Re: [802SEC] Rome decison
Roger,
While I agree an international organization can stay in one place and
still be 'international' I still think it avoids the question.
ITU / United Nations / Geneva have a special status. Not many other
organizations have that status. If you want to select a facility in Los
Vegas and decide we will always meet there I think it would simplify
life for many of us, but I would not be convinced that it allows equal
access to all interested parties.
What matters more to me is that the ITU seems to be able to successfully
host meetings IN EUROPE! Why can't we as IEEE802 do the same?
I've gone to ITU meetings. Conference space is provided separate from
hotel facilities, and everyone is on their own for hotels. Frankly the
approach works great, and I'm willing to try it in IEEE802. However we
seem to be clinging to the concept of we need to tie hotel and
conference space together in the same contract. This seems to handicap
us, and I'm not convinced it's cheaper. In general I think ITU meetings
are smaller (though I guess stuff like WRC get large). So I'm not sure
it's a fair comparison.
But the bottom line for me is that other organizations seem to be able
to hold conferences outside North America. Why can't we?
And by the way, just prior to IEEE802 I attended IEEE MILCOM. The
attendance fee for 3 days was $1100 dollars, and the conference hotel
was about $260/night if I recall. I stayed off site at a cheaper hotel
(about $160 I think). I had to rent a car, and it was not as convenient
(and by the time I added in parking and car rental not much cheaper
either). But somehow MILCOM managed to attract about 4000 participants
if memory serves me right. If once a year we have a more expensive
meeting location, I don't personally see that as a show stopper (it
isn't for other IEEE venues such as MILCOM).
Mat
Matthew Sherman, Ph.D.
Engineering Fellow
BAE Systems - Network Systems (NS)
Office: +1 973.633.6344
Cell: +1 973.229.9520
email: matthew.sherman@baesystems.com
-----Original Message-----
From: ***** IEEE 802 Executive Committee List *****
[mailto:STDS-802-SEC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG] On Behalf Of Roger B. Marks
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 8:48 PM
To: STDS-802-SEC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG
Subject: Re: [802SEC] Rome decison
Pat,
I share your views on this.
Aside from concerns about the venue, the costs, and the lack of a
local host, I'd like to revisit an issue I mentioned during the
discussion. I said that, while I would like to see plenaries
regularly outside North America, I do not accept the argument that we
cannot be a legitimate "international" SDO otherwise. I noted, as an
example, that most of the ITU standardization bodies develop
international recommendations while meeting exclusively in a single
city - Geneva. Another EC member disagreed with my statement,
claiming that ITU groups do meet all around the world. Unfortunately,
I did not have an opportunity for rebuttal during the meeting.
I've taken a look at the ITU-R calendar for some statistics to
demonstrate my point. The calendar shows 49 confirmed ITU-R events in
the year 2007. Except for three meetings of Working Party 8F, all of
the other events were in Geneva. In 2006, the same calendar shows 73
events. 56 were in Geneva.
Every meeting of a Study Group as a whole was in Geneva. So, while
the Working Parties - the equivalent of our Working Groups -
sometimes meet outside of Geneva, the Study Group sessions - the
equivalent of our "Plenaries" - are exclusively in Geneva.
Although there may be multiple reasons, I believe that Geneva is a
preferred location for ITU-R meetings because the costs are low and
the meeting facilities are good. Also, I believe that, when Working
Parties meet outside of Geneva, they do so with the support of a
local host.
I think that IEEE 802 would do well to consider the ITU-R example.
Roger
On Nov 20, 2007, at 02:54 PM, Pat Thaler wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> I was surprised and disappointed by the decision of the EC on
> Friday to
> choose the Rome venue. While I want to have non-North American, non-US
> (that is Hawaii may not be part of North America but a meeting there
> doesn't demonstrate a commitment to global standards making)
> plenaries,
> I have concerns about this venue that go beyond the room night and
> registration fee costs.
>
> How many of us have looked at the on-line reviews of this property? It
> is very isolated. You can start by looking at the reviews on Trip
> Advisor.
> http://rome-hotels.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187791-d619622-
> Reviews-
> Rome_Marriott_Park_Hotel-Rome_Lazio.html
>
> Sincerely,
> Pat
>
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