[council] More on your travel comments/questions

[Doug Brent <doug.brent@xxxxxxxxx>]

GNSO Council,

Two more questions (some echoed by multiple people) have come up on the
travel support thread that I'd like to address:

1) Couldn't we just amend the approach and provide financial support for all
counselors to travel to the Mexico City meeting, both providing more actual
support, and avoiding some of the implementation issues with the current
process?

It is certainly true that the amount of money budgeted for travel support
when compared to the ICANN budget is not large, and even if an amended
approach would be applied to ccNSO and ASO (all subjects of this travel
support procedure), the total budget impact would not be significant.

However, it is important to recognize that the initial travel support
recommendation came from balancing input of many, some saying all should be
supported, and some saying no incremental travel support should be provided,
and others commenting that additional stakeholders should be supported (e.g.
the GAC). As with all budget expenditures, it is not only the amount but the
prior agreement to spend the money that is important. Clearly, this will be
reviewed along with the entire travel approach for next year, beginning with
a workshop in Mexico City.

2) Why require an ICANN travel agent?

There are several reasons for this:
- Ensures that there is a consistent application of travel guidelines across
all participants (equitable treatment); avoids staff oversight of the
appropriateness of particular fares people might obtain (something no one
wants).
- Requires no cash outlay or expense tracking by those who are traveling
- Increases ICANN's buying power (we recently got some discounts from United
for example), inuring back to community benefit.
- Provides for consolidated reporting of travel booked and actually taken

There have been cases where ICANN booking was just not practical (for
example, with tickets purchased in Cambodia). So, when impractical, staff
has supported the use of outside agents.

I track the GNSO email list, and know some of you personally. It is very
clear that the GNSO councilors work very hard, and make a significant
contribution to the ICANN community and the Internet community as a whole.
In some sense, it would be easiest from a staff perspective to "just say
yes" to comments made on the list (though there is the possibility of
generating further debate from others currently quiet on the subject).
Particularly with regards to these kind of issues, I think that you all
expect and demand ICANN staff to ensure as much as possible that budgets
(and the strategic decisions behind them) are followed, and that
expenditures are being carefully managed and being made transparent.

Again, email only goes so far in these kind of discussions, and I'd be happy
to join a call with the travel committee or the entire council if that would
help. Also, we will be scheduling a public session at the ICANN Mexico City
meeting to receive input on and discuss the travel guidelines and their
implementation, and get your thoughts about any changes that might be needed
for the next fiscal year.

Should you have questions about the implementation of the travel guidelines
for Mexico City, please contact Kevin Wilson, who as I've noted earlier,
will be involved in getting this feedback, and with your input, evolving the
procedure for FY10.


Best,
Doug



--
Doug Brent
Chief Operating Officer
ICANN
Voice: +1 310.301.3871
Mobile: +1 650.996.4447
Fax: +1 310.823.8649