Re: Reasons for attendance drop off

[bmanning () karoshi com]

On Mon, Dec 04, 2006 at 01:09:40PM -0800, William B. Norton wrote:
> On 12/4/06, Martin Hannigan <hannigan () world std com> wrote:
> > Focusing on expense is a short term way to manage a loss in the
> > front end, the bottom line. It would be useful to talk about
> > solutions that drive attendance, IMHO.
>
> I agree and would like to see if we can brainstorm some ideas that
> might spur discussions, other ideas, etc.
>
> 1) Provide a mechanism for vendors to send to NANOG a box of schwag
> (Tshirts, USB memsticks, USB disks loaded with freeware, product
> literature, whatever). This might provide a subtle enticement to get a
> NANOG vendor kit.  I know some people purposely bring a bag with too
> few clothes with the expectation of getting tshirts to wear on the way
> home.

        since you can't register w/o specifying a shirt size,
        this is not an unreasonable assumption.

> 2) Identify/recruit Adhoc Working Groups that may be for small public
> groups, and provide sign-outable breakout rooms for these meetings.
> This would leverage the "we are all in the same place at the same
> time" aspect of NANOG, and facilitate additional value for the
> attendees that attend these meetings. Their alternative might be going
> out to dinner, which may or may not work as well. I guess the addition
> here as compared with previous break out rooms is to assign a schedule
> (time and a meeting name, a facilitator) to allocated meetings and
> descriptions of the meeting.

        for me, NANOG is mostly irrelevent to me, I'm not a "Tier-X" ISP,
        and my networking needs only tangentially involve the 2x32 routes,
        MPLS/circuit switching @ 100Gb, or the like.  So if I come to
        NANOG, its to (borrowing from friend Gibbard) get a new/fresh
        perspective on topics that are interesting to me.

> > I would hope that there is plan in place to address this for the
> > Toronto meeting.

--bill