Draft Proposal for Phased Return to Face-to-Face Meetings

[Sam Lanfranco]

Colleagues, 
	In the context of returning to face-to-face ICANN meetings Stephanie has
suggested that meetings at a distance, with regional hubs, may not be
optimal. I would like to raise an argument in favor of regional hubs,
especially regional hubs that exist both before and after ICANN scheduled
meetings.  

	I will not expand on the argument in this short comment but here is the
gist of my support for regional hubs.  

	The context in which there are DNS issues and ICANN engagement issues
varies from region to region and it would be beneficial for regional
assemblies that could discuss DNS issues and strategies for greater,
broader, and better context-sensitive local non-profit and civil society
engagement in ICANN issues. It would also provide a venue for dialogue on
related regional Internet ecosystem issues. Such dialogue would also give a
deeper base to the positions taken by those who do attend the face-to-face
meetings, bringing in what would almost amount to a federated
responsibility and accountability, based on the positions taken by regional
hubs.  

	Since fully representative attendance at ICANN literal meetings is not
likely in the near future, if ever at all, support for regional hubs may be
a win for ICANN engagement and a win for engagement around regional issues.

	 Think about it. 

	Sam Lanfranco, NPOC/NCSG 
---- Original Message ----
From: Stephanie E Perrin 
To: NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Sent: Mon, Jun 15, 2020, 8:26 AM
Subject: Re: Draft Proposal for Phased Return to Face-to-Face Meetings
	I agree with most of your thoughts on this Raphael.  My worry is that when
we start returning to face to face meetings, our members in some countries
will have even more problems trying to get visas than they have had before.
 I also think there will be reluctance, regardless of any safety
precautions, to get on 12-18 hour flights.  So local travel might be more
attractive for a number of reasons, and if we invested the money in decent
connectivity, we could have a linked meeting.  Finally, I wonder what ICANN
is willing to spend on travel....flights are going to be more expensive,
and many airlines are going to be out of business, so ICANN travel may have
severe restrictions.  Regional hubs are not optimal, but we are not living
in optimal times for face to face conferences. 

	Kind regards 

	Stephanie Perrin

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