Did I miss some discussion about the Beer and Gear surprise? I, personally, feel somewhat cheated that there was no "gear" available from the vendors in attendance.
If I had known that there was to be no freebees, I certainly could have went to dinner early and not hung around to look at equipment that I already have seen directly from the vendors.
I did not spend money to come out to Atlanta to get hit upon by vendors. If I had wanted to look at vendors, I could have went to some other conferences and spent more time looking at equipment that I won't be recommending for deployment. Without some freebees to draw the nanog conference attendees to the vendors, I don't even see the point of continuing to have the the Beer and Gear part.
I have found this on the web site:
"In striving to achieve these goals, all tutorials and presentations, including BOF presentations, are reviewed in advance and are limited to those entirely of a general technical nature, explicitly prohibiting material that relates to any specific product or service offerings. For similar reasons, equipment exhibits are limited to the "Beer 'n Gear" sessions, and vendor giveaways are not permitted at any time during the meeting."
I'm not sure if there was a vote of the membership, or what, but I had certainly missed it.
Does anyone have more information on this?
UK
[ Warning: this message is void of any operational content. ]
Did I miss some discussion about the Beer and Gear surprise? I,
personally, feel somewhat cheated that there was no "gear" available
from the vendors in attendance.
<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>
Don't get me wrong, Beer and Gear was definitely time well spent, I
just found the "gear" aspect (assuming that's in reference to
freebies, not hardware demonstrated by vendors) a bit lacking. 
Long live free vendorware.
-adam
Yes, a secret vote of the membership was conducted a couple of weeks ago.
All of the results were posted to the members-only web site. If you want
to know what atrocities the NANOG membership is going to perpetrate upon
you next, I suggest you join immediately. Send cash in small bills to
Susan Harris.
-Bill
Yes, a specific single person at MERIT found the boxer shourts
offensive. In talking with many other people at that NANOG,
both male and female, they didn't find the shorts offensive and
infact where sought after.
Thus a "gray market" in cisco shorts was created, preventing Cisco
from taking it in the "shorts".
If that has now grown to "vendors can't give anything" out, then
its a SAD SAD SAD DAY.
I certainly hope those at MERIT will help educate the power to be..
NANOG now has gone Corporate, In fact I am surprised MERIT is sponsoring
Beer, I mean someone could get tipsy and have an accident (other
than dropping there shorts).
It reminds me of those start-ups that have beer thirty on the back
loading dock on fridays. They grow, people enjoy hanging out, working
hard and having some fun.
Then one day someone decides its not "the right image, or something"
and the friday 4:30 parties are killed. Its the dawn of Corporate
Image and RED TAPE.
I seriously hope NANOG doesn't go that way.
I mention no names, as to protect the stuffy and the guilty.
jmbrown
In talking with many other people at that NANOG,
> both male and female, they didn't find the shorts offensive and
> infact where sought after.
zoc-int-brk01#shorts?
% Unrecognized command
John, _I_ found it offensive. When I need underwear, I damned well go to
a department store. I don't go looking for them at a conference. If
you're at a conference looking for underwear rather than hoping to
exchange clue, I'd suggest you're there for the wrong reason.
-Bill
All I want to know is where can I score some of these Cisco
boxers?
/rmb
There is an easy solution here. If folks are really incensed about the
lack of vendor goodies and/or the level of excitement on certain panels,
they can:
1) Volunteer to speak at future NANOG meetings on stuff they feel is more
exciting
2) Provide feedback on the survey
3) Buy Merit and run it themselves
4) Turn NANOG into a membership organization run by an elected board.
I suggest #1 and #2. If you have lots of money, you could always try
#3. #4 is intrigueing, but I doubt the collective will to accomplish it,
particularly as this issue is a dearth of vendor supplied undergarments,
which, while tragic, is not exactly the sort of cause that folks would
rally around.
Daniel Golding NetRail,Inc.
"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness"
There is an easy solution here. If folks are really incensed about the
lack of vendor goodies and/or the level of excitement on certain panels,
they can:
1) Volunteer to speak at future NANOG meetings on stuff they feel is more
exciting
2) Provide feedback on the survey
3) Buy Merit and run it themselves
Just the 35.0.0.0/8 alone should be worth about $1b. 
-Hank