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<p>Ayden,</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments. You have hit both points, (a) we have
to conduct a critical due diligence on the overall pattern of
ICANN spending, looking at effectiveness and efficiency, and (b)
we have to look at the (admittedly tiny) slice of the ICANN budget
going to NCSG similarly in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.
We should have no problems with efficiency since the NCSG crowd
engages with near zero perks above basic expenses. We should do
more in documenting effectiveness. That needs to go beyond how
many people showed up for something, but what were the subsequent
outcomes and follow up. Even little things like an NCSG
Nano-Mentoring Initiative, where at a CROPP event one or two
attendees are identified for some one-on-one informal mentoring
around ICANN engagement, and followed up with for 3-4 months in
ways that may draw them, or others, into engagement with policy
processes. That would up the outcomes from CROPP.</p>
<p>Sam <br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/16/2018 4:05 AM, Ayden Férdeline
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:Sq6J1V-SnEyrzsc6LkcP00emL3GPGewvYxztI2mRBhFo1ox1vZRVS5fXhZbtbAtTHYvYkFsGuP5uHEo64Dk-3e-htlmZqpfW6UNwjm0C8Lc=@ferdeline.com">
<div>Thanks, Sam, I found this very useful.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I don't believe that community travel is a large expense for
ICANN; relative to staff travel, it is nothing. ICANN flew 220+
staff to Abu Dhabi, and gave the NCSG and NCUC three travel
slots each. Yes, others have alternative funding, be that
through the Council, Review Teams, Onboarding, or Fellowships,
but this support is not extensive. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The real cost base at ICANN is not us - it's personnel costs,
consultants, external counsel, and other "professional
services", leasing office space, and staff travel to an array of
irrelevant events. So when we fight for our five CROP slots to
be retained, I hope we can make it clear that we understand the
need for fiscal prudence and believe ICANN should only be
funding activities related to its core mission. CROP is; those
expensive Boston Consulting Group papers (which a former Board
member described on Facebook as being "recycled" over and over
again, so why does ICANN keep buying them?) and other spend are
not...<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>That said, I think you're right that cuts are going to
continue coming our way, so the time is now for us to start
'boosting our defences' and get out there fundraising, boosting
our own Reserve Fund, and perhaps becoming enough of a legal
entity to be able to do all that...<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Also - your note about the org's dissatisfaction with the PDP
model reminds me that we (NCSG) haven't sent any feedback in on
the staff whitepaper on this topic (the one drafted by Emily and
Marika that could spell an end to bottom-up, end-user
participation at ICANN). We should probably add that to the long
list of statements we need to draft urgently...</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div class="protonmail_signature_block">
<div class="protonmail_signature_block-user">
<div>Ayden <br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="protonmail_signature_block-proton
protonmail_signature_block-empty"><br>
</div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-------- Original Message --------<br>
</div>
<div> On 16 February 2018 1:37 AM, Sam Lanfranco
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:lanfran@yorku.ca"><lanfran@yorku.ca></a> wrote:<br>
</div>
<div> <br>
</div>
<blockquote class="protonmail_quote" type="cite">
<p>Ayden, et. al.,<br>
</p>
<p>The gist of my comments on Skype (reproduced below) are that
ICANN is probably at an inflection point on its revenue growth
curve, and the budgets will get tighter going forward. There
are diminishing returns from new gTLDs, when they come, there
are social media options to registering domain names, both for
persons and entities, and there are likely to be new
technologies for Registrars to do their work. The prospects
for a Distributed Ledger Technology (think blockchain 3.0 or
Tangle 4.0 - i.e., down the road) will likely reduce the
earned fees from existing domain name registrations. READ:
ICANN's budget will shrink, hence my analogy of ICANN going
from a Plum to a Prune. <br>
</p>
<p>This means that NCSG (& NCUC/NPOC) have to seriously look
inward and assess the relative efficiency and effectiveness of
the ICANN expenditures they account for. Xavier and crew have
gone a considerable distance in giving us the granularity of
budget expenses we asked for, to aid us in decision making.
While we can mount arguments for why CROPP needs to be
retained, we are implicitly (with silence) saying that
everything else needs to be retained (mainly with regard to
travel and accommodations - the big budget items). <br>
</p>
<p>It is my assessment that a "no shrinkage" strategy with
regard to the NCSG entitlement is a "no go", and that budget
cuts will come with or without consultation. This may take a
couple of years to roll out, but the NCSG & Co future will
be will less ICANN funding. We can either think through how we
adjust to that, we can start to look for other funding, or we
can do both. What we cannot do, for much longer, is just
insist on the status quo based simply on the notion that we we
do is a good idea and in the Public Interest.<br>
</p>
<p>At the same time, we are hearing more and more about how
ICANN the org, and ICANN the board are not happy with the
dynamics and the progress of the ICANN pdp-wg model. We should
anticipate, and help shape, changes there. Those of you
meeting in Puerto Rico should be spending considerable time on
how NCSG deals with these issues (or show that I have it
wrong) and spend less time in a dance that makes it look like
we are trying to hold the Board and ICANN org more
accountable. <br>
</p>
<p>Sam L<br>
</p>
<p><span class="size" style="font-size:undefinedpx"><span
class="colour" style="color:#330099"><i>[<b>Skype posting</b>]
By the last time I was able to attend an ICANN meeting
(ICANN58: Copenhagen) Xavier had discussed greater
budget granularity with NCSG and pledged to improve
access and transparency. We may quibble on how much we
now have, and how far ICANN has gone in improved
granularity, but it is important to recognize that
Xavier has gone a great distance in honoring that
pledge. </i><i><br>
</i><i><br>
</i><i>That budget lines are under threat should come as
no surprise as ICANN faces tighter revenues, and as
ICANN goes forward both with a bit of belt tightening,
and (not surprisingly) some reflection and reviews
around how it carries out its work. </i><i><br>
</i><i><br>
</i><i>I, as an outsider with no inside information,
suspect that ICANN will have to undergo a bit of
organizational restructuring in the service of its remit
and do so within tightening budget constraints. While
NCSG, and NCUC & NPOC, concern themselves with the
short run future of CROPP, we should be thinking about
structural changes that may even impact on our
respective charters. At least that is my read from the
outer seats in the stadium. </i></span></span></p>
<div><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/15/2018 7:03 PM, Ayden
Férdeline wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>This is an excellent suggestion, Stephanie. I would like
to hear what suggestions the Board has here for us, too.
This is something we really need to tackle. And it's
something I hope we might be able to table for discussion in
San Juan as well. We need to talk about the expected
standard of behaviour for our officers and members, along
with the trajectory ICANN is moving in and what that could
mean for us... We predicted ICANN was broke last year,
insinuated as much in our Reserve Fund comment, and called
for cuts to spending, but we haven't insulated ourselves
sufficiently from these cuts... We are very, very vulnerable
at the moment and if we are not prudent with our allocation
of resources I worry we [non-commercial voices] could pay a
heavy price.<b><i> I think Sam made a very insightful
comment on this topic yesterday on Skype; I'm cc'ing him
into this discussion in case he'd like to paste his
message here for other list subscribers to see, and/or
expand upon his prediction.</i></b>.. I'd certainly like
to hear more about the 'red flags' we should be looking out
for over the coming 12 months...<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Ayden <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<pre cols="72" class="moz-signature">--
------------------------------------------------
"It is a disgrace to be rich and honoured
in an unjust state" -Confucius
邦有道，贫且贱焉，耻也。邦无道，富且贵焉，耻也
------------------------------------------------
Visiting Prof, Xi'an Jaiotong-Liverpool Univ, Suzhou, China
Dr Sam Lanfranco (Prof Emeritus & Senior Scholar)
Econ, York U., Toronto, Ontario, CANADA - M3J 1P3
email: <a href="mailto:Lanfran@Yorku.ca" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" moz-do-not-send="true">Lanfran@Yorku.ca</a> Skype: slanfranco
blog: <a href="https://samlanfranco.blogspot.com" class="moz-txt-link-freetext" moz-do-not-send="true">https://samlanfranco.blogspot.com</a>
Phone: +1 613-476-0429 cell: +1 416-816-2852
</pre>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
------------------------------------------------
"It is a disgrace to be rich and honoured
in an unjust state" -Confucius
邦有道，贫且贱焉，耻也。邦无道，富且贵焉，耻也
------------------------------------------------
Visiting Prof, Xi'an Jaiotong-Liverpool Univ, Suzhou, China
Dr Sam Lanfranco (Prof Emeritus & Senior Scholar)
Econ, York U., Toronto, Ontario, CANADA - M3J 1P3
email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Lanfran@Yorku.ca">Lanfran@Yorku.ca</a> Skype: slanfranco
blog: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://samlanfranco.blogspot.com">https://samlanfranco.blogspot.com</a>
Phone: +1 613-476-0429 cell: +1 416-816-2852</pre>
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