[sigcomm] attendance policies for SIGCOMM-affiliated events

[Joe Touch]

Scott Shenker wrote:
> There's no doubt that some of the issues we are discussing here are  
> important, but I think we've ignored part of the story. A few years  
> ago, Larry and David came up with the idea of creating a new kind of  
> networking conference that became Hotnets.  I don't think anyone can  
> reasonably question that Hotnets has been of great benefit to the  
> field as a whole in terms of spurring discussions of new topics and  
> new approaches; many people (myself included) consider it to be the  
> most interesting networking conference our community has.

That is true, but may have happened if the meeting were open as well.

> Moreover,
> I don't think Hotnets, at least not in recent years, has been a  
> significant drain on SIGCOMM resources (Jen, please correct me if I'm  
> wrong),

That is correct (speaking as past SIG treasurer).

> nor do I think there have been cases of discretion-abuse by  
> the PC chairs.

Whether we trust the chairs or not is not the issue; whether the SIG
should sponsor meetings where such trust is part of the contract is. As
I've noted before, chairs already get quite a lot of control - in
selecting the PC and guiding the content of the meeting, as well as
shaping the venue and making it more 'discussion friendly'.

Let's also not forget that HotNets, like FDNA, has provided a sorely
needed venue for the number and kinds of papers that have had
difficultly getting into Sigcomm, as well as papers in their preliminary
form that may later do so. FDNA suffered from competition with HotNet
and Sigcomm's 'white papers', not from open attendance.

So let's put another possibility on the table. Maybe *some* closed
meetings are OK for the SIG to sponsor, but maybe THIS isn't one of
those meetings, exactly because Sigcomm is already so competitive.

Joe

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