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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) W. George Request for Comments: 6640 Time Warner Cable Category: Informational June 2012 ISSN: 2070-1721

    IETF Meeting Attendees' Frequently Asked (Travel) Questions

Abstract

 This document attempts to provide a list of the frequently asked
 questions (FAQs) posed by IETF meeting attendees regarding travel
 logistics and local information.  It is intended to assist those who
 are willing to provide local information, so that if they wish to
 pre-populate answers to some or all of these questions either in the
 IETF wiki or a meeting-specific site, they have a reasonably complete
 list of ideas to draw from.  It is not meant as a list of required
 information that the host or Secretariat needs to provide; it merely
 serves as a guideline.

Status of This Memo

 This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
 published for informational purposes.
 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
 (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
 approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
 Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.
 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6640.

George Informational [Page 1] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
 document authors.  All rights reserved.
 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
 publication of this document.  Please review these documents
 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
 to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
 described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction ....................................................3
 2. Why is this document necessary? .................................3
 3. Helpful Information .............................................5
    3.1. Travel .....................................................5
         3.1.1. Transit between the Airport or Train Station
                and Primary Hotels ..................................5
                3.1.1.1. Taxi Information ...........................6
                3.1.1.2. Mass Transit ...............................6
         3.1.2. Getting Around near the Conference Venue ............7
    3.2. Regional/International Considerations ......................7
         3.2.1. Health and Safety ...................................8
                3.2.1.1. Water Availability .........................8
         3.2.2. Money ...............................................9
    3.3. Food .......................................................9
         3.3.1. Restaurants ........................................10
         3.3.2. Other Food Items ...................................10
    3.4. Communications and Electronics ............................10
    3.5. Weather ...................................................11
    3.6. Fitness ...................................................11
    3.7. Tourism and Souvenirs .....................................11
 4. Acknowledgements ...............................................12
 5. Security Considerations ........................................12
 6. Informative References .........................................12

George Informational [Page 2] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

1. Introduction

 IETF attendees come from all over the world.  The typical IETF
 meeting has representatives from over 50 countries.  It is quite
 likely that a large portion of the participants in any given IETF are
 newcomers to the specific location where it is being held or even to
 the country or region itself.  As a result, they are going to have
 questions regarding their personal travel needs and logistics that
 may only be answerable by someone who has been to the area before,
 someone who lives there, and/or someone who speaks the local
 language.
 The IETF, the Secretariat, and any local host organizations
 responsible for the logistics of making IETF meetings happen are not
 travel agencies, but they often can and do assist with identifying
 and hosting the common information that most attendees wish to have
 while they are planning their trip.  This document attempts to cover
 the most commonly asked questions and categories for information.
 This document is not intended to provide answers to these questions
 for every possible location in which IETF meetings may be held.
 Rather, it is intended to provide a set of FAQs for use by the hosts
 and others who have experience with the area where the event is being
 held, so that questions and answers can be handled efficiently,
 rather than waiting until someone sends an email to the meeting
 attendees mailing list in the days leading up to the meeting.

2. Why is this document necessary?

 In reading this document, one may ask, "Isn't that why search engines
 and travel sites exist?"  Although we can sometimes find what we're
 looking for with search engines, that results in hundreds of people
 spending time searching, which is not very efficient.  In addition,
 despite the widely held belief that if it is published on the
 Internet, it must be true, sometimes the information that is
 available is either inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, so it may
 be less reliable than firsthand information from someone who has been
 there.  Also, no matter how much online translation has improved,
 some of the most useful local travel sites may be difficult for non-
 native speakers to navigate and find information, because navigation
 buttons, graphics, and other active content are typically not
 machine-translatable, and non-native speakers may not realize when
 machine translation is inaccurate in a critical way.  Lastly, while
 the companies that serve as hosts for IETF meetings often have
 participants attending IETF, the folks who are responsible for
 handling the details of hosting an IETF may not be regular attendees.
 Therefore, this document, especially Section 3, is intended to be

George Informational [Page 3] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 something that can be provided to host event organizers that may not
 have much familiarity with the IETF, so that they have a better sense
 of the information that attendees will find helpful.
 The format of this document was chosen so that it captures the FAQs,
 but usually not their answers.  This is because IETF RFCs are
 typically static and infrequently updated, which does not make them a
 particularly suitable format to contain location-specific
 information.  The questions found in this document are a result of
 informal review of the attendees mailing lists from past meetings and
 feedback from many individuals; they are believed to be reasonably
 static from one meeting to the next.  This document is not
 necessarily all-inclusive, but it should serve as a reasonable
 baseline such that a static format like an RFC is appropriate.  It is
 likely that this RFC will need to be revised periodically -- a clue
 that this is necessary will be when, over the course of multiple
 meetings, multiple additional questions that are not covered by this
 document repeatedly surface on the attendees mailing list and thus
 become FAQs.
 The answers to this document's questions are expected to be stored in
 a location that is easily updated by multiple parties, so that site-
 specific information can be refined and updated as often as
 necessary, thereby creating a living document.  There are several
 options as to where to store this location-specific living document.
 For some past IETF meetings, the hosting organization or an
 individual [HIROSHIMA] has set up a special website.  The best recent
 examples of these, in terms of the information provided, are
 www.ietf75.se and ietf71.comcast.net.  Unfortunately, these types of
 sites are not maintained indefinitely once the IETF meeting for which
 they were set up has concluded, so the only way to review them as
 examples is to use the Internet Wayback Machine [WEBARCHIVE].  Such a
 website has been a source of much additional information about the
 location and is always quite helpful.  If the host decides to set up
 a site like this, the hope is that this document will provide
 guidance as to the type of information with which to populate such a
 site.  However, it is by no means a requirement that the host set up
 an external website.  Further, not every IETF meeting has a local
 host, or even a host at all.  In these cases, the need for the same
 set of information is not lessened, but the IETF will be more reliant
 on the willingness of those with experience in the area where the
 meeting will be held to share the benefit of that experience with
 others.  The IETF has provided a hosted wiki [WIKI] that can simply
 be populated with the same sorts of information.  This has the added
 benefit of having a single location where additional information can
 be provided by experienced travelers, locals, and host
 representatives alike; it is therefore not completely reliant on the
 host.  In the case where the IETF-hosted wiki is to be used, this

George Informational [Page 4] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 document may serve as a framework of categories that could be pre-
 built when the site-specific page is set up, so that others can begin
 populating the information.

3. Helpful Information

 There are a number of general categories of information listed below.
 Some sections, such as Sections 3.1 and 3.2, contain information
 necessary for travel; the rest can be considered nice to have.  All
 of it comes from actual FAQs from the attendees mailing lists.
 Much of the needed information may already be available in another
 form online.  There is no need to reproduce information that can be
 found on external websites, so simply providing pointers to
 information already available in other locations is quite
 appropriate.  However, it is very helpful if some validation and
 vetting of the provided information is performed in order to avoid
 outdated or inaccurate information.  Additionally, because this is a
 static and location-agnostic document, it's quite likely that some
 questions are either irrelevant or confusing for some locations.
 Therefore, "not really relevant here" and "we don't know" may be
 valid answers to some of these questions.  In those cases, it's
 better to say this explicitly rather than to simply omit the section,
 as this will confirm that the information was not simply omitted.
 The main thing to remember when providing information in these
 categories is that those traveling to the event have not been there
 before, so one should not assume a high level of background knowledge
 about the area, its customs, etc.

3.1. Travel

 o  Recommended airport(s) for domestic and international connections.
    To avoid confusion, include the appropriate International Air
    Transport Association (IATA) airport code(s) whenever possible.
 o  Non-flight options to get to the city where the meeting is being
    held (e.g., if there are convenient rail travel options).

3.1.1. Transit between the Airport or Train Station and Primary Hotels

 Information in this section is especially critical if the airport is
 significantly distant from the venue or use of a taxi is otherwise
 impractical or not recommended (e.g., if attendees must use a train
 or long-distance bus to get to the venue from the airport).  If train
 travel options are provided as an alternative to flying, it is
 recommended that the list below be provided for those options as well
 (e.g., transit between the train station and primary hotel).

George Informational [Page 5] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 o  Estimated travel time.  This is also important for return travel
    from the venue to the airport.  It is worth noting any
    recommendations about leaving extra time if airport security and
    check-in is always busy or if there will be significant
    differences in travel time due to rush hour traffic.
 o  Shuttles (if applicable).
 o  Arranging transit directly with the hotel (if applicable).  Hotels
    sometimes provide car service or are willing to pay taxi bills
    upon your arrival so that the charges can be added to the hotel
    bill instead of requiring local currency.  It is helpful to know
    in advance if this is common or uncommon in the local area.

3.1.1.1. Taxi Information

 o  Credit cards accepted?  Which ones?
 o  Foreign currency accepted?
 o  Estimated costs for taxis, as well as any rules/recommendations
    about metered fares versus fixed-rate or pre-negotiated fares
 o  Description of "official" taxis if appropriate
 o  Links to websites or phone numbers for remote/pre-booking taxis
 o  How to find the taxi stand at the airport/train station
 o  Printable local-language address card to show taxi driver in case
    of language barrier
 o  Ride sharing (the IETF wiki usually has a section where attendees
    can post arrival times and work out taxi sharing)

3.1.1.2. Mass Transit

 Navigating an unfamiliar mass transit system can be challenging.
 Things that seem obvious to locals may not be obvious to visitors.
 o  English map
 o  How and where to purchase farecards/tokens
 o  How to use tickets/tokens (where to insert them, how to get them
    stamped, how to transfer, etc.)

George Informational [Page 6] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 o  How trains/buses are labeled and how to identify the destination
    of a particular train/bus
 o  The general frequency of service -- in particular, whether one
    should just go to the station or consult a schedule first
 o  Which transit system to use for which destination (when there are
    multiple transit systems in the area)
 o  Nearby stations and how to identify a station entrance (common
    logo, color, etc.)
 o  It may be helpful to advise when things are not commonly labeled
    in a western character set (e.g., place signs) and provide
    pictures or unicode text representations of the signage as it will
    appear.

3.1.2. Getting Around near the Conference Venue

 The same information relevant for airport transit will likely be
 relevant here, including taxi and mass transit information.  If
 possible, walking directions between the conference venue and the
 hotel(s) should be provided if the venue is not co-located with the
 hotel.
 Additionally, it is helpful to note if having a vehicle available
 (rental or personal car) is a help or a hindrance in getting around
 in the local area.  For example, it may not be recommended to try to
 drive in the area near the conference venue due to:
 o  Parking availability and costs
 o  Congestion charges and other restrictions on when and where one
    can drive
 o  Traffic

3.2. Regional/International Considerations

 o  Plug type/voltage.  This can simply be a reference to
    electricaloutlet.org [PLUGS] unless there are specific exceptions
    or details that need to be highlighted.
 o  Visa requirements, pointers regarding travel documents.  IETF
    typically provides information about visas via a pointer to an
    embassy or similar page that has general information about common
    types of visas, when they are required, waived, etc.  It also
    includes information about how to obtain a letter of invitation

George Informational [Page 7] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

    should one be required.  It is helpful to provide information that
    goes beyond that, especially if there are known issues where it
    may be difficult for entrants from certain countries to get a visa
    processed in the time between when the meeting is announced and
    when travel must commence.  If there are expedite processes, this
    is a good place to discuss them.
 o  Languages commonly spoken
 o  National/regional holidays, work stoppages/strikes, or other
    issues that may impact travel or business hours during the week of
    IETF

3.2.1. Health and Safety

 o  Phone numbers to access local emergency services (e.g., 911, 112,
    999, etc.)
 o  Closest health clinic/hospital facilities
 o  Areas of high crime to avoid
 o  Common local scams, including taxi scams
 o  Hostile flora and fauna and how to identify/avoid
 o  Local air-quality considerations.  Everyone has different
    thresholds for "unhealthy" air quality, and those with health or
    respiratory problems may need to be able to locate local air-
    quality monitoring information to determine how to best prepare
    themselves.
 o  Smoking rules
  • Are most bars and restaurants smoking or non-smoking? Are

separate smoking sections available?

  • Rules about smoking in public places
  • Availability of dedicated smoking/non-smoking rooms in hotels
  • Rules about smoking outdoors

3.2.1.1. Water Availability

 o  Is local tap water potable/drinkable?  If not, is it truly unsafe
    because of impurities or contamination or does it simply taste bad
    by local standards?

George Informational [Page 8] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 o  How does one differentiate between tap water and bottled in a
    restaurant when ordering?
 o  Are water fountains/bubblers or water bottle refill taps commonly
    available in public places?

3.2.2. Money

 o  General credit card acceptance in common locations, including any
    restrictions (e.g., requires a 'Chip and PIN' card, no American
    Express, etc.)
 o  ATM locations near the venue and at the airport.  Note whether
    these accept foreign cards, which systems they participate in, and
    whether they have an English language option.
 o  Tipping customs, particularly for taxis, restaurants, and hotel
    staff
 o  Currency conversion rate -- a reference to a currency converter
    site, e.g., Yahoo!  [CURRENCY] will suffice unless there are
    specific conversion details believed to be relevant
 o  In establishments where foreign currency is accepted either for
    purchase or for exchange, note whether this is recommended or not
    due to favorable or unfavorable exchange rates, etc.
 o  For what types of purchases (if any) bargaining/haggling on the
    price is expected or customary, and if so, customary methods for
    successful bargaining

3.3. Food

 The nature of IETF's schedule means that food and drink provide both
 a welcome break as well as a venue to continue discussions with
 colleagues, either related to IETF work, other shop talk, or anything
 *but* shop talk.  During IETF's lunch break, approximately 1000
 people are simultaneously looking for reasonably priced lunch
 options, with time frames ranging from "grab and go" for a working
 lunch to 75 minutes for a sit-down meal.  When meetings have
 concluded for the day, the wide variety of attendees means that
 people are looking for all types of food, all price ranges, and
 atmospheres ranging from a place suitable for an in-depth
 conversation to a table at the bar.  The more information that is
 available about the food and drink options nearby, the better.  This
 information is especially helpful during the first few days of the

George Informational [Page 9] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 conference, because the number of folks looking for assistance from
 the hotel concierge or other information desk staff at one time tends
 to overwhelm the personnel available.

3.3.1. Restaurants

 It's generally helpful to note whether restaurants require/recommend
 reservations, if they have busy/rush times that should be avoided or
 planned for, etc.
 It's helpful for restaurants to be categorized by:
 o  Price
 o  Proximity to venue (it's useful to highlight quick options for
    lunch breaks)
 o  Type of cuisine (this is a great place to highlight local
    specialties and favorites)
 o  Special dietary needs such as vegan, vegetarian, halal, and
    kosher.  It's also extremely helpful to discuss methods for
    communicating these needs to restaurant staff when ordering.  A
    more in-depth discussion of dietary concerns can be found in
    [HEALTHY-FOOD].

3.3.2. Other Food Items

 o  Local grocery/convenience stores -- for attendees who cannot find
    restaurant options that meet their dietary needs
 o  Coffee shops and tea houses nearby -- specifically, where can we
    find the best espresso or cup of tea?
 o  Bars and pubs nearby
 o  Restaurants or pubs with private rooms or large seating areas for
    big groups

3.4. Communications and Electronics

 o  Places to purchase local SIMs and types of mobile voice/data
    service supported, (e.g., Global System for Mobile Communications
    (GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), Universal Mobile
    Telecommunications System (UMTS), CDMA, etc.)
 o  Places to get replacement electronics and accessories (e.g., power
    cords, adapters, batteries, etc.)

George Informational [Page 10] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

 o  Public Wi-Fi access (outside of hotel and venue) including Wi-Fi
    availability in the recommended airports, mass transit, etc.

3.5. Weather

 o  Link to a site or brief information on temperature and humidity
    norms for the time of year when the meeting will be held, e.g.,
    Weather Underground [WEATHER]
 o  If this is an area known for extreme weather, note any amenities
    to make travel easier, such as enclosed walkways or indoor
    passages between buildings.
 o  This also refers to indoor weather: what is the common indoor
    temperature?

3.6. Fitness

 o  Soccer: If the weather cooperates, it is common for some IETFers
    to try to hold a "soccer BoF" -- a pick-up soccer game sometime
    during the week of IETF.  Thus, a field appropriate for soccer in
    close proximity to the venue is useful information to have.
 o  Running/walking paths or routes.  Some folks prefer this method
    for exercise over using a treadmill.

3.7. Tourism and Souvenirs

 While this is certainly not necessary information for the primary
 goal of an IETF attendee, many attendees earmark a day or two on
 either side of the conference for sightseeing, so this is an
 opportunity to highlight local attractions.  Links to sites
 containing information about walking tours, local tourist attractions
 and the like are certainly appreciated.  If there are events
 scheduled adjacent to IETF such as music or food festivals, cultural
 events, etc., attendees are happy to hear about these events as well.
 Additionally, many attendees choose to purchase souvenirs as gifts or
 for personal use.  In addition to the standard "tourist-trap" items
 such as t-shirts and knick-knacks, many attendees look for items that
 are locally crafted, local specialties, or otherwise significant to
 the local area and culture.  This is another topic that can be
 highlighted in the information provided to attendees.

George Informational [Page 11] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

4. Acknowledgements

 Thanks to the following folks (and probably others the author has
 unintentionally forgotten) for their valuable feedback: Dave Crocker,
 Simon Perreault, Joe Touch, Lee Howard, Jonathan Lennox, Tony Hansen,
 Vishnu Ram, Paul Kyzivat, Karen Seo, Randy Bush, Mary Barnes, John
 Klensin, Brian Carpenter, Adrian Farrel, Stephen Farrell, Yaacov
 Weingarten, L. David Baron, Samuel Weiler, SM, Ole Jacobsen, David
 Black, Stewart Bryant, Benoit Claise, and Lawrence Conroy.

5. Security Considerations

 This document is not a protocol specification and therefore contains
 no protocol security considerations.  However, some of the above
 items refer to the physical security of IETF participants and their
 property.  This document is not intended to be a comprehensive
 discussion of physical security matters for IETF attendees.

6. Informative References

 [CURRENCY]      Yahoo!, "Yahoo! Currency Converter",
                 <http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter/>.
 [HEALTHY-FOOD]  Barnes, M., "Healthy Food and Special Dietary
                 Requirements for IETF meetings", Work in Progress,
                 March 2012.
 [HIROSHIMA]     Jacobsen, O., "A Visitor's Guide to Hiroshima", 2009,
                 <http://hiroshima-info.info>.
 [PLUGS]         electricaloutlet.org, "Worldwide Electrical Outlet
                 List", <http://electricaloutlet.org/>.
 [WEATHER]       "Weather Underground",
                 <http://www.wunderground.com/>.
 [WEBARCHIVE]    "Internet Archive: Wayback Machine",
                 <http://archive.org/web/web.php>.
 [WIKI]          IETF, "IETF Meeting Wiki", 2011,
                 <http://www.ietf.org/registration/MeetingWiki/wiki/
                 doku.php>.

George Informational [Page 12] RFC 6640 IETF Meeting FAQs June 2012

Author's Address

 Wesley George
 Time Warner Cable
 13820 Sunrise Valley Drive
 Herndon, VA  20171
 USA
 Phone: +1 703-561-2540
 EMail: wesley.george@twcable.com

George Informational [Page 13]

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