[council] Trans -SO/AC meeting in Cairo

[Avri Doria <avri@xxxxxxx>]

Hi,

One of the topics on yesterday's agenda was a proposal for a joint SO/ 
AC meeting on various topics in Cairo.  Chris Disspain shared the  
message he was going to send to the ccNSO and I have decided that he  
says it all and have borrowed it (with permission):
Begin forwarded message:

> “At the suggestion of Bertrand de La Chapelle, the Chairs of the  
> ALAC, gNSO and ccNSO together with GAC representatives Bertrand and  
> Manal Ismail and Bruce Tonkin on behalf of the Board, had a  
> teleconference earlier this week.
> The purpose was to explore how the ICANN Cairo meeting schedule  
> could expand on the progress already made in Paris in terms of  
> bringing the different SOs and ACs together on the major issues. The  
> goal would be to develop trans-SO/AC communications and also  
> facilitate general awareness within the community about the status  
> of different issues and increase the visibility of them. Trans-SO/AC  
> communications would not necessarily mean stopping the bilateral  
> sessions, but may have the effect of making them shorter, more  
> focused and less repetitive.
> As a result of the call it is suggested that on the Monday in Cairo  
> the ccNSO, gNSO, ALAC and GAC organise a half day joint session  
> (open to members as well as councillors) to a) discuss progress,  
> issues and future steps regarding new gTLDs (including IDNs) and IDN  
> ccTLDs and b) to be briefed on the President’s Strategy Committee  
> consultations on improving institutional confidence. It is also  
> suggested that a further session on the Thursday might be  
> appropriate to follow up and report on the individual SO/AC  
> discussions on the topics following the Monday session.
> Obviously, the logistics of all of this have yet to be organised but  
> ICANN has agreed the principle and we need to confirm, by 12  
> September, that we want to do this so that the initial agenda can be  
> published. I’d appreciate comment, questions and input from  
> councillors on the suggestion as soon as possible.”
Please use the list to indicate your opinions on this and whether this  
is something the council should support.
thanks
a.