Beer and Gear surprise

Wed Feb 21 16:37:25 UTC 2001

I was at NANOG 20, and I seem to remember that the technical talks were over 
a good 20-30 minutes before Beer and Gear.  If people were leaving the talks 
early, I'm sure it was not the fault of the vendors.  I certainly don't 
think that people should have been offended by it.

As far as being "sexist", I know more women that wear boxers than men.  I 
don't see this as being a discrimination or sexist action.  It was intended 
as a joke by Cisco, and I thought it was a pretty good joke.  I am still 
amazed how thin skinned people in the US can be, even though I've lived here 
all my life.

I don't want anyone to think that I didn't enjoy the meeting.  I certainly 
did enjoy it.  I even learned a few new things, and got a lot of good 
validation for things I were already thinking about.  Yes, this is the real 
reason we all go to NANOG, and the reason we read the mailing list.

I feel that the vendors were cheated a little.  I saw a lot of attendees in 
the beer and gear that were talking amongst themselves and ignoring the 
vendors.  At least with a few freebees, the vendors have a chance to attract 
a few of those people.

I AM a little concerned if this was a decision made by Merit.  Last I knew, 
this was a NANOG meeting, not a Merit meeting.  I do not believe that Merit 
should be making a decision of this nature without the direct input of the 
NANOG membership.  If I missed this in October or November, I apologize.

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----Original Message Follows----
From: Stephen Stuart <stuart at mfnx.net>
To: Adam Rothschild <asr at latency.net>
CC: Ukyo Kuonji <kawaii_iinazuke at hotmail.com>, nanog at merit.edu
Subject: Re: Beer and Gear surprise
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 02:43:34 -0800

 > <rumor>
 >
 > Sponsors were specifically asked _not_ to give out clothing, as the
 > Cisco boxer shorts distributed at NANOG 20 were somehow deemed
 > offensive and discriminatory.
 >
 > </rumor>

<fact>

At NANOG 20, there was a mad rush from the meeting room before
technical talks were over for the day to get to the Beer and Gear to
suck up all the vendor trinkets. This was perceived as being
astoundingly disrespectful to the people who take the time to put
together a presentation and deliver it.

</fact>

Stephen

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