[arin-ppml] Advisory Council Meeting Results - May 2010

[Milton L Mueller]

> -----Original Message-----
> On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm at ipinc.net>
> wrote:
> > As I see the ARIN meetings, they should be more of a "rubber stamp"
> > and less of a "discussion" since frankly the proposals SHOULD have
> > been extensively discussed and hashed out ON THE MAILING LIST BEFORE
> > THE MEETING TAKES PLACE.
> 
> Ted,
> 
> As convenient as I would find that personally, I worry that it would
> exclude a part of the public that offers valuable input into the
> policy process but can't allocate the time it takes to keep up with
> the PPML.
> 

I'd like to amplify Bill's comment here. There's a completely different dynamic to f2f meetings and online lists. As a practical matter, people who come to meetings and become directly part of the social networks and informal discussions there are never going to act as a rubber stamp for what happened online. For better or worse. 

If you want to be really consistent, the only alternative is to abolish one or the other modes (online or f2f). While that would have some purity merit, my view is that rather than subordinating one to the other or considering them as distinct things, you need to find a creative combination that leverages the strengths of both. A lot seems to hinge on the AC and its ability to make good judgments about what is happening both online and in meetings.