Re: 2017 NANOG Elections General Information

[Dave Temkin <dave () temk in>]

On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 12:32 AM, Bill Woodcock <woody () pch net> wrote:

> > On Sep 7, 2017, at 11:26 PM, Randy Bush <randy () psg com> wrote:
> > my impression is that, in recent years, one has to be a white frat boy
> > who is proud of being drunk.
>
> One of those rare occasions when Randy and I are in complete agreement.

So how do we fix it? As usual, that part is missed. Easier to snipe, not so
easy to act.


> > On Sep 10, 2017, at 1:59 PM, Bryan Holloway <bryan () shout net> wrote:
> > I point specifically to the opening talk at Bellevue where there were
> wackily photoshop'd pictures of NANOG star heavy-hitters.
> > Had I been a first-time attendee, I would've felt like a high-school
> freshman being told who all the "cool seniors" were.
> > Frankly, it was awkward and off-putting.
>
> Probably a safe bet that it was mostly aspirant juniors.  To my occasional
> observation, the cool seniors don't attend anymore.  Unless Stephen Stuart
> or Sean Doran or John Hawkinson showed up.  Which would surprise me very
> much.
I didn't like that opening, at all. I disliked it slightly less than when
they had a video making fun of us. I personally and in my Board position
thank NTT for sponsoring our events, and we give them, like all other
hosts, a few minutes during the opening to do something that they think
attendees will find educational and/or entertaining. I, like you, sincerely
hate the inside jokes being tossed around from the stage and gave them my
personal feedback as such. They are far from the only sponsor to have done
so, and if you really feel that it's causing a hostile environment for
newcomers, I suggest you speak up about it on the members list so that we
can figure out the best way to fix it. With that said, newcomers may feel
this moment of awkwardness during the opening, but we go above and beyond
afterwards to make them feel welcome (newcomers lunch with a personal
shepherd, etc.) that I hope at least has made up for some of it in the
past.

I won't sit around and mourn the greybeards that choose or don't choose to
show up. We can't go chasing after people who have had vast changes in
their career responsibilities and life circumstances and assume that we can
always produce the conference that fits their aspirations. At some point we
need to hand the torch over to the next guard, and that's the root of my
diversity screed. If we try to be everything to everyone, we end up as
nothing to no one (or worse, ITW). The board has been nothing but receptive
towards ideas on how to make these meetings more valuable to long time and
first time attendees alike.

-Dave Temkin
NANOG Board Chair