<div dir="ltr">Thank you, Kathy, for your question; here is an additional <b>personal</b> assessment and opinion on the issue, in addition to Tomslin's summary in the email I forwarded.<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>This email is a follow-up email to the document I forwarded earlier.<br>During the ICANN80 Kigali meeting, the chairs of SOACs met with the ICANN Interim CEO to discuss the way the ICANN community meets and works tagged "How We Meet" and "How We Work," especially in the face of the global economic crisis realities.<br><br>The meeting produced multiple suggestions and recommendations, and ICANN staff captured them in the shared document attached (by the way, I was not in the meeting).<br><br>The discussion summary was about how we can streamline or adjust our meeting logistics to fit sustainably to today's harsh economic situation without undermining ICANN's mission and effectiveness to its remit. The discussion centered on the need to adjust the frequency of ICANN's public meetings or the number of sessions, the need to make Hybrid meetings more effective, etc. <br><br>The document has shared multiple options that could be considered. However, some of my concerns are:</div><div><br></div><div>1. NCUC can not afford to reduce the number of representatives at ICANN meetings because we are underrepresented in these meetings already;</div><div>2. Virtual meetings are not effective for our community, knowing that many are from regions struggling with Internet connections. Hence, it will reduce the participation of our members. - we saw this during the pandemic.</div><div>3. Finally, I am also concerned about the approach that the community will use to arrive at the option to be implemented; I hope the process of deciding would be a bottom-up approach.</div><div><br>My call to action for members is that everyone should share their opinions on this matter and help shape the final outcome.<br><br><br>Thank you,<br>Benjamin <br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 3:18 PM Kathy Kleiman <<a href="mailto:Kathy@kathykleiman.com">Kathy@kathykleiman.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<p>Hi Benjamin,</p>
<p>Tx you for sharing this posting with NCUC. Can we ask what
changes below are of most concern (or least concern) to you as
someone who has been closely involved in planning our NCUC
meetings (thank you!) and cares deeply about NCUC participation?</p>
<p><i>I have the same question for all members of the NCUC Executive
Committee (last year and newly elected). </i>Could you be our
guides through the discussion of these rather significant
changes? What will most impact NCUC information, research,
comment writing, and participation? <br>
</p>
<p>Best and tx,</p>
<p>Kathy<br>
</p>
<div>On 7/11/2024 4:27 AM, Benjamin
Akinmoyeje wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Dear NCUC members,
<div>Good day, I hope you are well. I like to bring this
important discussion to your attention.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This is a community discussion about How We Meet and How
We Work . </div>
<div>I encourage you to read the email trail below and the
attached documents and share your recommendations or ideas on
the attached Google Doc.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Kindly contribute your voice to this future shaping
discussion.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Kind regards,</div>
<div>Benjamin </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded
message ---------<br>
From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Tomslin
Samme-Nlar</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:mesumbeslin@gmail.com" target="_blank">mesumbeslin@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Jul 11, 2024 at 12:58 AM<br>
Subject: Fwd: [gnso-chairs] Initiating the Community
Dialogue on "How We Meet": Initial Ideas & Meeting
Request<br>
To: <<a href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu" target="_blank">NCSG-DISCUSS@listserv.syr.edu</a>><br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Hi team,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In our SOAC leadership meeting with Sally in Kigali,
she mentioned 2 areas where the community needs to have
a dialogue on; (1) "How We Meet" and (2) "How We Work".
Below and attached is a discussion paper from ICANN's
Policy & Advice Development staff team to facilitate
the discussion on dialogue #1 "How We Meet. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Things will move fast since we have to send our
feedback (if any) to <a href="mailto:gnso-chairs@icann.org" target="_blank">gnso-chairs@icann.org</a>
by 24 July 2024. As a result, I have added this topic as
an agenda item to our monthly policy meeting which is on
Monday 15 July at 11:30 UTC (See Andrea's email/reminder
for joining details and full agenda). Come with some
ideas please. I have also created this <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rQ3_P-xlb48qcy4iY4prOis4Y4O1O2a_geBfrYMuQ4Y/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Google Doc</a>
to solicit feedback from everyone, even if you can't
make the meeting.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In the paper, you will notice a number of suggestions
such as:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Evaluate the full cycle of in-person and hybrid
community meetings, including standalone SOAC
Leadership and Strategic Planning meetings, targeted
group meetings (such as the Contracted Parties
Summit, the At Large Summit, and the High-Level
Governmental Meeting) and similar, cost-intensive,
travel-dependent Meetings</li>
<li>Review the planning by ICANN Org and the community
for all in-person/hybrid meetings (including ICANN
Public Meetings) by adopting an annualized, regular
approach of planning for a full meeting cycle
(either by a calendar year or a fiscal year)</li>
<li>Review of the current allocation of Funded
Travelers to each ICANN Public Meeting</li>
<li>Reduce the number of sessions at ICANN Public
Meetings, which could result in a reduction in the
cost of travel (i.e., accommodation) and
venue-related costs (e.g., room and equipment
rentals, contractors)</li>
<li>Reduce or eliminate informational and training
sessions at ICANN Public Meetings</li>
<li>Reduce or eliminate ICANN-hosted or
ICANN-sponsored social and outreach events at, or
associated with, an ICANN Public Meeting</li>
<li>Move at least one (1) upcoming ICANN Public
Meeting to a Virtual Meeting</li>
<li>Review the current state of ICANN Public Meetings,
with a view toward updating the ten-year-old ICANN
Meetings Strategy (dating from 2014) to match
current and expected future needs and budget
constraints</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Talk to you all on Monday.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Warmly,<br>
</div>
Tomslin
<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12.8px"><br>
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div>
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
</p>
<div>
<div style="border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-top:1pt solid rgb(225,225,225);padding:3pt 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Mary Wong
via soac-chairs <<a href="mailto:soac-chairs@icann.org" target="_blank">soac-chairs@icann.org</a>>
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, July 7, 2024 11:58 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:soac-chairs@icann.org" target="_blank">soac-chairs@icann.org</a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:team-leaders@icann.org" target="_blank">team-leaders@icann.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [EXTERNAL] [soac-chairs]
Initiating the Community Dialogue on "How
We Meet": Initial Ideas & Meeting
Request</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<table style="border-collapse:collapse" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr style="height:15.25pt">
<td style="width:842.35pt;border:1.5pt solid rgb(237,125,49);padding:0in 5.4pt;height:15.25pt" width="1123" valign="top">
<p><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background:rgb(255,255,153)">CAUTION</span></b><span style="color:black;background:rgb(255,255,153)">: This email originated from
outside of the organization. Do not
click links or open attachments
unless you can confirm the sender
and know the content is safe.</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear SOAC leaders,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An action item from your
informal meeting with Sally in Kigali was
for the Policy team to facilitate a dialogue
with you about “How We Meet”, viz., how our
in-person and hybrid meetings can be
optimized to ensure that resources
(including financial, staff and community
time) continue to be allocated appropriately
to ensure the community can do its work
effectively and efficiently, while staying
within budgetary constraints. As a starting
point for this dialogue, we have drafted the
attached discussion paper with some initial
ideas for your community’s consideration and
to invite your suggestions for further
discussion.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To capitalize on the
momentum of recent conversations and to
facilitate a constructive and substantive
dialogue, we’d like to suggest the following
cadence of meetings, structured around a few
foundational questions:
</p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li style="margin-left:2.25pt">Late/end-July:
first call with SOAC Chairs and
Vice-Chairs to share feedback on agreed
strategic questions
</li>
<li style="margin-left:2.25pt">Mid/late
August (following collation of ideas and
input): second call to discuss and agree
on concrete ideas for implementation or
further exploration</li>
<li style="margin-left:2.25pt">End-August/early
September (if agreed is needed): third
call to review agreed way forward,
including any next steps for additional
(longer term) ideas to be discussed
further </li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The sort of strategic,
foundational questions we were thinking
might be helpful for focusing the dialogue
include:</p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="circle">
<li style="margin-left:2.25pt">If you or
your group could change one thing about
how we meet that will facilitate
efficiency in how we deliver ICANN’s
mission while remaining sustainable into
the future, what would that be? </li>
<li style="margin-left:2.25pt">What other
key changes do we need to make to
continue to ensure we can meet these
goals?</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for your
support and willingness to collaborate with
us in seeking to improve and optimize how we
meet. Assuming you are comfortable with the
proposed approach, I’ll make sure to come
back to you with some suggested dates for
the calls. Please let me know if your group
have any questions or would like any
additional information that can assist with
your internal discussions about this topic.
Thank you!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cheers</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mary </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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