[NCUC-EC] Travel Expenditures

[William Drake]

Hi

>> I imagine we're talking potentially a couple thousand dollars for these two hotel items.  Given that we have spent no NCUC funds on travel support and according to the bank info Milton supplied at the beginning of the year, last year's EC spent $10,000 on travel support, our total Durban outlay should be quite reasonable, consistent with past practice, and manageable in relation to our assets.
>> 
>> [Milton L Mueller] I wouldn't use past expenditures on travel support as a benchmark,

Wasn't comparative, just saying, we can in fact spend money for travel support and previous ECs have.  

>> because in the past our Councilors and NCSG EC members were not covered by ICANN. However, I think it makes sense to budget a modest amount such as $5000 per meeting for any additional travel support for people who will be active contributors and really need it.

Yes, facilitating participation is obviously a main reason for being and objective for meetings, and a modest amount as merited is reasonable.  

Someday we should circle back to the question of whether we shouldn't have a flexible but still enunciated policy on travel expenditures, prior conversations have gone both ways a bit.  In addition to the criteria suggested prior we might want to simply state answers to sort of questions below for future reference.  I also would like to be able to make it known on the members list that if one gets engaged and contributes and needs to be there there's some x amount, maybe $1k, that could be available for one person per meeting.

In the meanwhile, Milton it'd be helpful to hear from you what the practices were on previous ECs and whether anything was ever written down for reference.  You've got the check book and the institutional memory, so hearing how it's been done would be great, including the handling of payments logistics, e.g. does Wilson need to pay out of pocket and then send you a receipt for reimbursement or can we allocate up front, do you do it by wire transfers, etc.  

Same question with regard to the Durban reception…can you wire APC in advance?

On Jun 6, 2013, at 4:51 PM, Tapani Tarvainen <ncuc at tapani.tarvainen.info> wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 06, 2013 at 05:21:20PM +0300, Wilson Abigaba (wilson at isoc.ug) wrote:
> 
> 
>> I contacted ICANN and the travel agency in Durban and they informed me
>> that the lowest rates we can get are the ones on the website,
>> http://durban47.icann.org/venue. Since the conference venue is already
>> sold out, I have chosen the cheapest hotel, Garden Court South Beach,
>> at R1080 per night.
> 
> You can get it much cheaper from some online hotel agency.
> E.g., yeego.com gives me €53.50 (US$70, ZAR 700) per night
> for a total of €321 = US$423, for the very same hotel.

I agree, I would never use ICANN or its travel agency to price anything as there's a lot of padding.  For ex, BCD routinely gets me tickets that cost more than what I can get on the web, and I've heard the same many times from other people.  So if NCUC is going to cover someone's costs, I think it'd be reasonable to state an expectation that they look into lower cost, self-booked options.
> 
>> Accommodation for 7 days (12th - 18th July) - $110 X 7 = $770

ISOC doesn't pay for any part of the stay?

>> Per Diem for 7 days - $50 X 7 = $350
>> Total: $1120
>> 
>> I therefore request for $1120 to cover my stay in Durban during the ICANN week.
> 
> Do we have a policy of paying per diem?
> (Not that I'm objecting, I'd just like to know, and document
> it for future reference - things like this should be documented
> better than ncuc has been doing in the past.)


AFAIK no fixed policies  so again we have to create.  Again, knowing if there was any particular pattern prior would be helpful.  

I'd argue that the principle of equity should apply, and happily in this case the amount's not a lot.

Bill