Subject: [Mentoring-coordinators] Draft letter of invitation

From: Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 13:23:27 -0400

All,
     Any concerns/issues with using the below as the invitation to
request a mentor for Vancouver?

Regards,
Brian

--

All,

During IETF 88 in Vancouver, we will be continuing a trial of the IETF
Mentoring Program. The goal of the IETF Mentoring Program is to match
people new to the IETF (people who have participated in three or fewer
face-to-face meetings or anyone registering as a student) with
experienced IETF mentors. As a mentoring participant, your mentor will
introduce you to the IETF community, help you find your way around the
IETF & the meeting, explain things, and introduce you to other attendees
you might like to meet. Basically, your mentor will be your personal
buddy during the meeting week, and possibly afterwards.

The IETF Mentoring Program was created to help new IETF participants to
get up to speed rapidly and help them begin to contribute to the IETF
quickly and easily.  If you wish to participate in the IETF Mentoring
Program, you can follow the sign-up procedures described in the program FAQ:

https://www.ietf.org/resources/mentoring-program.html

After you follow the sign-up procedure, we will then introduce you to
each other by email, and invite you to meet up in person at the IETF
Meet & Greet event on Sunday afternoon in Vancouver. From there on, you
and your mentor decide on when and where to meet during the rest of the
week and afterwards.

You are of course free to withdraw from the program at any time and for
any reason, no questions asked, should a need arise. But I sincerely
believe the IETF Mentoring Program will be a great way for new
participants to get introduced to the IETF by an experienced participant
with matching interest.

Regards,
Jari Arkko
IETF Chair

---

From: Jari Arkko <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 23:23:27 +0300

This looks good to me. 

By the way, I've been talking to a number of newcomers last week, and they were all very pleased with the mentoring effort - so thank you all!

(One of the questions they had though was how we define a newcomer, and they observed that in some cases the three meeting limit is a bit artificial. I think there'd be some people who have been to three meetings and still would benefit from mentoring, additional connections in the IETF crowd, etc. Think cultural differences and other reasons that might have people attending for a couple of meetings without getting too involved yet. Is there a reason why we couldn't just say, e.g., "… match people who feel they would benefit from mentoring (new attendees, students, …) with experienced IETF mentors"? This isn't a suggestion to change the message but rather just a question. Your email made it convenient for me to bring up the feedback that I had heard.)

Jari

---

From: Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 16:57:03 -0400

We selected 3 or fewer meetings (or a student) to limit the size of the
trial.  The goal would be to open it to a wider audience once we decide
it is worthwhile to do *and* we get the proper infrastructure in place.

Brian

---

From: Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:14:18 -0400

All,
     Any changes/additions to the below letter to potential mentoring
participants?
Regards,
Brian

--

All,

     During IETF 88 in Vancouver, we will be continuing a trial of the
IETF Mentoring Program. The goal of the IETF Mentoring Program is to
match people new to the IETF (people who have participated in three or
fewer face-to-face meetings or anyone registering as a student) with
experienced IETF mentors. As a mentoring participant, your mentor will
personally introduce you to the IETF community, help you find your way
around the IETF & the meeting, explain things, and introduce you to
other attendees you might like to meet. Basically, your mentor will be
your personal buddy during the meeting week, and possibly afterwards.

     The IETF Mentoring Program was created to help new IETF
participants to get up to speed rapidly and help them begin to
contribute to the IETF quickly and easily.  If you wish to participate
in the IETF Mentoring Program, you can follow the sign-up procedures
described in the program FAQ:

     After you follow the sign-up procedure, we will then introduce you
to each other by email, and invite you to meet up in person at the IETF
in Vancouver. From there on, you and your mentor decide on when and
where to meet during the rest of the week and afterwards.

     You are of course free to withdraw from the program at any time and
for any reason, no questions asked, should a need arise. But I sincerely
believe the IETF Mentoring Program will be a great way for new
participants to get introduced to the IETF by an experienced participant
with matching interest.

     If you participated in the mentoring program in Berlin and are
eligible to participate in Vancouver, you have the option of maintaining
your current mentor or requesting a new one.

Regards,
Jari Arkko
IETF Chair

---

From: Ralph Droms <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:17:21 +0100

Looks good; covers all the details.  Minor editorial suggestions in line.

- Ralph

>     Any changes/additions to the below letter to potential mentoring

we will match you up with a mentor and introduce you ?

> in Vancouver. From there on, you and your mentor decide on when and

mentor will decide ?

> _______________________________________________
> mentoring-coordinators mailing list
> [email-masked]
> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/mentoring-coordinators

---

From: Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:04:10 -0400

Hi Ralph,
     A follow-up in-line...

> we will match you up with a mentor and introduce you ?

Yes.

>> in Vancouver. From there on, you and your mentor decide on when and

Are you saying the mentor has sole discretion on the timing/location of
meetings?  If that is the case, that sounds too constricting and does
not take the mentee's wants/needs into account.

Regards,
Brian

---

From: Ralph Droms <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:06:03 +0100

Brian - I meant simply a change in tense "you and your mentor will decide..."

- Ralph

---

From: Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 09:13:34 -0400

Ralph,

> Brian - I meant simply a change in tense "you and your mentor will decide..."

Ah, that makes more sense.  Thanks.

Brian

---

From: Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 11:06:47 -0400

Hi Alexa,
     Could you arrange to get this letter sent out?  I believe last time
you sent it to the attendees(?) mailing list.  I think it would be good
to send it periodically to make sure all newcomers and students see it.

Regards,
Brian

--

All,

     After you follow the sign-up procedure, we will match you with a
mentor and introduce you to each other by email, and invite you to meet
up in person at the IETF in Vancouver. From there on, you and your
mentor will decide on when and where to meet during the rest of the week
and afterwards.

     All requests for a mentor must be received by October 27th to
ensure sufficient time to match you to a mentor.

Regards,
Jari Arkko
IETF Chair