to be > repeated at regular intervals (no more than 5 years apart). > > People can argue about process, RFC formats and governance but it > should be beyond argument that any institution that cannot recruit > younger members is going to die. > > -- > Website: http://hallambaker.com/