I don't think people come to NANOG for "suitcases of stuff". In fact I don't even think the orig. poster stated that he was looking for a suitcase of stuff. Yes, people come to NANOG and Beer-n-gear for clue. Another part is some of the trinkets. Don't tell me you have NEVER taken a t-shirt home from a NANOG beer-n-gear vendor. To have MERIT change the ability to hand out trinkets without consulting the group is, I think a bit rude. When Beer-n-Gear first started (NANOG 12, hosted by my company) it was intended to allow t-shirts and other trinkets to be given out. There is a bad apple or two in the NANOG/MERIT group and it doesn't seem to get fixed. That person needs to be checked back into realitiy. I think the heart of the matter is MERIT making changes without informing the group. Remember its mostly little things that upset people. On Wed, Feb 21, 2001 at 12:52:47PM -0800, Joe McGuckin wrote:
My impression of the beer-n-gear is that it was just like all the other ones - e.g. Juniper, Cisco, etc showed off their latest heavy iron and there was free finger food & beer.
If you came to NANOG expecting to return home with a suitcase stuffed full of free frisbees, t-shirts and key chains - might I suggest that you attend a gift industry conference next time?
Joe
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Joe McGuckin
ViaNet Communications 994 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, CA 94303
Phone: 650-969-2203 Cell: 650-207-0372 Fax: 650-969-2124