Sent from my mobile device > On May 3, 2018, at 8:25 AM, John Levine <johnl@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > In article <1631e188af8.2772.55b9c0b96417b0a70c4dcaded0d2e1c6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> you write: >> I don't have an opinion on this one way or the other, but a separate >> meeting block could be another thing to negotiate with hotels. It'd be good >> to decide whether that's Mandatory or Important. > > Every time we add another Mandatory or Important feature, we further > limit the number of places that we can go, and we limit our ability to > make tradeoffs when negotiating with hotels. What that means in > practice is that the hotels cost more. > > If people propose a new venue requirement or preference it'd be > helpful to me to hear at the same time how much extra you'd be willing > to pay to have it. I often get the impression that the number is $0 > which suggests that it's really not that important. > > In case it's not clear, this isn't about childcare. I'm as aware as > anyone that some of our most productive IETFers are also young > mothers. It's about everything on the list. For a concrete example, > how much is it worth to you to have the IETF network in your hotel > room as well as in the meeting rooms? My personal number is $0 and I > usually stay at a cheaper hotel or Airbnb down the street. > John, The cost of bringing your child can be prohibitive to many. Since I was on the IESG, I didn’t have a choice and had to suck up very large bills. I switched to using a neighbor that I’ve known for 13 years who could share the room to reduce costs. This meant I still had to pay the regular nanny on a contract for the week plus the neighbor and this saved me money because of room costs - so we’re talking quite a large expense to individuals if family isn’t coming along. For a contracted nanny, you need to pay overtime over 40 hours a week at time and a half (that’s totally fair). You also need to pay for their time while in the air. That means a week salary for a round trip flight to Asia from the US in addition to hours worked during the trip. Then normal expenses - room, flight, food, any costs associated with outings. This is not practical for many. I’ll likely skip Asia meetings going forward as these are personal expenses unless there is a real compelling reason for me to go. Its also a long time to be away from a young child if you leave them home as I did for Singapore. Since my son is 2+ now, it’s a choice whether I bring him or he stays home and I’ve been trying to bring him on every other trip. I hope this helps to better understand the impact here, you do lose people, particularly those not in leadership roles. Most companies don’t help with these expenses. I suspect people would be willing to pay a reasonable amount. Best, Kathleen > R's, > Johnson >
