[gnso-travel-dt] Re: notes form meeting with Doug Brent

["Olga Cavalli" <olgac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,
Please remember to send text related whith principles for the travel policy
document that we should draft.
Until this moment I recieved text from Greg and from Tim.
I am also resending the notes of our meeting with Doug Brent and Lizz Gaster
during the Cairo meeting, im including at the end the comments and text sent
by Tim last week so you can see them together.
Please consider that DB said it could be very useful for him and other staff
members to have a set of principles in order to help them with the
definition of the travel support policy
 I will summarize any recieved comments for our next call on Thursday.
best regards
Olga


2008/11/5 Olga Cavalli <olgac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

> Hi,
> In this message I am including notes from the meeting we held yesterday and
> some general comments fom us.
>
> The proposed next steps could be:
>
> - Prepare our document with principles, as established before in our calls,
> then we can provide this imput to ICANN staff.
>
> - FInd a date and time for our next conference call.
>
> Any suggestions for week of next call? Then Glen can help us with a doodle
> to find day and time.
>
> Please remember to send text in order to feed our "principles draft
> document". Greg already did.
>
> Regards to all
> Olga
>
>
>
>
>
> *Meeting with Doug Brent and Liz Gaster
> Tuesday Nov 3rd, 208
> Cairo*
>
> Council members present in the meeting: Robin, Zahid, Olga
>
>
> *Notes taken during the meeting:*
>
> Stakeholder groups will allocate council seats in GNSO after restructuring.
>
> GNSO must define how to allocate travel funds from today until June.
>
> Funds may go to other participants not only councelors.
>
> This assignment will be defined by GNSO.
>
> Flexibility and partial founding for using funds could be possible, Doug
> will try to find a way to solve this demand.
>
> The problem with partial funding is that in ICANN there is fiduciary
> control that makes it difficult.
>
> DB will contact ICANN CFO to find an intermediate solution for the partial
> funding and flexibility issue.
>
> DB said it could be very useful for him and other staff members that GNSO
> may set up a group that provides input about this travel issues, in both
> phases (until June and after).
>
> DB expressed that this group should also define a set of principles in
> order to help them with the definition of the travel support policy.
>
> DB would like to have in 3 or 4 week GNSO input about the use of travel
> funds.
>
> *General Comments from us*
>
> Funds should be divided equally between existing constituencies (after
> subtracting NCA travel) between now and June 09.
>
> We could propose that founds should be divided between constituencies or
> stakeholder groups as may become clearer closer to June 09 once the
> restructuring of the houses is firmed up and allow discussions in Mexico
> feed into the policy.
>
> We should continue to work towards a longer-term policy.
>
> We stress to staff that we REALLY need to find a way for flexibility and
> that legal fiduciary duties really do not require the DEGREE of rigidity
> that we have seen in the past.  There can be some middle ground and we hope
> to find it.
>

Comments and text sent by  Tim:



All, I am not able to join the meeting this morning. But given the
answers so far from Doug and Denise I suggest that Greg's principles
just be re-written to something like what I copied below. That will
leave open the question of how the constituencies assign the funds, and
does not make it rigid.

So initially, the GNSO will have to do an allocation based on estimated
per person travel (all inclusive) and the constituencies will basically
select individuals to receive it and report that back to the GNSO who
will inform ICANN. Those instructions can be supplemental to the
principles. Later, if it becomes more flexible, the constituencies may
decide to divide it up so that one person gets airfare, another gets
lodging, etc., and the supplemental instructions can be revised to
reflect that flexibility.

Also, I think the principles should refer to consitituencies for now,
and revisit the principles once we get closer to the stakeholder group
structure. We may decide that the only change needs to be to change
constituency to stakeholder group.

PRINCIPLES FOR ALLOCATION OF TRAVEL SUPPORT FUNDS FOR ICANN MEETING

Allocation and Control:

The total GNSO Travel support budget (less the amount allotted to the
NCAs and GNSO Council chair) should be divided to the extent possible on
an equal basis among the GNSO constituencies.

The use of travel support funds is for travel to ICANN meetings,
including regional, inter-sessional, and face-to-face working group
meetings.

The use of travel support funds is to be solely determined by each
constituency independently as it sees fit to most effectively progress
the work of the GNSO.

The GNSO Council has no role in deciding how these funds are allocated
to individuals.

Transparency and Reporting:

The names of all who receive travel support must be made known publicly.
 What is covered for each (e.g. air fare, accommodations, per diem - not
the dollar amounts) must also be made public.

Everyone who is supported must make known (e.g. in a report) publicly
the dates of travel, accommodations (which hotel) and meetings attended
and/or work accomplished.  Note:  This should take less than a page to
describe.


Tim