Hi Shane,

Shane Kerr wrote on 04/12/2023 13:39:

we have all kind of slowly moved into a situation where the RIPE NCC has done such a good job of handling meetings over the years that we just let them handle everything apart from the actual agendas and discussions.

well, sure, but the whole point of the RIPE NCC is that they're secretariat to the RIPE Community.  This is what we ask them to do, so that we can concentrate on stuff like the agenda and discussion side of things.

The last couple of years have been a real problem for conference management. Apart from the covid disruption and uncertainty about venue availability / lockdowns, there is only limited availability of combined hotel / conference venues which can cater for 600+ registrations.  Also hotel pricing has increased by quite a lot over the last couple of years. Hotels and venues typically need to be booked 2y+ in advance to maximize the possibility of getting the location you want, on the dates you want, at the price you want. The more expensive the hotel, the more problems are created for people who have budgetary / funding issues.

From the limited discussions I've had with people involved in organising events, it sounds to me like an endless stream of headaches and squaring of circles. I don't envy them their jobs, that's for sure. RIPE87 had a unique set of circumstances which led to it being held in this particular venue, but despite the difficulties, the meeting went well. We were all there, the content was good, the coffee was good, the RIPE dinner was good, and the services provided by the NCC were - as always - excellent.

[...] and I know that the RIPE NCC is going to be giving us some interesting articles meeting organization in the near future.

Sounds good. I look forward to reading them while sitting in my comfy armchair, thanking the stars that other people deal with this side of things :-)

Nick