[Membership-affairs] Hello

[William Drake]

Hi 

Thanks Ed for the great and detailed boot up message.  Coming at the end of a long day of keyboard pounding for me so just a couple brief reactions:

On Jun 6, 2013, at 6:18 PM, Edward Morris <edward.morris at alumni.usc.edu> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> 
> A belated welcome to the Membership Affairs working group and associated mailing list. To those who have been part of our nascent Outreach and InReach groups welcome to our broader grouping. To those who are beginning their journey with us here: welcome.
> 
> The remit of this group is quite large: to find new members, admit them, help them acclimate to the NCUC and to serve as THE place to go for our current members. We’re a mixture, in the best sense, of a recruiter, a welcome wagon, a concierge and an educational institution. Bill has also recently placed certain communications functions, such as the development and production of an introductory NCCUC brochure, in our remit.

Well,  just to be clear, I noted that the proposed Communication Team never really came together so pending any change in that we have to find other ways, and so I asked Ed if he could take the lead in mobilizing folks to do a little trifold brochure we could hand around as Outreach, starting in Durban if we're able.  ICANN Finance has told me there's budget to help us with this but don't seem to be moving too quickly to clarify how disbursement etc. would work.  If they get it together in time for Durban we can print something on slick paper with nice graphics, if they don't maybe we could at least hand around a simple photocopied thing for the time being.

> In my view, this is easily the most important administrative component of the Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC).
> 
> Although we have had some useful discussion and proposal’s (Sam is taking the lead on youth outreach, Nuno volunteered to head our recruiting efforts in a few large European countries, Roy with librarians, Amr has a fantastic and ambitious member engagement strategy) there has been a lack of forward movement here that can largely be attributed to me. I should offer a bit of an apology and explanation.

Great
> 
> Outreach has been hampered, in great part, by our difficulty getting recruited candidates admitted into the NCSG in a prompt manner and my reaction to this situation. For those who aren’t aware, to be admitted into the NCUC a candidate first needs to be admitted into the NCSG. As you can imagine, the NCSG EC is a very busy place. It’s understandable that processing new applications isn’t always the highest priority for the volunteers serving us on that committee. Those people do a fantastic job but the, certainly understandable,  backlog of applicant files creates a bit of a problem for us.
> 
> As an example, until recently we’ve  had some applicants who have been  waiting for a membership decision since mid March, almost three months ago.  A former NCSG EC member recently told me there is no reason, in his opinion, that  individual membership applications should take more than a week to approve / reject. People are different than institutions. Institutions can wait for decisions. People don’t want to. When you recruit an individual (and we have over 20 from in excess of 15 different countries currently waiting for approval) that person is usually excited to join us. When they don’t hear back from us within a week of applying they often write me ‘what’s happening?’ Same thing the next week. After about a month of this the e-mails stop. They stop caring. The enthusiasm is gone. I’ve never seen it come back. We lose potential active members.
> 
> I decided to hold off on any major mailing or recruitment campaign until we had the infrastructure and commitment in place to properly handle an influx of new applicants. I didn't feel it was fair to  to recruit volunteers knowing there was a lengthy waiting list before their application would be acted upon. Some understood my position, others disagreed. I saw damaged potential assets, others saw slower than desired numerical growth. Neither view is right or wrong, just different perspectives of the same situation.
> 
> I’m happy to report things are headed in the right direction. Tapani is working on an integrated database that should allow for easy intake communication between the NCSG and NCUC. It should be brilliant. At the NCUC meeting in Durban I will make all gathered aware of this problem and it's importance  and I’m sure we can figure something out. These are good people, we all want the same thing, it’s just a question of figuring out how to deal with the constraints our respective positions. As an all volunteer organisation we’ll never be the most efficient but we can, and I’m sure will,  do better in this area.

+1  
> 
> Our other major recruitment problem is, frankly, the fact that we have little to nothing to recruit with. 
> 
> Directing people to our existing web site seemed to discourage, not encourage, potential applicants. :)  The new web site is progressing and should be ready before Durban. We have a great new film extolling our values, now we just need a strategy to get people to view it. Most of all we need written material: outreach receptions have limited utility when there is no printed material to tell people who we are and what we are all about. Bill has requested ICANN funding for printed matter and hopefully we can produce some brochures, cards etc. sooner rather than later. These items are recruiting  basics which we need and soon, with a bit of luck and hard work,  will have.
> 
> InReach has also been problematic. Roughly 90% of our membership is relatively inactive. Motivating them to remember why they joined the NCUC and stimulating a reconnect would yield amazing new energy and strength for us. It’s also a time and energy consuming job. Our first Outreach meeting yielded just two participants, including myself.

Maybe Doodle with a week or more notice would be a good approach

> Amr has some great ideas, we just need some people to help him implement them.
> 
> That’s where you come in: we need your help, you ideas, your energy, your participation. There are things I haven’t mentioned ( for example, some ICANN coordinated outreach with other Constituencies / SO's) that I have been working on but that aren’t yet finalised. Regardless, it is safe to say that we’re reaching the point where we will have the institutional capacity to recruit and absorb new members and, with some luck, engage our current membership to levels not currently seen before. To make this happen I need your help.
> 
> As we begin this journey there are two items I’d like for you to think about and act upon:
> 
> 1. Over the next 7-10 days I’d like to ask everyone to post a little about yourself and your reasons for joining this particular group. What do you see as the major issues we should be addressing? How do you propose we handle them? And, most importantly, what are you hoping, willing and able to contribute to the group? What would you like to do?
> 
> 2. This is not a short term project. It certainly is not one that will be completed by December. It deserves leadership willing to make a substantial multi year commitment. I regret that I am unable to make such a commitment at this time. My hope is that someone in this group is ready to step up, make this a priority, replace me as facilitator and lead us into the future.
> 
> I should note, in the end, it’s up to Bill to select who leads this group.

Huh?  Nothing's up to me, but I can suggest and cajole and pester and hope consensus forms and people step forward etc…:-)  In this case, I asked for volunteers and you stepped forward, thanks.

> Still, it seems at times it’s a question of who can make the commitment rather than any sort of competition between people. If you want to make a real difference, if your circumstances would allow you to focus on inreach - outreach efforts as a priority...please consider stepping up and helping us build and ensure a vibrant noncommercial presence at ICANN into the future. Please consider becoming the facilitator of NCUC’s Membership Affairs group.
> 
> If someone is willing to take the role I’m happy to step aside and help with the transition. All I ask is that you really are willing to make this your priority and that you would be able to fulfill this role (should next years Chair ask) for 2014 as well. This really is an important position and it deserves more time and focus than I’ll be able to give going forward. If you’re able I hope you’ll step up: merely post your interest or send me an e-mail indicating same and we'll go from there. Please think about it. If not, I promise energetic, active leadership until the end of the year and hope somebody will be able to take over at that time.  
> 
> I look forward to hearing everyone’s ideas on how we can reinvent all aspects of membership affairs at the NCUC. and where you see yourself fitting in as we do it. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Thanks again, Ed.

Bill

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