Network Meeting
Announcement of a 1970 network protocol meeting at UCLA
Crocker, S.D., "Network Meeting", RFC 35, DOI 10.17487/RFC0035, March 1970, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc35>.
@misc{rfc35,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 35,
howpublished = {RFC 35},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0035},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc35},
author = {S.D. Crocker},
title = {{Network Meeting}},
pagetotal = 1,
year = 1970,
month = mar,
} RFC text
Network Working Group S. Crocker
Request for Comments: 35 UCLA
Category: Informational 3 March 1970
Network Meeting
I expect to have the details of the new network protocol as
outlined in NWG/RFC #33 ready in two weeks. Some interest has been
expressed in a live presentation, so we will host a network meeting on
Tuesday, March 17, at UCLA at 9:00 a.m. To facilitate interaction,
please limit attendance to one programmer from each site. It is also
wise to leave the 18th open in case discussion continues.
The subject of the meeting will be a detailed presentation of the
network protocol, suitable for implementing unless major flaws are
discovered. Documentation will be available at the meeting and if not
obsoleted by the meeting, will be sent out as NWG/RFC on March 20.
Please call Mrs. Charlotte LaRoche at (213) 825-2543 if you need
help in making arrangements.
[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
[ into the online RFC archives by Jochen Friedrich 4/97 ]
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§1The Meeting Announcement
RFC 35 is a memo from Stephen Crocker of UCLA announcing a live network meeting to discuss protocol details. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, 1970 at 9:00 a.m. at UCLA. This was an early coordination mechanism for ARPANET researchers.
The announcement indicates that detailed protocol documentation from NWG/RFC #33 would be ready for presentation. The meeting was intended to be a forum for feedback and discussion before the protocol was finalized.
In 1970, computer scientists had to announce meetings the old-fashioned way. This RFC says: we're meeting at UCLA on this date to talk about how the network will work.
§2Participation and Next Steps
To keep the meeting productive, the announcement requested that each site send only one programmer. The announcement also suggested leaving March 18 open in case discussions ran longer.
The plan was for documentation to be presented at the meeting, and if no major flaws were discovered, it would be released as an RFC on March 20. Attendees needing help with travel or lodging could contact Mrs. Charlotte LaRoche at the UCLA number listed.
The rule was one programmer per organization so everyone could actually talk. If the meeting went well, the final network rules would be sent out by the weekend.
§3Early ARPANET Collaboration
RFC 35 is a historical document showing how early computer scientists coordinated to develop the ARPANET. Before email, video conferencing, or instant messaging, organizing a meeting required sending out an RFC with phone numbers and physical addresses.
The focus on protocol standardization and the need for live discussion underscores how collaborative the early networking effort was. Each site had to send someone who could understand and debate technical details, suggesting the network was still small enough for that to be feasible.
This memo shows how scientists met face-to-face to decide how computers would talk to each other, using phone calls to arrange travel and meetings.