Re: DISCUSSION: publish list of nominees?

[Brian E Carpenter <brian@hursley.ibm.com>]

Geoff Huston wrote:
> 
> >It was meant to. There is always a deadline by which the arm-twisting has
> >to stop, set by this sentence from 2727:
> >      The annual selection and confirmation process is expected to be
> >      completed one month prior to the friday of the week before the
> >      First IETF
> >The effect of the changes would be to move the arm-twisting deadline
> >earlier, to the date on which the final list of nominees was published.
> >But if we give the NomCom more time anyway, I don't see why this
> >dilutes their ability to seek the best people.
> 
> I see these as quite different situations - and Robert Elz's comments have addressed part of my concerns.
> 
> Let me add to his response a little.  It may not be obvious to any but the arm twister and the chosen victim, but it is not uncommon for the nomcom to resort to socket-wrenching arm twisting (and here I draw on personal experience). This generally occurs when there is noone left standing close to a vacant slot. Highly qualified individuals often do not readily have massive amounts of available time to devote to unpaid voluntary efforts. I'm sure its been quite common (and I've seen in when I've been chair and liaison numerous times) to resort to various forms of extreme pressure to coerce such individuals to be considered.
> 
> Unfortunately,  this is no longer an option under what you are proposing. I fail to see how the task of filling up names for a published slate with a defined deadline will have a comparable ability to ensure that such individuals can be convinced (or press-ganged) that their energy and abilities can be of value of the IETF. This, to me, is a dilution of the Nomcom's ability to select the best individuals for the roles.

Thanks Geoff, I think this is a very clear statement of the issue. 
What you are telling us is that sometimes it is very hard work to talk 
the best candidates into accepting the job, and imposing a hard closing
date for nominations could make it impossible. Right?

   Brian