I wanted to share a few bits of information about the official photography we have currently, which is provided by Richard Stonehouse. Richard has reviewed the proposed policy and thought the text looks good. Given that part of the purpose of having him at the meetings to shoot photos and videos is to help share the work of the IETF and its participants with the broader world, he noted that this policy should help to make that effort work better for all IETF participants. I don’t think we could have just started providing the lanyards or other visible indicators without writing down the policy or sharing it with the community. There would have been valid objections to that approach. I was not privy to the discussions that led to the decision to engage Richard in the first place, but I can say that as part of the IETF leadership I have found it valuable to have a selection of high quality photographs of IETF activities available. I’ve given a number of talks recently to students, early career engineers, and others who have never attended an IETF meeting, and I find it helpful to be able to visually illustrate what we do as a means of introducing the IETF. The same goes for the IETF blog, where every post recapping a meeting typically contains photos. But I certainly don’t want people to be appearing in those photos who don’t want to be there. Regarding unofficial photography, I think it’s worth appreciating the contextual nature of the experience. I have personally been in situations at IETF meetings where I was uncomfortable because someone was photographing me in a hallway; I’ve also personally been in situations where I stood on a podium in front of 800 people and had a grand old time. :-) Having a verbal exchange with another attendee (or the ombudsteam) to get them to move their lens out of your face is not necessarily an easy thing to do in every situation, especially when you don’t know whether you’ll be in need of the respect or support of that attendee to get your work done in the IETF or outside of it in the future. My personal choice will not be to wear a no-photo indicator as long as I’m in the leadership, but if offering them to others helps send a silent signal that can make it easier for all of us to work together, I’m all for it. Alissa
