I think this is an excellent idea. The Adelaide meeting worked out fine, and this would be a lot closer for a great many participants than that meeting was.
Cheers, Andy On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 11:54 AM, The IAOC <bob.hin...@gmail.com> wrote: > As you may know the IAOC has been investigating the feasibility of having > an IETF > meeting in South America. There was a site visit to South America last > February. > We have found two venues that we believe will support a successful IETF > meeting > and we would like to get feedback from the community. > > The venues are in Buenos Aires. They meet our requirements for the meeting > space, networking, nearby restaurants and bars, hotel room rates in the > mid $200 > dollar range, nearby alternate hotels at a broad range of prices, nice > area in the > city, safe, direct international flights, and accessible visas. The IAOC > thinks we > could have a successful IETF meeting in Buenos Aires and that attendees > would > like the venues. > > There has been a consistent level of IETF participation from South and > Central > America, and it has been growing since IETF82. The data on this is posted > at > > http://iaoc.ietf.org/documents/IETF-Regional-Attendance-00.pdf. > > The current meeting regional rotation (announced at IETF79) allows for an > occasional IETF meeting outside of our main regions (Europe, North America, > Asia/Pacific). > > IETF standards are made more valuable the more relevant they are and the > more > uptake they get. IETF standards are also made more robust when all > perspectives > are represented during their development. Encouraging growing > participation > will help strengthen the Internet, further encourage participation from > those areas > that will see the most growth in the coming years, and will help advance > the IETF > in political and international circles which is becoming more of an > imperative. > > We have asked the IESG for their feedback and they are supportive of a > meeting in > South America if there is community support and active participants attend. > > Things to consider are that it will be a long trip for the majority of > IETFers and the > air fares are more expensive (about 10% to 20% higher than average), though > restaurants are less expensive. This would be a case where most IETFers > would > bear more travel pain and expense. > > The IAOC would like to understand if the IETF community thinks that the > IETF > should have a meeting in the next few years in Buenos Aires. The IAOC > would > also like to get feedback on how we can ensure the meeting is as > successful as > possible and on ways to grow participation in the region. > > We have set up a survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NWYLQCD where > you can indicate your likelihood of attending, and we encourage you to > send your > general feedback to the IETF list <ietf@ietf.org>. > > Thanks, > Bob Hinden > IAOC Chair >
