Fwd: [council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN at the end of his term

[Nuno Garcia]

It is best to be proactive and try to shape how the next mandate will be.

Warm regards,

Nuno Garcia

On 18 August 2011 22:05, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:

> Maria
> I did not say that it didn't matter who the CEO is. Of course it does. But
> its a fact that NCUC/NSCG had its worst forms of persecution by ICANN staff
> before Rod was CEO, and that little changed for us when he was hired.
>
> What I think we need to distance ourselves from are Kierens claims that Rod
> took credit for things that others did and other kinds of personality
> issues. Its just not relevant to us.
>
> Milton Mueller
> Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
>
>
> -----Original message-----
>
> *From: *Maria Farrell <maria.farrell at gmail.com>*
> To: *Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu>*
> Cc: *"NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu" <NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu>*
> Sent: *Thu, Aug 18, 2011 17:59:19 GMT+00:00*
> Subject: *Re: Fwd: [council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN at the end of
> his term
>
>  I have to disagree, Milton.
>
>  For a start, Kieren resigned at his own behest. (I was fired though - and
> I'm not in this for revenge but because I care about how the organisation
> works.) He's not a vengeful guy and is demonstrably pursuing the same
> arguments and issues he did before he ever worked for ICANN.
>
>  But to the main point - that it doesn't matter who's running the ship -
> the 'plague on all your houses' approach. Of course it matters who's in
> charge. NCUC has, rightly, complained strenuously for several years about
> being pushed aside by staff in favour of the at large and other gnso
> constituencies. That's staff-directed policy and can change overnight,
> depending on who runs the show. Even if we care less about the org as a
> whole, there's still a clear benefit for ncuc in some types of ceo rather
> than others.
>
>  Which is not to be completely naive about it. The CEO is not going to
> change our lives, here in NCUC, but she or he will have an impact and we can
> have one back.
>
> 2011/8/18 Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu>
>
>>  Kieren makes some worthwhile points here but you have to remember that
>> Kieren was fired by Beckstrom, so he has a revenge motive in writing things
>> like this. From NCSG’s point of view, a lot of this kind of stuff is a bunch
>> of snarky disputes among insiders and doesn’t affect our status or the
>> policies we care about much. ****
>>
>> --MM****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* NCSG-Discuss [mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] *On Behalf Of
>> *Poomjit Sirawongprasert
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 17, 2011 2:16 PM
>> *To:* NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>> *Subject:* Re: [NCSG-Discuss] Fwd: [council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN
>> at the end of his term****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> How about his?
>>
>> ICANN fires its CEO
>> http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/08/16/icann-fires-ceo****
>> ICANN fires its CEO****
>>
>> by Kieren McCarthy | 16 Aug 2011 | ****
>>
>> ****The CEO of ICANN Rod Beckstrom has announced he is leaving the
>> organization at the end of his contract. ****
>>
>> According to a tweet<http://twitter.com/#%21/RodBeckstrom/status/103607748717060096>sent out by Beckstrom at 4.20pm PST: “I have decided to wrap up my service
>> at ICANN July 2012”, adding “Press release soon.” ****
>>
>> The press release<http://news.dot-nxt.com/sites/news.dot-nxt.com/files/release-16aug11-en.pdf>[pdf] followed 20 minutes later and comprised largely of Beckstrom listing
>> his achievements in the first and third person. “I can summarize my time
>> here in four words: strong execution, great team-building,” he was quoted as
>> saying.****
>>
>> Board chair Steve Crocker, who took over the post only two months ago,
>> noted that: “The Board of Directors fully supports Rod through the
>> completion of his July 2012 term.”****
>>
>> Behind the pronouncements lies a different storyBehind the pronouncements
>> lies a different story. It is well known in ICANN circles that there has
>> been significant concern over Beckstrom’s performance for some time. And we
>> understand that Beckstrom’s “decision” was made for him at a secret Board
>> meeting earlier this month.****
>>
>> Unlike the three other CEOs that have presided over ICANN in its 11-year
>> history, Beckstrom lobbied hard to have his contract renewed, even giving a
>> public speech at ICANN’s most recent meeting in Singapore in June listing
>> what he had achieved as CEO. Accompanying today’s press release, somewhat
>> bizarrely, is a separate PDF<http://news.dot-nxt.com/sites/news.dot-nxt.com/files/factsheet-beckstrom-accomplishments-16aug11-en.pdf>listing Beckstrom’s “notable accomplishments”.
>> ****
>>
>> *Credit score*****
>>
>> Ironically, it is Beckstrom’s attempt to personally attach himself to all
>> the organization’s successes that is a major reason for his failure as an
>> ICANN CEO: he is seen as too quick to claim credit for others’ work and to
>> put personal promotion ahead of effective management. In two years in
>> charge, almost the entire senior management team has left. Community
>> questions as to why were met with obtuse reference to industry percentages.
>> ****
>>
>> Having written a book lauding the power of leaderless structures over
>> traditional hierarchy – the first likened to a starfish, the second to a
>> spider – many were surprised when Beckstrom created an even stronger
>> hierarchy within ICANN, with him as the head. And the bottleneck.****
>>
>> Beckstrom’s claim to have encouraged “great team-building” were famously
>> called into question at the organization’s meeting in San FranciscoBeckstrom’s
>> claim to have encouraged “great team-building” were famously called into
>> question at the organization’s meeting in San Francisco in March this
>> year when former staff member Maria Farrell took the microphone during a
>> public forum to announce her “profound disquiet about how the organization
>> is operationally being managed” and talked of a "hollowing out of expertise”
>> and a “climate of fear stalking the ICANN staff”. Her comments were met with
>> prolonged applause.****
>>
>> *Parachute*****
>>
>> Likewise, Beckstrom’s most significant claim to have negotiated an
>> historic agreement with the US government that saw ICANN gain greater
>> autonomy is largely fanciful: he was in charge for less than three months
>> before the agreement was signed, whereas negotiations had been going on for
>> 18 months between ICAN
>>
>
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