As we did at IETF 119 and IETF 120, at IETF 121 the IESG is repeating its experiment with ALLDISPATCH – the union of all the various dispatch functions into a single meeting. This is meant to solve five problems:
The timing of ALLDISPATCH at IETF 121 is currently set for Monday at 3:30 (subject to change). The ALLDISPATCH session replaces DISPATCH, SECDISPATCH, and GENDISPATCH. Meetings of other working groups with dispatch functions – RTGWG, TSVWG, OPSAWG, and INTAREA – will not execute their dispatch functions in this cycle. Thus, ALLDISPATCH will be the sole venue for Dispatch functions at IETF 121 for all areas (including the new WIT area).
Note that the dispatch function is only necessary when the IESG and/or proponents need community input on the disposition of proposals for new work. Non-dispatch processes for placing work remain in place. IESG expects the *DISPATCH chairs to make sure presentations are properly scoped for the dispatch questions, and to reach out for expertise to other areas when necessary. When in doubt, ART area DISPATCH procedures will be in place.
The chairs of DISPATCH, SECDISPATCH, and GENDISPATCH will work together to build the agenda, with oversight by the IESG. Those chairs will agree among themselves (adjudicated by the GEN AD, if necessary) who sits at the chairs’ table.
If you would like time at the meeting to discuss your work or ideas, please email the ALLDISPATCH chairs.
Proponents MUST submit an internet-draft prior to the IETF 121 cutoff date (21 October 2024) to be considered for ALLDISPATCH.
Formally, it will be a joint session of DISPATCH, SECDISPATCH, and GENDISPATCH. Other events will be scheduled in the same timeslot with IESG approval only.
There is a new alldispatch@ietf.org mailing list for ongoing discussion of the proposals.
Tentatively, each topic will receive 12 minutes for the presentation, clarification questions, and discussion. This means ~7 topics can be addressed.
ALLDISPATCH topics MUST NOT also be on the agenda of a WG meeting at IETF 121, unless the topic is directly dispatched to that WG in the session. The IESG asks working group chairs to ensure that this is so. Proposals MUST NOT be the topic of a HotRFC presentation at IETF 121.
This experiment has no impact on assessments of research proposals clearly destined for a Research Group or anything else orthogonal to previous iterations of *DISPATCH.
As with other DISPATCH working groups, ALLDISPATCH recommends next steps for new work where it is not already obvious whether or where the work belongs in IETF. ALLDISPATCH does not adopt drafts.
The focus of each presentation at ALLDISPATCH is to answer the dispatch question. The answer to the dispatch question will normally be one of the following:
Jim Fenton (ART)
Daniel Kahn Gillmor (SEC)
Peng Shuping (ART, GEN)
Rifaat Shekh-Yusef (SEC)
Martin Vigoreux (GEN)
There are subjective criteria for consideration at the conclusion of the ALLDISPATCH experiment:
Did the chairs have undue difficulty building an agenda and/or trading off interest in various areas?
Was it easier or harder to minimize the number of conflicts in the schedule relative to IETF 118?
What is the response to post-meeting survey questions about conflicts and the ALLDISPATCH session itself?
Did the work presented receive feedback of quality equal to or better than might have been received at an area-specific dispatch meeting?