On 31/07/2013 15:00, Barry Leiba wrote:
The most valuable part of IETF meeting is and has always been the hall
conversations and side meetings
I think *side meetings* are killing IETF, I call it *hidden meetings*, there
is no input for IETF when we have side meetings. The input to IETF in
through meeting sessions and discussion lists.
I have no argument with your last sentence; it's absolutely correct.
But I think you misunderstand the point Donald is making about things
such as small hallway conversations.
Example: A few people get together in a corner and one says, "About
that point I made on the list that you brushed off... here's what I'm
talking about:", and five or ten minutes of discussion ensues. At the
end, either the guy with the point now understands why he's wrong (or
why his point isn't practical), or the document editor says, "OK, I
get your point now. Let me work up some proposed text and post it to
the list."
Example: A few people get together during a session time they have
free, and they bash out some text to resolve an issue that came up.
They come to the working group meeting session with an explanation of
their conversation and the proposed text, and it's discussed in the
meeting session (and posted to the list afterward).
Example: Someone has an idea for a new document or other new work, so
he gathers some people to have breakfast one morning, explains his
idea, bashes it around with his colleagues, and as a result of that
breakfast chat he goes home after the IETF meeting and writes up an
Internet Draft.
None of this is hidden; none of this is secret. It's all the way work
gets done efficiently: a small group of people crack some tough nuts,
and present the results to a wider audience.
I agree with Barry. That is, and always will be, the dynamic at any
conference like meeting, it's a fundamental of human behavior.
Equally there is nothing to stop folks gathering together
for a short conference call outside IETF week to move a point forward.
That also happen all the time and is something that those unable to
get to meetings can do.
Stewart