<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">+1<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">John More<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Oct 27, 2019, at 6:30 PM, Evan Leibovitch <<a href="mailto:evan@telly.org" class="">evan@telly.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">If there is indeed a genuine search for solutions....<br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">The most obvious answer for years has been to not require anyone to have to physically travel, and to have Summits which by-design are meant to be held virtually.</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">Not only does this eliminate visa problems completely, but it also vastly reduces logistical challenges for both organizer and participant:</div><ul class=""><li class=""><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="">No lost luggage</span><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class=""></span></li><li class=""><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="">No health insurance issues</span></li><li class=""><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="">No missed flights</span></li><li class=""><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="">No hotel booking problems</span></li><li class=""><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class=""><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">No currency-exchange issues</span></span></li><li class=""><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="">No issues with airport-to-hotel transportation</span></li></ul><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">Having a virtual Summit also reduces the travel and settling-in time (making more time available for meetings) and eliminates delegates' burning fossil fuels to congregate in one place. More importantly, it also means that expenses are drastically reduced, so organizers don't have to go through an arduous task of determining who can or cannot be funded to go. The original ATLAS concept of one delegate per ALS doesn't have to be binned because of cost considerations.<br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">The technology exists to do this -- the move from Connect to Zoom completely enables the capacity -- and we even has a proof of concept in the ISOC InterCommunity events which have been running for some time now. The cost of providing subsidy for short term reliable Internet access, to participants with connectivity challenges, would be far less than the cost of airfare and hotel.</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">Indeed I have previously advocated that all ICANN meetings should be mostly virtual as a matter of equitable access (ie, not only those with financial interest in ICANN decisions get to participate fully). Especially for At-Large ... think of how the money saved could be spent on public education and surveys that would legitimize our standing and serve our mission. But that's for a different thread.</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">The simplest way to deal with visa problems (among many other problems) is to eliminate the travel component completely and meet virtually.<br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default">- Evan</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(11,83,148)" class="gmail_default"><br class=""></div></div>
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