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

Fri Aug 19 14:29:20 CEST 2011

On Aug 19, 2011, at 5:19 AM, nhklein wrote:

> While I agree with Milton Mueller and others that we have to stay focused on our NCSG concerns, I think they are clearly stated as NOT having been central to the achievements of the outgoing ICANN CEO, as he says in the press release:
> 
> “I can summarize my time here in four words: strong execution, great teambuilding,” he said. “We have
> built a world-class executive team, and elevated ICANN’s stature through strategic relationships with
> governments, businesses, top technology firms and international organizations.”
> 
> Is this the "Internet community"?

It's just an oversight.  Often he mentions ALAC as well… ;-)

Bill
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 08/19/2011 04:05 AM, Milton L Mueller 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 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 [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 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
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> A while ago, I started a new blog:
> 
> ...thinking it over... after 21 years in Cambodia
> http://www.thinking21.org/
> 
> continuing to share reports and comments from Cambodia.
> 
> Norbert Klein
> nhklein at gmx.net
> Phnom Penh / Cambodia
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ncuc.org/pipermail/ncuc-discuss/attachments/20110819/2a360a1f/attachment-0001.html>