RE: [gnso-ppsc-pdp] Note from Council List of F2F Meeting

["Neuman, Jeff" <Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Avri.  Here is the personal response I sent one of our Council reps:

"My personal view for what it is worth is that it should be subject to a vote 
of the Council if they want to take it up. As the managers of the process this 
is properly within their scope and I will certainly defer to the wishes of the 
Council on this subject."

However, if the PDP WT has a different view than mine, please let me know and I 
will communicate that to the Council.

Thanks.

Jeffrey J. Neuman 
Neustar, Inc. / Vice President, Law & Policy


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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gnso-ppsc-pdp@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-ppsc-pdp@xxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Avri Doria
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 9:44 AM
To: Gnso-ppsc-pdp@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [gnso-ppsc-pdp] Note from Council List of F2F Meeting


Hi,

After spending over a quarter of a century in the IETF where all the hard 
lifting is done on email lists, and having spent 5 years in ICANN where we seem 
to do very little on email lists, I can't help but wonder why.  Some people 
people say it is because tech is so much more straightforward then policy - but 
i expect these people have never been in argument about the proper use of the 
last few bits in a protocol field or the length of an address field.  So I do 
not understand why we cannot use the Internet more to get our work done.  I do 
not know of how many meetings I have been at where on one or two of us have 
bothered to send in comments before the meeting on the text under discussion.

I am of two minds about travel for face to face meetings.  I tend to be against 
it thinking we should use all of the marvels of the Internet from email to 
waves to Web 2.0 tools to get our work done in our spare time in our regular 
places of residence.  I know many people don't like learning new tools, but I 
do believe it takes less time to learn a new tool then it takes to fly around 
the world and back.

On the other hand I know that many people still think face to face is the right 
way, sometime the only way, to come to consensus on tough issues.   And who am 
I to argue with their certainties. In those rare occasions where it is really 
needed, i think it is essential to make sure that all who need to travel, can.  
If face to face is the only way to resolve the tough issues, then all the 
relevant participants need to be there.

So I guess my advice is be parsimonious in deciding to have face to face 
meetings, but if you have to, be generous in getting people there.

a.


On 25 Nov 2009, at 08:37, Neuman, Jeff wrote:

> All,
> 
> FYI.  The following was posted on the Council list and I thought I should 
> forward this around:
>  
> http://www.gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/council/msg07934.html
>  
> [council] Discussion around face 2 face meetings
>       * To: GNSO Council <council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>       * Subject: [council] Discussion around face 2 face meetings
>       * From: Stéphane Van Gelder <stephane.vangelder@xxxxxxxxx>
>       * Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:14:38 +0100
>       * List-id: council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>       * Sender: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Dear all,
>  
> There currently seems to be a trend towards more and more requests being made
> for ICANN resources to fund F2F meetings. This trend now seems to be spilling
> over into work teams that would previously have probably not made them but
> simply endeavored to complete their work through teleconference calls and 
> email
> correspondence.
>  
> On a personal basis, I find this trend worrying as it places an undue 
> financial
> burden on ICANN and is not, in my view, viable in the long term unless we
> accept that a) ICANN's budget needs to grow exponentially and without limits
> and b) that participation in work teams means making oneself available to
> travel (with the inherent tendency that follows for only those people whom
> either have lots of time to devote to the ICANN process will tend to
> participate).
>  
> However, I have not before approached this topic with the Council as I did not
> have concrete examples to provide. But a recent example has come to light, and
> I have been asked by the RrSG to forward the following message to the Council.
> This message comes from a member of PPSC WT who has asked that it be very
> clearly stated that this comment is not in any way meant as a criticism of 
> Jeff
> Neuman, the chair of the group, whom has done an excellent job despite some
> difficult working conditions.
>  
> Message reads:
>  
> The PPSC PDP Work Team has proposed an ICANN-funded face-to-face meeting in
> Washington DC next year.  The RrSG objects to this proposal on the following
> grounds:
>  
> We are concerned about the potential for precedent this move would set for
> future PDPs struggling to meet the challenges of participation and schedule
> pressure.
>       
> We are concerned about an expansion of ICANN-funded travel, and the impact 
> this
> will have on budgets & fees.  As such, we request that this (and any future) 
> proposed meetings that call for ICANN funding be subject to a full vote of the
> Council, and are not decided unilaterally at the working-group level.
>       
> It is difficult to commit support, in advance, for any meeting that does not
> have a detailed & defined agenda.
>  
> And finally, we believe that an emphasis on face-to-face meetings (as opposed
> to remote teleconferences / webcasts) is a retreat from ICANN's mission of
> global participation and inclusion of interests outside the US.
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Stéphane
>  
>  
> Jeffrey J. Neuman 
> Neustar, Inc. / Vice President, Law & Policy
> 46000 Center Oak Plaza Sterling, VA 20166
> Office: +1.571.434.5772  Mobile: +1.202.549.5079  Fax: +1.703.738.7965 / 
> jeff.neuman@xxxxxxxxxxx  / www.neustar.biz     
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