[NCSG-PC] YOUR FEEDBACK REQUESTED: Planning for 2018 NCPH Intersessional & GNSO Council strategic planning sessions

Tapani Tarvainen ncsg at tapani.tarvainen.info
Sun Jul 30 18:58:36 EEST 2017


Dear all,

I tend to agree with Bill and Avri. As an observation, as far as I can
remember almost(?) all participants in all intersessionals have been
at least fairly satisfied with them and found them useful. Perhaps§ the
positive outcomes have not been communicated well to others, or
perhaps at least to some extent tey are such that cannot be well
communicated, as in forming personal contacts and improving
understanding of the other side.

So I think intersessionals are useful enough to continue, and while I
appreciate the concerns of overloading people, Bill's suggestion of
spreading the load is good: the more people we get involved, the
better.

And with that in mind, Ayden's argument against combining intersessional
with other meetings makes a lot of sense. I don't have a strong opinion
on that, though - sometimes it might work very well, sometimes less so.

I share the concerns about time and effort needed to prepare, however,
and perhaps making them biannual or alternating them with something
different (like a similar meeting with RrSG/RySG every other year)
might be worth considering.

As for location, visa-unfriendliness is a big concern. In particular
USA has been problematic, every time I've been involved at least one
of our would-be travellers has been unable to make it because of visa
issues (unless I've forgotten something, in Reykjavik the only one who
could not make it because of visa issues was Farzaneh, and that was
due to US regulations, not Iceland's). And we knew in advance some
people would not have been able to go to Istanbul either. Of course no
location is perfect, I don't see any place that could guarantee
everybody will get in, but visa-friendliness should definitely
weigh heavily on location choice.

On the other hand ICANN hubs are convenient and economical and
generally offer better access to staff as well.

On the third hand, varying location is at least potentially better
for outreach purposes. I would not put much weight on that though,
it's not the main reason of intersessionals, but a small consideration
nonetheless.

And of course post-meeting tourism potential should be irrelevant in
location selection - though I do encourage people to do post-meeting
tourism whenever possible, after all it's just about only genuinely
free perk in these trips (free in the sense of costing ICANN nothing).

Finally, considering 2018 in particular, even though I personally
don't plan to be there, I think combining it with the Council
Strategic Session makes a lot of sense.

Tapani


On Sun, Jul 30, 2017 at 10:01:07AM +0900, William Drake (wjdrake at gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> (also observer)
> 
> +1 I thought the two meetings I participated in when chair were useful in terms of relational bridge building, clearly identifying areas of agreement/disagreement/possible joint actions between NCSG/CSG, and thinking about the NCPH trajectory in general in light of the evolution due to the new gTLDs.  At one of them, we also managed to do a very good outreach session which ultimately helped encourage important CSOs to join.  If the argument is that some folks e.g. Councilors feel too tapped out to attend, then send other members who are available and interested, as long as there’s preparation and a clear mandate and any actual decisions come back to the general membership and ‘leadership’ bodies for vetting before action I don’t see the problem.  Could help with onboarding into WG work etc. too. Proximity to an office for logistics, not wandering the earth in search of post-meeting tourism.
> 
> Bill
> 
> > On Jul 30, 2017, at 02:01, avri doria <avri at apc.org> wrote:
> > 
> > (observer)
> > 
> > I think that the annual conversation between CSG et al and NCSG et al,
> > is a good thing and an important thing. I think it also should be
> > coordinated with staff contacts so that both CSG and NCSG can hear the
> > same things.
> > 
> > I think the GNSO council et al spending some time in retreat is also
> > important for building a council that can sustain working together. It
> > can't happen at the full meetings, so makes sense that it happen outside
> > that.  I think this should also be don with staff access.
> > 
> > I think all of these meetings are best done in proximity to an ICANN
> > office and offset from the 3 main meetings.
> > 
> > The meetings need planning and focus, but I do not believe it wise to
> > let them drop.
> > 
> > avri
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On 28-Jul-17 18:48, Stephanie Perrin wrote:
> >> 
> >> I am not enthusiastic about more meetings either.  And I am not keen
> >> on travelling to the US.....Los Angeles takes way longer than Iceland,
> >> for me, with way more hassle.  I have never been to Mexico, so I dont
> >> know how hard that is.  Am indifferent about putting the two meetings
> >> together, makes sense not to fly twice.
> >> 
> >> cheers SP
> >> 
> >> 
> >> On 2017-07-28 18:30, Rafik Dammak wrote:
> >>> Hi,
> >>> 
> >>> I am among those who are not really supporting holding another
> >>> intersessional meeting next year. We are not doing any serious review
> >>> and trying to improve it but just carrying on because we got a budget.
> >>> if the interesessional will be organized anyway, I think it would
> >>> make sense to hold it in the same week with the Council planning
> >>> meeting. that means 1 travel less for councilors at least. 
> >>> 
> >>> Best,
> >>> 
> >>> Rafik
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 2017-07-28 19:57 GMT+09:00 Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com
> >>> <mailto:icann at ferdeline.com <mailto:icann at ferdeline.com>>>:
> >>> 
> >>>    Thanks for sharing this, Stephanie, and for inviting our feedback.
> >>> 
> >>>    I think the two meetings should be held separately at different
> >>>    times of the year, as they serve different purposes and cater to
> >>>    different audiences [with some overlap].
> >>> 
> >>>    I understand that ICANN staff try only to travel during business
> >>>    hours, but some of our participants might find it easier to be
> >>>    able to travel to a meeting over a weekend and to have the
> >>>    meeting commence on a Sunday. I am not sure what others think
> >>>    about this suggestion, particularly those on the GNSO Council who
> >>>    would be impacted here, but just putting that idea out there...
> >>> 
> >>>    For the GNSO Council Strategic Planning Meeting, it makes sense
> >>>    to me to have this in Los Angeles given it is the closest ICANN
> >>>    office for the majority of the likely participants.
> >>> 
> >>>    For the Intersessional (which I think should continue, though I
> >>>    understand that is not a view held by all) I also think Los
> >>>    Angeles makes a lot of sense, though I understand the participant
> >>>    profiles vary, and it may be very difficult for many of the
> >>>    Intersessional participants to travel to the United States. Based
> >>>    on the participant profiles of everyone who attended the
> >>>    Intersessional this year, I believe Mexico City would be much
> >>>    easier for everyone to travel to [anyone with an existing US or
> >>>    Canadian visa does not need a visa to enter Mexico, and for many
> >>>    in Latin America, Mexico’s immigration policies are very fair].
> >>>    It would also be a rather economical choice.
> >>> 
> >>>    Best wishes, Ayden Férdeline 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>>>    -------- Original Message --------
> >>>>    Subject: [NCSG-PC] Fwd: YOUR FEEDBACK REQUESTED: Planning for
> >>>>    2018 NCPH Intersessional & GNSO Council strategic planning sessions
> >>>>    Local Time: July 27, 2017 9:37 PM
> >>>>    UTC Time: July 27, 2017 8:37 PM
> >>>>    From: stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca <mailto:stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca>
> >>>>    <mailto:stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca <mailto:stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca>>
> >>>>    To: ncsg-pc <ncsg-pc at lists.ncsg.is <mailto:ncsg-pc at lists.ncsg.is> <mailto:ncsg-pc at lists.ncsg.is <mailto:ncsg-pc at lists.ncsg.is>>>
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    Perhaps we ought to discuss this on the broader list as well,
> >>>>    just forwarding....
> >>>> 
> >>>>    Stephanie
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    -------- Forwarded Message --------
> >>>>    Subject:
> >>>>    	YOUR FEEDBACK REQUESTED: Planning for 2018 NCPH Intersessional
> >>>>    & GNSO Council strategic planning sessions
> >>>>    Date:
> >>>>    	Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:22:29 +0000
> >>>>    From:
> >>>>    	Mary Wong <mary.wong at icann.org <mailto:mary.wong at icann.org>> <mailto:mary.wong at icann.org <mailto:mary.wong at icann.org>>
> >>>>    To:
> >>>>    	Phil Corwin <psc at vlaw-dc.com <mailto:psc at vlaw-dc.com>> <mailto:psc at vlaw-dc.com <mailto:psc at vlaw-dc.com>>, Susan
> >>>>    Kawaguchi <susankpolicy at gmail.com <mailto:susankpolicy at gmail.com>>
> >>>>    <mailto:susankpolicy at gmail.com <mailto:susankpolicy at gmail.com>>, Heather Forrest
> >>>>    <haforrestesq at gmail.com <mailto:haforrestesq at gmail.com>> <mailto:haforrestesq at gmail.com <mailto:haforrestesq at gmail.com>>,
> >>>>    icannlists <icannlists at winston.com <mailto:icannlists at winston.com>>
> >>>>    <mailto:icannlists at winston.com <mailto:icannlists at winston.com>>, Wolf-Ulrich.Knoben
> >>>>    <wolf-ulrich.knoben at t-online.de <mailto:wolf-ulrich.knoben at t-online.de>>
> >>>>    <mailto:wolf-ulrich.knoben at t-online.de <mailto:wolf-ulrich.knoben at t-online.de>>, Anthony Harris
> >>>>    <anthonyrharris at gmail.com <mailto:anthonyrharris at gmail.com>> <mailto:anthonyrharris at gmail.com <mailto:anthonyrharris at gmail.com>>,
> >>>>    Rafik Dammak <rafik.dammak at gmail.com <mailto:rafik.dammak at gmail.com>>
> >>>>    <mailto:rafik.dammak at gmail.com <mailto:rafik.dammak at gmail.com>>, Milan, Stefania
> >>>>    <Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu <mailto:Stefania.Milan at eui.eu>> <mailto:Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu <mailto:Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu>>, Marilia
> >>>>    Maciel <mariliamaciel at gmail.com <mailto:mariliamaciel at gmail.com>>
> >>>>    <mailto:mariliamaciel at gmail.com <mailto:mariliamaciel at gmail.com>>, Stephanie Perrin
> >>>>    <stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca <mailto:stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca>>
> >>>>    <mailto:stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca <mailto:stephanie.perrin at mail.utoronto.ca>>, Martin Pablo Silva
> >>>>    Valent <mpsilvavalent at gmail.com <mailto:mpsilvavalent at gmail.com>>
> >>>>    <mailto:mpsilvavalent at gmail.com <mailto:mpsilvavalent at gmail.com>>, Johan Helsingius
> >>>>    <julf at julf.com <mailto:julf at julf.com>> <mailto:julf at julf.com <mailto:julf at julf.com>>
> >>>>    CC:
> >>>>    	Benedetta Rossi <benedetta.rossi at icann.org <mailto:benedetta.rossi at icann.org>>
> >>>>    <mailto:benedetta.rossi at icann.org <mailto:benedetta.rossi at icann.org>>
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    Dear Heather, Susan, Marilia, Stefania, Stephanie, Phil, Rafik,
> >>>>    Tony, Julf, Wolf-Ulrich, Paul and Martin,
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    I am writing to seek your input as we (ICANN staff) begin
> >>>>    working with the GNSO Council leadership and the NCPH leadership
> >>>>    to plan two face-to-face meetings that have been approved for FY
> >>>>    2018. One is a 2-3 day strategic planning session for the GNSO
> >>>>    Council (approved as a pilot project for FY2018), and the other
> >>>>    is the periodic NCPH Intersessional meeting.
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    As the application for the GNSO Council’s strategic planning
> >>>>    meeting had indicated that this might take place in January
> >>>>    2018, and as the NCPH Intersessional has traditionally taken
> >>>>    place in January or February, staff would like to know if you
> >>>>    believe it will be _preferable for these two meetings to take
> >>>>    place concurrently, such that both meetings can occur within the
> >>>>    space of a single week in the same location, or if you think it
> >>>>    will be better to plan them as two separate meetings taking
> >>>>    place at different times in the year_.
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    You may be interested to know that the ICANN process for
> >>>>    face-to-face meeting planning has been updated (as of June
> >>>>    2017), such that meeting requests for location, dates and travel
> >>>>    now have to be sent in several months ahead of time. For the
> >>>>    GNSO Council strategic planning meeting, the budget approval
> >>>>    requires an ICANN office location, with preference for Los
> >>>>    Angeles – hence, if you think running both meetings concurrently
> >>>>    in the same week is better, this will most probably mean that
> >>>>    the NCPH Intersessional will take place in Los Angeles as well.
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    We understand that, as these events are going to take place in
> >>>>    calendar year 2018, several of you may no longer be on the
> >>>>    Council by that time. In addition, decisions and programming
> >>>>    concerning the NCPH Intersessional is the responsibility of the
> >>>>    NCPH leadership and not the GNSO Council. However, for planning
> >>>>    purposes we thought it appropriate to seek as much input as
> >>>>    possible from those community members who may be most affected
> >>>>    by the dates and timing, and so we hope you are able to provide
> >>>>    us with your opinion as to which option is preferred.
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>>    Thanks and cheers
> >>>> 
> >>>>    Mary



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