Hi Mike,
At 13:30 15-04-2014, MH Michael Hammer (5304) wrote:
My experience with regard to working groups is that it is
(technically) easy to participate and does not necessarily involve
any particular costs. I don't go to IETF meetings but have
participated in WG sessions during IETF meetings through jabber. Not
the optimal solution but it works. I think that the notion of 8000lb
gorillas somewhat misrepresents the situation. Some of the active
participants in the working groups I've been involved with continue
their involvement even when they change employers. With that in
mind, I believe that in many cases it truly is the individual and
not the individual as mouthpiece for the organization. I also
believe that the 8000lb gorillas have many of the same interests as
smaller organizations and individuals even though there are times
where interests may diverge. It's also clear to me that there is not
uniformity of interests across constituencies within large
organizations. It's complex. So let's talk.
It is, as you mentioned, complex. I'll be one-sided in this
comment. There is a cost to participation on the mailing lists and
to attend meetings. There is a higher burden for a small company or
an individual. People from small companies sometimes get ignored or
it is like the minority view (see Dave Cridland's message at
http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf/current/msg87389.html ).
I can understand that an individual is not the mouthpiece of the
organization if that individual sometimes speaks up to say that
management is saying X but he or she does not think that it is a
great idea. You have tried to be positive by discussing about this
publicly, politely and without resorting to marketing
language. Let's see who else would like to talk.
Regards,
S. Moonesamy