“They are kicking people out of the building.”

Writes Kieren McCarthy, about the site of the Luxembourg ICANN meeting: That combined with the fact that the conference centre is little more than a giant truck stuck in a massive car park in the full sun, except with carpets, doors and partition walls. Asylum seekers have died in such circumstances.An EU presidency mostly failed in these rooms, quite recently.Tat said, the meeting organization does, indeed, leave some desirables open. For instance, it seems unthinkable here that breaks happen when they fit the work, and that this is maybe not precisely when they are on the schedule. “You have to respect the schedule,” told me one waiter, and hence refused to give me any coffee before the scheduled minute.The GNSO Council taking a little longer than scheduled was apparently another unthinkable surprise: As one participant put it, security personnel was kicking people out of the building once Council was done. Once people had left the building, it required extensive arguing to get back in.I’d wish conference organizers would realize that the main purpose of such a meeting is — surprise! — meeting, and that side discussions and hallway talks are key to a successful conference. Conference organizers shouldn’t put obstacles into the way of these conversations, but should rather think about what they can do to enable them.