Nom Com Review, Recommendations 10 & 13

[Patrick Jones <patrick.jones@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Working Group,

As requested in the Draft Report of the Nom Com Review Finalization Working 
Group, I am providing comments on Recommendations 10 and 13, related to the 
reduction in Nom Com composition and on Nom Com leadership roles. In the 
interests of transparency, I served as staff support to the 2007 & 2008 ICANN 
Nominating Committee, and as an adviser to the Chair and staff support for the 
2009 Nominating Committee (as part of supporting the transition of ICANN staff 
support from the 2008 to 2009 cycles). I provided input to the Nom Com Review 
consultants in 2007. I have no on-going role in supporting the 2010 Nominating 
Committee.

On Recommendation 10, the Working Group has provided a strawman proposal for 
the future composition of the Nom Com. I am hopeful that the Working Group will 
receive a variety of suggestions for addressing Recommendation 10. My 
contribution to the discussion is as follows:

Because the Board has preserved the role of constituencies in the GNSO as a 
part of stakeholder groups, and constituencies are currently hard-wired into 
the formation of the Nom Com, there will soon be a situation where additional 
constituencies will not have an automatic seat at the table in the Nom Com. 
With the addition of new constituencies in the reformed GNSO Council, careful 
attention should be made on the impact of new constituencies to other ICANN 
structures such as the Nom Com.

The current structure of 22-23 representatives on the Nom Com requires strong 
leadership from the Nom Com Chair, extensive contribution from Nom Com 
representatives, and support from ICANN staff. Although the Nom Com operates 
independently, this structure has costs that are not insignificant. Funding is 
provided to support face-to-face Nom Com meetings (travel & hotel costs for the 
Nom Com kick-off meeting and Nom Com selection meeting), with additional travel 
and hotel support for the Nom Com Chair and other Nom Com representatives to 
attend outreach events and conduct the Nom Com Workshop at an ICANN meeting 
between the kickoff and selection meeting.

A reduction in size may make the Nom Com's tasks more manageable, and reduce 
the cost footprint of the Committee. Cost is not the only factor, a reduction 
in size may also make the Committee more flexible in operation. Care must be 
taken to preserve a balance of representation in future Committees. A possible 
structure for a 9 person voting Committee is below:

Leadership Group:

 *   1 Chair (Board appointee, non-voting)
 *   1 Incoming Chair (Board appointee as adviser to current Chair, non voting)
 *   1 Associate Chair (appointed by Chair, non-voting)

1 non-voting liaison seat rotating between SSAC and RSSAC
5 from the GNSO:

 *   1 rep from each Stakeholder Group (Commercial, Non-Commercial, Registries, 
Registrars), a total of 4 representatives
 *   1 additional rep selected jointly by the Commercial and Non-Commercial 
stakeholder groups

1 rep from ccNSO
1 rep from ASO
1 rep from ALAC (this could be expanded to 3 in an 11-person voting Nom Com)
1 seat rotating among IETF & Technical Liaison Group

On Recommendation 13, option 3, the Working Group should consider carefully the 
suggestion that the Chair serve on three consecutive Committees as 
Chair-in-training, Chair, and outgoing adviser to the present Chair. The role 
of Chair on the Nom Com requires extraordinary leadership and negotiation 
skills. The longevity of service in a leadership role on the Nom Com may 
present unintended consequences. It may be better to have the incoming Chair 
support the current Chair in an advisory role, and to maintain some continuity 
in experience and institutional memory. When the incoming Chair takes on the 
Chair role, that person can pass along lessons learned to the next incoming 
Chair.

I will be in Seoul and am available if you need clarification on these 
suggestions.

Best regards,

Patrick

--
Patrick L. Jones
Former Nom Com staff support 2007-2009
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Tel: +1 310 301 3861
patrick.jones@xxxxxxxxx