Hi,

Thanks for producing this regular review!

On Nov 6, 2024, at 12:15, Maria Matejka via diversity <diversity@ripe.net> wrote:

[…]

Also the steno log, which was too short last time, was fixed for this time, thanks!


+1

It would also be great if the steno transcript were shown on the courtesy screens provided for speakers and chairs. Then, they wouldn’t have to turn their backs to the audience to take advantage of it.

The meeting venue was OK, nothing was really confusing, yet I think that for the plenaries, the two halls could be converted to one. Also showing the current agenda item (e.g. Connect WG) to the screens at the entrance … would be much convenienter than opening the agenda on screen and then choosing the right or left room. (These notes are probably not diversity-specific but we may have some people who would benefit from these changes more than me.)


The request to have screens showing the current session in each room was raised at the WG Chairs lunch, too. It would definitely be helpful.

Meals went worse than what I can remember.

  • at lunches, the signs were there and looked accurate (this is good!) but one had to pull the signs from the stands to see the miniature number at the bottom (and then remember which number you can’t eat)
  • also at lunches, most of the meat was marked as containing gluten and in some cases also milk, which is quite unnecessary and kinda reckless and it typically led to a very limited choice
  • I would very much appreciate next time if RIPE requested not only catering, but also something like “do not add unneccessary alergens to the meals”
  • all in all, not only was it under my expectations, it was quite a challenge to eat well, which felt very unusual for me
  • also iirc eating vegan wasn’t much pleasurable (not directly on my radar tho)
  • monday and tuesday social lacked markings iirc altogether
  • at thursday dinner, i got served a dessert containing gluten without knowing it, and i had to explicitly ask after starting it – this happened despite me repeatedly informing the staff about my gluten intolerance
  • also at thursday dinner, i didn’t care too much but apparently many vegetarians / vegans didn’t consider the risotto appropriate because of the black coloring which is (as i learned later) hard to get without harming animals
  • apart from a limited choice of fruits, there was nothing gluten free at the coffee breaks (or at least i couldn’t find it); and it also looked quite diabetes-unfriendly
  • all the mentioned problems can be resolved by putting a bunch of tickboxes to the registration, saying e.g. “gluten”, “milk”, “eggs”, “dia”, “crustaceans”, “vegan”, “other” (i don’t remember the most common food limitations), collecting this information, passing it to the suppliers and requesting appropriate accomodations – nowadays it’s not hard to do inclusive catering, one just has to think a little bit in advance

I agree that there were some dining challenges. I appreciate the challenge of catering for 600 people. 

Perhaps, increasing the size and range of the salad bars would help? Salad bars generally have one item per container, making it much easier for diners to choose what will work for them.

I also agree that having some less sweet options during breaks would be good. 

One thing I’d add to the great list you provided is more recognition of the hubs. I assume that everyone attending at a hub was registered as online. It would be lovely if their participation in hubs were shown more clearly on the attendee pages. 

Cheers,

Leo