RE: About the 802.3 September Interim Meetings
Colleagues-
Don't shoot the messenger. Geoff, and everyone else involved, has done an
excellent job attempting to recover from a less than ideal situation
(perhaps an understatement).
Due to delays in negotiating the contract and issues related to hotel
availability during this key "open the universities" season in Boston, we
were simply NOT ABLE TO FIND a facility that would meet the needs of the
group on such short notice.
We fully understand that a change in venue is a disappointment to many. We
measured this against the options:
1. Changing the dates
2. Splitting the group between nearby hotels
3. Working in a facility that didn't quite meet the needs
4. Significantly upping the cost from what has been typical
5. Changing a voted-on / approved location
etc.
Amongst these options, we (Geoff, Steve Carlson, and I) made an executive
decision that the least disruptive option was a change in location.
We have "hired" a professional meeting planner that has done a national
search. We have done some quick culling and are now reviewing contracts with
three facilities that meet all the remaining requirements. A final decision
should be made tomorrow. At the latest, the information will hit the
reflector on Monday morning after all logistics are in place.
I would like to reiterate Geoff's comment, "My apologies for the
inconvenience that this is causing you." This is not the way we like to do
business.
Please understand that we fully understand that the process we are using is
very undemocratic (though it is consistent with a representative form of
government, care to set up a PAC? US$ can be forwarded to... :-) Geoff,
Steven and I are trying to do what is in the best interest of the group at
large. Please forgive us for opting to not set up a special reflector to
discuss what the best possible plan might be for emptying the burning
theater.
jonathan
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Geoff Thompson [mailto:gthompso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 2:43 PM
>To: stds-802-3-hssg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; stds-802-3-pwrviamdi@xxxxxxxx
>Subject: About the 802.3 September Interim Meetings
>
>
>
>Colleagues-
>
>Much to my chagrin and embarrassment we do not yet have a
>fully committed
>set of meeting arrangements for the September Interims for
>802.3ae and 802.3af.
>
>One thing seems to be clear at this point. That is that the
>meetings will
>NOT be in the Boston area.
>
>I have been pushing very hard to get this matter resolved as
>quickly as
>possible. As our lead time has dissolved and because start of
>the academic
>year is a busy season in Boston it was clear that something
>had to give in
>our meeting specifications. From our discussions in previous meetings
>and everybody's calendar management problems I made the
>decision that we
>could not change the meeting week at this late date. That
>meant that in
>order to hold the meetings at all we had give the meeting
>planners more
>freedom in city location. The current possibilities are:
>Anywhere in the 48
>states or Canada that has reasonable airline access. At this
>point Salt
>Lake City is a leading contender but nothing is settled.
>
>There will be a phone meeting this evening (Wednesday) of all of the
>principals. It is my intention that we will get a hard
>commitment for a
>location from the meeting.
>
>You will have an e-mail announcing the decision and
>arrangements absolutely
>as soon as possible.
>
>My apologies for the inconvenience that this is causing you.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Geoff Thompson
>|=========================================|
>| Geoffrey O. Thompson |
>| Chair IEEE 802.3 |
>| Nortel Networks, Inc. M/S SC5-02 |
>| 4401 Great America Parkway |
>| P. O. Box 58185 |
>| Santa Clara, CA 95052-8185 USA |
>| Phone: +1 408 495 1339 |
>| Fax: +1 408 495 5615 |
>| E-Mail: gthompso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx |
>| Please see the IEEE 802.3 web page at |
> http://www.ieee802.org/3/index.html
>