Re: [council] Proposed approach to travel funding in the ICANN operating plan

["Sophia B" <sophiabekele@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am in full agreement with this proposal. I have also expressed the same
from the various documents that I received from the Nominating Committee.

Kindly allow me as new appointee to note, that I have witnessed a lot of
talent around the Council that whose time and efforts are worth more than
payment for travel and accommodation.

All the best.
Sophia


On 05/04/06, Bruce Tonkin <Bruce.Tonkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
> Based on discussions I have had over the past two ICANN meetings, there
> seems to be reasonable support for ICANN to fund some of the travel
> expenses for members of the Council and task forces.
>
> Even though some Council members are employed by members of the Internet
> industry that may seem like well resourced organisations, the reality is
> that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Council and task force
> members to get regular travel support to attend several meetings a year
> where there is not a direct commercial return from each meeting.   The
> Internet industry is intensely competitive and most organizations in the
> industry manage costs very tightly.  Some of these organisations already
> feel they are making a significant contribution through the time that
> they allow their staff to spend on ICANN matters.   Note that ICANN
> already funds some of the travel of members of ICANN's nominating
> committee, the Council members appointed by the Nominating committee,
> and members of the At-Large Advisory Committee.
>
>
> Recent experience with meetings in Washington and Wellington have shown
> that face-to-face meetings are an important part of making more rapid
> progress on complex policy issues.
>
>
> However I don't believe that ICANN funding of travel should be taken for
> granted, and any recipients of funding should ensure that they have done
> significant work in advance of travelling to any physical meeting.
>
>
> I intend to submit feedback to the Kurt Pritz with respect to the
> Operating Plan for 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007.
>
> Here is my proposal so far:
>
> (1) GNSO Council
> - All GNSO Council members should receive travel support consistent with
> the support provided to other members of the ICANN community (e.g ICANN
> Board, nominating committee etc) for the three ICANN meetings per year.
> - I assume that there is some sort of consistent ICANN travel policy for
> the organisation, with respect to things like class of airline travel,
> class of hotel accommodation etc.
>
> (2) For major PDPs that are of strategic significance to the
> organisation
> - e.g new gTLDs, IDNs, and WHOIS
> - that allowance be made for up to three face-to-face meetings a year
> separate from the normal ICANN meetings
> - that funding be provided for:
> -- the chair of the committee/task force
> -- one representative from each constituency (not including the chair)
> -- one of the three appointees from the Nominating committee (not
> including the chair)
> -- each representative would need to apply to the Council for funding,
> and provide information on the outreach conducted by that
> representative, as well as a written summary of material that will be
> used as part of the physical meeting.  This application would be public.
> If an application was inadequate the Council could decide to deny
> funding.
> - the location of the face-to-face meetings have a studio-quality
> audio-visual environment that allows for effective remote participation
>
> The intent is that meetings may be rotated around the major regions of
> the world, and that representatives that are located close to the
> location for the meeting would receive no funding for that meeting.
> Each rep would also typically have the opportunity to be funded once per
> year, assuming that the role is rotated.
>
> Please let me know any feedback, before I submit to Kurt Pritz.
>
> Regards,
> Bruce Tonkin
>
>
>