12 problems

[Spencer Dawkins]

Harald, 

Could you say anything about changes in IETF meeting attendee demographics since (say) IETF 52? 

My impression is that SubIP attendance has been lower, and that first-time attendance has been lower, but I don't know if either of these are actually true, and have no idea if there are other trends that would be interesting, as long as we're trying to understand what's going on.

For instance, I've heard that we were running at a sustained one-third-new-attendees rate for several years - so assume most of these people don't recognise most other attendees in the halls, so fewer hallway conversations ...

Spencer

> -----Original Message-----
> From: john.loughney at nokia.com [mailto:john.loughney at nokia.com]
> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 1:54 AM
> To: brian at hursley.ibm.com; problem-statement at alvestrand.no
> Subject: RE: 12 problems
> 
> 
> Brian,
> 

[deleted down to]

>  
> > ISSUE 8: meetings too big, too many newcomers & tourists
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > The meetings are close to impossible to fit into hotel facailities,
> > and almost certainly violate fire regulations every time. Some
> > sessions are so crowded that vital participants can't get in without
> > extreme prejudice. Technical discussion is diluted by sociological
> > effects. Yet we must retain the open-access nature of the IETF.
> 
> Is this true still. A few years back, it seemed that this was true,
> but now the meetings are less crowded.
>