[gnso-ppsc-wg] Your feedback requested: section 4.1 General Meeting logistics

[Marika Konings <marika.konings@xxxxxxxxx>]

4.1 Session Planning – General Meeting Logistics

The Chair will normally work with ICANN Staff and/or the GNSO Secretariat to 
coordinate the logistics for the WG meetings. Online tools are available that 
may be used to find a day and time that is convenient for most WG participants. 
It should be noted, however, that scheduling tools should follow the preference 
of the majority and accommodate those that are in different time zones. 
Alternating meeting times should be considered as an option if the same members 
of the WG are always ‘inconvenienced’ by a standing meeting time. WGs should 
decide how often they would like to meet (e.g. weekly, every two weeks) and for 
how long (e.g. 1 hour, 1.5 hours).

The GNSO Secretariat is responsible for communicating the timing and dial-in 
details for meetings that take place by conference call. Universal Standard 
Time (UTC) is used as a standard reference (local times can be found using 
www.timeanddate.com <http://www.timeanddate.com> ). For most countries, toll 
free dial-in numbers will be provided. The GNSO Secretariat will also be able 
to assist with providing dial-out support if required by a WG member(s). As 
described above, meetings are normally recorded and transcribed. To facilitate 
remote participation and sharing of documents, WGs may make use of various 
online connect services.

WGs may opt to organize face-to-face meetings during ICANN meetings to take 
advantage of those members attending and to open its session to the broader 
ICANN community. It should be noted that not all WG members may attend an ICANN 
meeting, a factor that should be weighed in deciding whether to arrange a 
face-to-face session. Remote participation facilities might be available for 
those not attending an ICANN meeting in person.

Apart from face-to-face sessions during ICANN meetings, WGs might decide that 
it is vital for its deliberations and/or reaching consensus to meet in person 
for a certain amount of time (e.g. day, two days). If funding is required to 
organize such a meeting (e.g. travel expenses), a request should be made to the 
Chartering Organization for approval.

A WG may request additional tools or applications if considered necessary to 
achieve the objectives set out in its Charter.

The Chair, with support of ICANN Staff, if required, is expected to circulate 
the agenda to the WG ideally at least 24 hours in advance. At the start of a 
meeting, the Chair should review the agenda and WG members may propose items to 
be added or changed.

Following the meeting, an MP3 recording and/or transcript will be made 
available for those who were not able to attend and/or other interested 
parties. In addition, a WG may consider using action items and/or notes from 
the meeting to record the main decisions or follow-up items from a meeting. The 
action items or meeting notes should be circulated in a timely manner in order 
to allow for sufficient preparation or response ahead of the next meeting.

________________________________
Comments:

INTA: The Committee applauds the considerable thought ICANN has put into 
developing logistics to run the WG meetings. The Committee is pleased to offer 
the following comments to assist ICANN:
· For WG conference calls, ICANN proposed providing toll-free dial-in numbers 
for most countries. The Committee recommends that such toll-free dial-in 
numbers should be provided for all WG participants, unless doing so would be 
extraordinarily unfeasible, so that no WG member is barred from participating 
in WG conference calls due to cost (See Section 4.1, paragraph 2).
· it is only natural that a WG, given ICANN’s Internet origins, use online 
services to share documents and other communications relating to its 
activities. Due to the sensitive nature of some of the WG activities, such 
services must be secure to protect the confidentiality of any sensitive 
information (See Section 4.1, paragraph 2).
· the Committee applauds advance circulation of WG meeting agendas, but 
circulating the agendas 24 hours before meetings provides insufficient lead 
time for WG members to review the agendas in light of the other professional 
and personal obligations of WG members. Also, in order to be better able to 
accommodate changes to the agenda, the Committee recommends allowing WG members 
to propose additions or changes to the agenda before, as well as at the start 
of, each WG meeting. Allowing additions and changes to the agenda before each 
meeting may increase the likelihood that those items can be discussed at the 
meeting and that such discussions can be meaningful, since advance notice of 
agenda changes may lead to more informed discussions (See Section 4.1, 
paragraph 6).
· For WG conference calls, ICANN proposed providing toll-free dial-in numbers 
for most countries. The Committee recommends that such toll-free dial-in 
numbers should be provided for all WG participants, unless doing so would be 
extraordinarily unfeasible, so that no WG member is barred from participating 
in WG conference calls due to cost (See Section 4.1, paragraph 2).
· it is only natural that a WG, given ICANN’s Internet origins, use online 
services to share documents and other communications relating to its 
activities. Due to the sensitive nature of some of the WG activities, such 
services must be secure to protect the confidentiality of any sensitive 
information (See Section 4.1, paragraph 2).
· the Committee applauds advance circulation of WG meeting agendas, but 
circulating the agendas 24 hours before meetings provides insufficient lead 
time for WG members to review the agendas in light of the other professional 
and personal obligations of WG members. Also, in order to be better able to 
accommodate changes to the agenda, the Committee recommends allowing WG members 
to propose additions or changes to the agenda before, as well as at the start 
of, each WG meeting. Allowing additions and changes to the agenda before each 
meeting may increase the likelihood that those items can be discussed at the 
meeting and that such discussions can be meaningful, since advance notice of 
agenda changes may lead to more informed discussions (See Section 4.1, 
paragraph 6).

CG: The last sentence [of the 3rd paragraph] says, “Remote participation 
facilities might be available for those not attending an ICANN meeting in 
person.” Suggested change: “Best efforts should be made to provide remote 
participation facilities for those not attending an ICANN meeting in person.”

GD: Section 4.1 mentions the process by which a working group can request a 
face-to-face meeting, supported by ICANN Staff and (potentially) including 
ICANN funding for travel expenses.  As we have experienced recently in other 
groups, this type of request should not be undertaken casually.  The call for a 
face-to-face meeting must coincide with an urgent deliverable (report, 
recommendation, etc.) on the part of the working group, the delay of which 
would cause disruptions to ongoing work in other areas.  Even in situations 
where this is true, there are numerous issues regarding geographic balance and 
stakeholder representation on the face-to-face group, equitable financial 
support for travel (given differences in travel distance and incurred 
expenses), and the disruption to other groups by having Staff present at the 
face-to-face meeting.  We ask that the PPSC WG-WT consider the experiences of 
other working groups who have either (a) requested or (b) successfully held 
face-to-face meetings, and modify their recommendations accordingly.