Subject: Re: A proposal for publishing nominee names

From: Dave Crocker <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 20:13:29 +0900

At 10:10 PM 7/10/2002 +0200, Harald Alvestrand wrote:
>  8. The names of all nominees that are suggested to the nomcom, and the
>     positions for which they are nominated, are made
>     public through a mechanism of the nomcom's choice.

This proposal has the strong appeal of simplicity to it.  It also carries a 
complexity of implications.  Worse, it is not clear what benefit derives 
from this or whether there are more efficient ways of achieving those benefits.

To stay with simplicity, while trying to pursue what I believe is 
underlying kre's concerns:

         Publishing all the names at the beginning of the process invites 
all sorts of gaming.

We like to think the IETF is free of such stuff, but the games can get 
pretty sophisticated, and we would do well not to pretend that they will 
not occur here.  Stuffing the candidate olist is one game.  Lobbying by 
candidates is another.  Seeking to poison the feedback is another.  And so on.

What is the purpose of publishing the names?  It is to ensure that the 
general IETF has a chance to provide feedback about a candidate's 
qualifications.

Does the nomcom need more information about all candidates?  I think 
not.  That is, are there people who should be in the final selection who do 
not make it that far, when less qualified candidates are retained?  I doubt 
it.  Or, at least, I think it unlikely that such choices are from lack of 
information.

The detail that IS sometimes lacking is for making fine-grained 
choices.  For this, all the available information is needed.

         If we publish the list of those making the final cut, rather
         than all names at the beginning, there is plenty of time for
         the community to offer comments, but far less opportunity for
         gaming.

There also will be a smaller amount of community feedback, thereby reducing 
the load on the nomcom, which is already pretty stressed.

d/

----------
Dave Crocker  <mailto:[email-masked]>
Brandenburg InternetWorking  <http://www.brandenburg.com>
tel +1.408.246.8253;  fax +1.408.850.1850