It’s possible for someone standing for AD to get travel funding if they get the position but not to be able to travel just to be interviewed. There are also three other bodies to which the nomcom appoints people, and it’s more practical to be an IAB, LLC board, or IETF trust member without traveling to all IETF meetings.
Ability to travel to meetings is certainly a factor in selection, but it isn’t the only one, and mor some positions perhaps not the most important one.
Barry
On Mon, Mar 24, 2025 at 4:21 AM Bron Gondwana <brong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, Mar 21, 2025, at 11:29, Barry Leiba wrote:But, as you note, the main thing to me isthat putting people at a disadvantage if they can't travel tointerview in person select for the same set of people all the time.If we really do want to make these positions accessible to people frommore parts of the world and different financial backing (or lackthereof), then we have to change the parameters.Kind of. The main role I interact with frequently is Area Director, and that's a significant chunk of the roles being nominated, so I'm going to talk about that.Maybe this is selfish, but I want an Area Director who can be in person almost all of at the IETF meetings. This might not apply to all positions, but if someone is running for AD and is unable to make the IETF meeting where the NomCom is considering for that role, then... if there's enough candidates to choose from then maybe there's a non-zero change that the person who can't get to the meeting is also the one in the best circumstance where they have the resources and external support to be able to do the job - even if they'd be otherwise the best choice.Yes that sucks. But it's also reality, and -- critically -- it's more likely to be lead the outcome of "produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents" if Area Directors have sufficient time and financial support.I think it's great for people from all walks of life to have the experience (with both professional and personal growth that comes along with it) of serving, but like I said - I'm selfish. It's a service role, and I want people in it with the time, resources, and capacity to serve.Bron.
