[NCUC-DISCUSS] Fwd: [gnso-chairs] Initiating the Community Dialogue on "How We Meet": Initial Ideas & Meeting Request

Fri Jul 12 15:29:09 CEST 2024

Thank you, Kathy, for your question; here is an additional *personal*
assessment and opinion on the issue,  in addition to Tomslin's summary in
the email I forwarded.

This email is a follow-up email to the document I forwarded earlier.
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.

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).

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.

The document has shared multiple options that could be considered. However,
some of my concerns are:

1. NCUC can not afford to reduce the number of representatives at ICANN
meetings because we are underrepresented in these meetings already;
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.
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.

My call to action for members is that everyone should share their opinions
on this matter and help shape the final outcome.

Thank you,
Benjamin

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 3:18 PM Kathy Kleiman <Kathy at kathykleiman.com>
wrote:

> Hi Benjamin,
>
> 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?
>
> *I have the same question for all members of the NCUC Executive Committee
> (last year and newly elected).  *Could you be our guides through the
> discussion of these rather significant changes?  What will most impact NCUC
> information, research, comment writing, and participation?
>
> Best and tx,
>
> Kathy
> On 7/11/2024 4:27 AM, Benjamin Akinmoyeje wrote:
>
> Dear NCUC members,
> Good day, I hope you are well. I like to bring this important discussion
> to your attention.
>
> This is a community discussion about  How We Meet and How We Work .
> I encourage you to read the email trail below and the attached documents
> and share your recommendations or ideas on the attached Google Doc.
>
> Kindly contribute your voice to this future shaping discussion.
>
> Kind regards,
> Benjamin
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Tomslin Samme-Nlar <mesumbeslin at gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, Jul 11, 2024 at 12:58 AM
> Subject: Fwd: [gnso-chairs] Initiating the Community Dialogue on "How We
> Meet": Initial Ideas & Meeting Request
> To: <NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu>
>
>
> Hi team,
>
> 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.
>
> Things will move fast since we have to send our feedback (if any) to
> gnso-chairs at icann.org 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 Google Doc
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rQ3_P-xlb48qcy4iY4prOis4Y4O1O2a_geBfrYMuQ4Y/edit?usp=sharing>
> to solicit feedback from everyone, even if you can't make the meeting.
>
> In the paper, you will notice a number of suggestions such as:
>
>    1. 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
>    2. 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)
>    3. Review of the current allocation of Funded Travelers to each ICANN
>    Public Meeting
>    4. 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)
>    5. Reduce or eliminate informational and training sessions at ICANN
>    Public Meetings
>    6. Reduce or eliminate ICANN-hosted or ICANN-sponsored social and
>    outreach events at, or associated with, an ICANN Public Meeting
>    7. Move at least one (1) upcoming ICANN Public Meeting to a Virtual
>    Meeting
>    8. 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
>
> Talk to you all on Monday.
>
> Warmly,
> Tomslin
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Mary Wong via soac-chairs <soac-chairs at icann.org>
> *Sent:* Sunday, July 7, 2024 11:58 PM
> *To:* soac-chairs at icann.org
> *Cc:* team-leaders at icann.org
> *Subject:* [EXTERNAL] [soac-chairs] Initiating the Community Dialogue on
> "How We Meet": Initial Ideas & Meeting Request
>
>
>
> *CAUTION*: 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.
>
>
>
> Dear SOAC leaders,
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
>
> 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:
>
>    - Late/end-July: first call with SOAC Chairs and Vice-Chairs to share
>    feedback on agreed strategic questions
>    - Mid/late August (following collation of ideas and input): second
>    call to discuss and agree on concrete ideas for implementation or further
>    exploration
>    - 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
>
>
>
> The sort of strategic, foundational questions we were thinking might be
> helpful for focusing the dialogue include:
>
>    - 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?
>       - What other key changes do we need to make to continue to ensure
>       we can meet these goals?
>
>
>
> 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!
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Mary
>
>
>
>
>
>
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