Re: IETF Plenary Discussions

[Eliot Lear <lear at cisco.com>]

As a life-long fan of the Gong Show, I think it'd be cool to have a big 
Gong on the dias, where perhaps after a bunch of loud hums, an AD or IAB 
member finally satisfies the audience.  This could happen sooner or 
later, depending on whether we're talking about topic (1) "NATs", (2) 
"The standards process", or (3) "Venue location".

But perhaps there's another approach that won't be quite so, well, 
base.  To me, if someone wants more than 2 minutes to make a point, 
perhaps that person should request a short agenda slot.  Here's a little 
process experiment: why not slot 20 minutes for such time at one of the 
plenaries, allowing for a 5 minute presentation and 5 minute 
discussion?  NANOG has been doing something like this- the Lightning 
presos.  You could even imagine someone carrying over a topic from this 
IETF discussion list or the previous meeting.  This gives people an 
opportunity to collect their thoughts, perhaps even post a draft, and 
then give a quick summary of it.

Some would say that the moment may have passed, and that decisions will 
be taken.  But 2 minutes is more than enough time for someone to say 
"-1" or "+1", or to make a very brief point as to why someone should be 
"-1" or "+1".

Eliot