The 43rd meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force was held in Orlando, Florida from December 7-11, 1998. There were 1998 attendees in Orlando, a slight drop from the 2100 registered attendees in Chicago, but still a substantial number of people.
Until recently, even with spikes in meeting attendance, the percentage of non-US attendees has ranged between 12 and 17 percent. That ratio rose to 22% for the Chicago IETF meeting, and rose to 30% (618 attendees) in Orlando!
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Microsoft for providing the terminal room facilities for the use of attendees at the 43rd meeting of the IETF, and for organizing a "something for every one and every taste" social event. Microsoft had previously announced that the proceeds from the social event would be donated to the two funds set up in memory of Jon Postel. The Jonathan B. Postel Endowed Chair Fund and Service Award Fund each received just over $12,000!
Tony Hain and Dave Whipple of Microsoft did a superb job arranging and coordinating the efforts of everyone who helped with the terminal room. And a special thanks to Mary Clouter of Compaq for her efforts throughout the week, but especially during the initial setup and configuration of the terminal room when things weren't going... "quite right!"
I also want to acknowledge Kevin Almeroth who donated his time and energy (and sleep!) to coordinate the efforts of the "hungry grad students" in setting up, configuring, and running the mbone multicast effort.
The configuration of the terminal room facilities depends a great deal on the generosity of equipment vendors and service providers. I want to thank the following organizations for their contributions and assistance:
Compaq |
PCs, workstations, & wireless hubs | |
Sprint |
Two DS3 links to the Internet | |
Fore |
Lan switch | |
Cisco |
Router & LAN switch | |
HP |
Printers | |
Red Hook |
An essential component of Windows 98 | |
Data Fellows |
SSH software | |
Hummingbird |
X windows Software | |
Verio |
wireless hubs (plus configuration and installation) | |
Marc Blanchet |
6bone router | |
Microsoft |
Mbone router |
A special thanks goes out to Virginia Thomas of RealNetworks who simply showed up in Orlando and started transmitting audio-video signals so sessions could be viewed via the web. And yes, she was invited to repeat at future IETF meetings!
Upcoming Meetings
The IETF will meet in Minneapolis, Minnesota from March 8-12, 1999. Ascend Communications has graciously offered to host this meeting.
The summer meeting is scheduled for July 12-16 in Oslo, Norway and UNINET will be the local host. For the final meeting of 1999, the IETF returns to the Omni Hotel in Washington, DC. Nortel has offered to host this meeting.
Don't forget: the first meeting of 2000 will be in Adelaide, Australia. Future meetings are in the planning stages. For information about the IETF, visit the IETF Web Page at: http://www.ietf.org
Steve <scoya@ietf.org>