John, I considered this before making my reply, especially in light of a number of recent events with which I am intimately familiar. To become the Chair of the IESG involves a second level of selection that is much more political. You have to be selected - I believe - for the role by your peers on the IESG. This then is a matter for the IESG, more than the NomCom, or the IETF as a whole. This is - I feel sure - one of the things that a NomCom has to consider in picking folks for IESG membership: there needs to be at least one AD on the IESG that is both willing and able to take on this role. But - let's face it - this should be obvious to any reasonably competent NomCom that is having to replace an outgoing Chair. But it is most definitely NOT something that every AD has to be prepared to do... -- Eric -----Original Message----- From: John C Klensin [mailto:john-ietf@xxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 9:22 AM To: Eric Gray Cc: ietf@xxxxxxxx Subject: RE: Nomcom off in the wilderness: Transport AD Importance: High --On Wednesday, March 06, 2013 14:16 +0000 Eric Gray <eric.gray@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >... > So far, it has not been any part of the normal duties of an IESG >member or AD to hold press conferences, glad-handing with the masses, >baby kissing, etc. >... I can't speak to baby kissing but the above statement is true only if you exclude the IETF Chair from "IESG member or AD". Perhaps we could change it if we really wanted to, but we should face the fact --and I hope that Nomcoms understand-- that the IETF Chair role has expanded to include a great deal of public representation of the IETF and, indeed, public politics. john