Considerations for Cancellation of IETF Meetings
draft-ietf-shmoo-cancel-meeting-00

shmoo                                                            M. Duke
Internet-Draft                                         F5 Networks, Inc.
Intended status: Best Current Practice                  22 February 2021
Expires: 26 August 2021

            Considerations for Cancellation of IETF Meetings
                   draft-ietf-shmoo-cancel-meeting-00

Abstract

   The IETF firmly believes in the value of in-person meetings to reach
   consensus on documents.  However, various emergencies can make a
   planned in-person meeting impossible.  This document provides
   criteria for making this judgment.

Status of This Memo

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   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 26 August 2021.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Decision Criteria and Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1.  IETF LLC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.2.  IESG  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Remedies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.1.  Relocation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.2.  Virtualization  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.3.  Postponement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.4.  Cancellation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   5.  Refunds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   8.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Appendix B.  Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     B.1.  Since draft-duke-shmoo-cancel-meetings-01 . . . . . . . .   7
     B.2.  Since draft-duke-shmoo-cancel-meetings-00 . . . . . . . .   7
     B.3.  Since draft-duke-remote-meetings-00 . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

1.  Introduction

   One highlight of the IETF calendar is in-person general meetings,
   which happen three times a year at various locations around the
   world.

   Various events could make a scheduled IETF meeting impossible, in
   that a particular time or place can be largely closed to travel or
   assembly.  These conditions do not always have obvious thresholds.
   For example:

   *  The meeting venue itself may close unexpectedly due to a health
      issue, legal violation, or other localized problem.

   *  A natural disaster could degrade the travel and event
      infrastructure in a planned location and make it unethical to
      further burden that infrastructure with a meeting.

   *  War, civil unrest, or public health crisis could make a meeting
      unsafe and/or result in widespread national or corporate travel
      bans.

   *  An economic crisis could sharply reduce resources available for
      travel.

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   *  Changes in visa policy or other unexpected governmental
      restrictions might make the venue inaccessible to numerous
      attendees.

   This document provides procedures for the IETF to decide to postpone,
   move, or cancel an in-person IETF meeting.

2.  Conventions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

   In this document, the term "venue" refers to both the facility that
   houses the sessions and the official meeting hotel(s).

3.  Decision Criteria and Roles

3.1.  IETF LLC

   The LLC is responsible for assessing if it is safe to hold the
   meeting given the following criteria.  This assessment SHOULD occur
   eight weeks prior to the first day of the meeting, though events may
   require reevaluation as late as during the meeting itself.

   This document provides a consensus of principles the LLC can apply in
   emergency situations, to avoid operating without such consensus or
   invoking a time-consuming consensus process.  In the event of
   considerations this document does not foresee, the LLC should protect
   the health and safety of attendees, as well as the health of the
   organization, with approval from the IESG and a plan to seek a later
   update of this document.

   The criteria in Section 3.1 of [RFC8718] apply to venues that have
   changed status.  Specifically:

   *  Local safety guidelines allow the venue and hotels to host a
      meeting with the expected number of participants and staff.

   *  It MUST be possible to provision Internet Access to the Facility
      and IETF Hotels that allows those attending in person to utilize
      the Internet for all their IETF, business, and day-to-day needs;
      in addition, there must be sufficient bandwidth and access for
      remote attendees.  Provisions include, but are not limited to,
      native and unmodified IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity, and global
      reachability; there may be no additional limitation that would
      materially impact their Internet use.  To ensure availability, it
      MUST be possible to provision redundant paths to the Internet.

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   *  A reasonable number of food and drink establishments are open and
      available within walking distance to provide for the full number
      of participants and staff.

   *  Local health and public safety infrastructure should expect to
      have adequate capacity to support an influx of visitors during the
      meeting week.

   The LLC must also confirm that:

   *  There are no US [USSTATE], UK [UKFO], or local authority travel
      advisories for the location of the meeting.  The first two are
      chosen to be easily accessible in English, which all IETF staff
      can read.  This should not be interpreted as requiring
      cancellation due to a warning about a different region in the host
      nation, or in the rural area surrounding a host city provided
      transportation to the airport is secure.

   *  Air travel is assessed as safe by the relevent health and safety
      authorities.

   *  Travel insurance is both available and priced close to norms.

   *  There is no quarantine or self-isolation requirement at the
      location.

   *  Other similar international meetings (conferences) are going ahead
      at a similar time to IETF.

   Finally, the LLC should assess the impact of various travel
   restrictions, legal and corporate, on the ability of critical support
   staff and contractors to enter the host nation.  The LLC can cancel
   the event if it concludes it cannot adequately support it.

3.2.  IESG

   The IESG assesses if projected attendance is high enough to capture
   the benefit of an in-person meeting.  In some cases, corporate travel
   restrictions may lower attendance in the absence of any formal
   guidance from authorities.  If it concludes that attendance is too
   low, it can cancel the meeting regardless of the LLC's safety
   assessment.

   The IESG is discouraged from relying on a simple head count of
   expected event attendance.  Even dramatically smaller events with
   large remote participation may be successful.  The IESG might
   consider:

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   *  Are many working groups largely unaffected by the restrictions, so
      that they can operate effectively?

   *  Is there a critical mass of key personnel at most working group
      meetings to leverage the advantages of in-person meetings, even if
      many participants are remote?

   The IESG is encouraged to solicit information from the IRTF char,
   Working Group chairs, and Research Group chairs to make this
   assessment.

4.  Remedies

   In the event cannot be held at the scheduled time and place, the IETF
   has several options.  The remedies below should be consdered in light
   of these principles, presented in no particular order:

   *  Hold the scheduled sessions of the meeting in some format

   *  Provide benefits of in-person interactions when possible

   *  Avoid exorbitant additional travel expenses due to last minute
      flight changes, etc.

   *  The available time and resources allow the alternative to be
      adequately prepared.

4.1.  Relocation

   For attendees, the least disruptive response is to retain the meeting
   week but move it to a more accessible venue.  To the maximum extent
   possible, this will be geographically close to the original venue.
   In particular, the IETF should strive to meet the criteria in
   [RFC8718] and [RFC8719].

   Relocation that requires new air travel arrangements for attendees
   SHOULD NOT occur less than one month prior to the start of the
   meeting.

4.2.  Virtualization

   The second option, and one that has fewer issues with venue
   availability, is to make the meeting fully remote.  This requires
   different IETF processes and logistical operations that are outside
   the scope of this document.

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4.3.  Postponement

   Although it is more disruptive to the schedules of participants, the
   next best option is to delay the meeting until a specific date at
   which conditions are expected to improve.  The new end date of the
   meeting must be at least 30 days before the beginning of the
   following IETF meeting.

   Due to scheduling constraints at the venue, this will usually not be
   feasible.  However, it is more likely to allow attendees to recover
   at least some of their travel expenses than other options.

4.4.  Cancellation

   As a last resort, IETF may cancel the meeting totally.  This is a
   last resort in the event that worldwide conditions make it difficult
   for attendees to even attend remotely.  Not holding a meeting at all
   has wide implications for the rhythm of IETF personnel policies, such
   as the nomination process and seating of new officers.

   Cancellation is likely the only practical alternative when
   emergencies occur immeidiately before or during the meeting, so that
   there is no opportunity to make other arrangements.

5.  Refunds

   The IETF SHOULD NOT reimburse registered attendees for unrecoverable
   travel expenses (airfare, hotel deposits, etc).

   However, there are several cases where full or partial refund of
   registration fees is appropriate:

   *  Cancellation SHOULD result in a full refund to all participants.
      It MAY be prorated if some portion of the sessions completed
      without incident.

   *  Upon postponement, the LLC SHOULD offer refunds to registered
      attendees who claim they cannot attend at the newly scheduled
      time.

   *  When the meeting becomes remote, the LLC SHOULD attempt to recover
      whatever venue-related payments, past or future, it can and rebate
      this to registered attendees, up to a maximum of their total cost
      of registration.

   These provisions intend to maintain trust between the IETF and its
   participants.  However, under extraordinary threats to the solvency
   of the organization, the LLC may suspend them.

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6.  Security Considerations

   This document introduces no new concerns for the security of internet
   protocols.

7.  IANA Considerations

   There are no IANA requirements.

8.  Informative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC8718]  Lear, E., Ed., "IETF Plenary Meeting Venue Selection
              Process", BCP 226, RFC 8718, DOI 10.17487/RFC8718,
              February 2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8718>.

   [RFC8719]  Krishnan, S., "High-Level Guidance for the Meeting Policy
              of the IETF", BCP 226, RFC 8719, DOI 10.17487/RFC8719,
              February 2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8719>.

   [UKFO]     Office, U.F., "Foreign Travel Advice", n.d.,
              <https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice>.

   [USSTATE]  State, U.D.o., "International Travel", n.d.,
              <https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-
              travel.html>.

Appendix A.  Acknowledgments

Appendix B.  Change Log

B.1.  Since draft-duke-shmoo-cancel-meetings-01

   *  Change to WG draft

B.2.  Since draft-duke-shmoo-cancel-meetings-00

   *  Added mention of IRTF

   *  Discussed consensus on cancellation

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B.3.  Since draft-duke-remote-meetings-00

   *  Defined "venue"

   *  Added principles for selecting remedies and rewrote alternatives.

   *  Added local authority travel advisories

   *  Added some criteria from IETF 109

Author's Address

   Martin Duke
   F5 Networks, Inc.

   Email: martin.h.duke@gmail.com

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