[NCSG-PC] Fwd: [SOAC-Leaders-ICANNMeeting-Planning] Re: Feedback for SOAC Leaders from last week's Production call #2

[Rafik Dammak]

hi,

more about the planning community session in future.

Best,

Rafik


---------- Forwarded message ---------

Hello everyone, and thanks for the follow up and additional suggestions,
Alejandra! If I may, I’d like to follow up on the topics you raised in your
email, in the hope that this conversation will serve to clarify matters for
those who may be newer to this meeting planning group, and also to
facilitate further discussions and analysis as may be needed.



*On the process for proposing and selecting plenary topics*:

You are absolutely correct that there was a fairly detailed process for
this. However, we had received feedback that the process seemed
disproportionate to the need, especially as it might have served to
encourage groups to submit more proposals for consideration rather than
seek early consensus on whether there were indeed any topics that were both
timely and clearly of broad community interest. In addition, several
community members raised a concern that the voting mechanism may have
inadvertently resulted in a perception that some community groups had a
greater impact on the outcome than might have been intended. As our
resumption of hybrid meetings post-Covid also saw a steady increase in the
number of sessions across the board, and given the consistent feedback
about the need to minimize conflicts, the approach toward plenary session
planning evolved into a more straightforward model where the initial
 production calls would include an agenda item intended to see if one (or
two) topics emerged early on and quickly, that most SOAC groups could
readily agree on as meriting a plenary slot at the next ICANN meeting.



We agree with you that, whatever process is used to select plenary topics,
it needs to be transparent, inclusive, and objective.



We are also cognizant that this group is currently awaiting a proposal from
the SSAC on Internet resiliency, which was noted on the last production
call.



With all of the above in mind, what staff would like to propose for ICANN86
in June is that we issue a request for proposals to this community meetings
planning group well ahead of the first production call, with the requisite
details as to topic, format, desired outcomes, confirmed speakers, etc. Our
hope is that this will provide the group with ample opportunity to review
any proposals received in advance of the first production call, such that
you are able to take a group decision relatively quickly and soon on
whether to have a plenary session (or two), and if so which topic(s) should
be placed in that slot(s).



*On reverting to use of the terminology around a “plenary session”*:

We are happy to do so, if this is what this group thinks is the clearer and
more appropriate description. There had been some prior feedback that some
meeting participants found the word confusing or misunderstood what it
meant, especially as individual SOAC groups were also using the word to
describe high-interest topical sessions that they were organizing. As a
result, staff had thought it might be easier to use the term “Community
Session” (or similar) to indicate that a specific session is on a topic
selected, organized, and led by the community.



*On the Board-Community dialogue session*:

We acknowledge the SOAC Chairs’ view that was expressed at the Dublin
Roundtable, to take this suggestion back to the How We Meet project group.
As we began preparations for ICANN85, however, we realized that the project
group had not only agreed on the idea, but had also completed its work and
thus effectively disbanded. As a result, we thought it might be helpful to
place this suggestion before the Community Meetings Planning Group, to
gauge the level of interest in implementing the recommendation as soon as
at ICANN85 and to solicit ideas about how such a session might be organized
and presented.



As mentioned on the initial production calls, the Board is very interested
in collaborating with the community to ensure that this type of session
meets mutual expectations, which is also why we solicited this group’s
input and suggestions. You may recall that we had also suggested viewing
the first few iterations as a pilot, from which we (meaning the Board, org,
and community) can derive useful lessons learned about for future planning
of these sessions.



I hope this follow up is helpful; thank you all for the thoughtful feedback
and collaborative planning!


Cheers

Mary






Dear Nathalie



Thank you for the summary and the updated documents.

About the second plenary session, I wanted to share a quick note. In the
past, we used to receive a survey that asked for things like:

   - Submitter information (name, email, and the SO/AC represented),
   - Whether a plenary was needed,
   - Our order of preference for the proposed topics (with short
   descriptions), along with an option to flag topics that might not be broad
   enough for a plenary.

The results were then summarized and balanced proportionally for
submissions coming from the same SO/AC.
This approach made the process more objective, transparent, and inclusive,
especially for people who couldn’t join the Planning calls but still wanted
to participate.

Would it be possible to return to this process for evaluating all plenary
topic proposals?

I also wanted to ask if we could please keep using the existing
terminology: “Plenary sessions” instead of “Community sessions”. Maybe it’s
just me, but the change in wording feels a bit confusing.

Regarding the Board and Community Discussion: according to the notes from
the SO/AC Chairs Roundtable in Dublin, this topic was meant to go back to
the “How We Meet” team for more work on its purpose and structure. Are we
getting a bit ahead of ourselves here? If the goal is to avoid topic
overlap while engaging with the Board, wouldn’t it make sense for the Board
to be involved in shaping the session?



Best regards,

Alejandra



*******************************************
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
And live like it's Heaven on Earth.
*******************************************





On Tue, Dec 2, 2025 at 2:26 PM Nathalie Peregrine via
SOAC-Leaders-ICANNMeeting-Planning <
soac-leaders-icannmeeting-planning at icann.org> wrote:

Dear all,



Thank you to those who joined the call and who shared their feedback before
the call and on it, it was extremely helpful.



For those who missed it, please find the recording here [icann.zoom.us]
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/icann.zoom.us/rec/play/qYQYH0mJsBO1q92wKRxFeIDPc7_bAb6-Xs2q3eACvKezaS7uJ0P9cMJum-LwDz_Fc3_sYFXuQA5WAuFc.fR0sR6NtsYu9PBHl__;!!PtGJab4!8ON4mEq6s_NcRlwBkpbrc0j1dAE4r4U3oo4zdz5gQtgfDajSHjj74c6O8FOSPPUHET7A4OprUXBHmTKy83v6utGLkovXf58aWw$>
and the slide deck attached.



*Feedback from the second Production call:*



   - *Reminder of feedback received on the Meeting Planning list:*

·         General agreement that the Geopolitical Forum should take place
during Prep Week

·         Agreement that one of the Community Sessions should be dedicated
to the Review of Reviews (now on block 1 Thursday as per CCG Co-Chairs
request)

·         Other topics suggested for a possible second session: DNS Abuse
(NCSG), WSIS +20 (ccNSO), How to Shorten the Time to Produce Effective
Policies (EURALO), NXR Round update if warranted (RySG)



   - *Feedback received during the call:*

·         Further information required for a final decision on the WSIS+20
Lessons learned session. Suggestion to add “& Next Steps” to the session
title.

o   *Action item*: Mary & Nathalie to reach out to staff colleagues for
more information on the session plan.

·         SSAC proposal for an additional community session topic on
Internet Resiliency.

o   *Action Item:* Ram to send session description to the planning mailing
list for further discussion.

·         RySG request for a Board & Exec Next Round Q&A session during
ICANN85

o   *Action item*: Mary & Nathalie to reach out to staff colleagues for
outline of next round sessions planned

·         Board & Community Discussion session:  decision yet to be
finalized

o   *Action item: *Community leaders to provide suggestions regarding
format and timing of the session on the mailing list.



Please find the block schedule updated with the recent input attached to
this email.



As a reminder, there are no further Production calls planned given the
approach of the holiday season. Staff will be providing further information
in keeping with the above assigned action items as soon as possible.



Thank you all once again for your participation on the mailing list and on
the call,



Kind regards,



Mary & Nathalie

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