[At-Large] Follow-up to conference call on travel support

[Alan Greenberg]

Dear Denise and Doug,

As one of the more vocal people who have pointed 
out what we perceived as problems with the new 
travel funding approach, I would like to thank 
you for these adjustments.  I look forward to 
working together to continue to refine both 
travel issues as well as the other inhibitors to At-Large participation.

Although it may not always sound like it, we do 
understand that we are talking about large 
amounts of money here. I cannot speak on behalf 
of the ALAC or At-large, but I believe that we do 
understand that as At-Large matures and evolves, 
we will need to deliver benefits to ICANN justifying these expenditures.

Regards, Alan

At 28/08/2008 04:50 PM, Denise Michel wrote:
>Dear At-Large Community Members:
>
>We would like to thank those of you who shared your views with us last week
>on the conference call on the new community travel procedure, as well as
>those who have shared their perspectives online. We know that every time you
>engage with ICANN, you are doing so as a volunteer, which makes the
>contribution all the more valuable.
>
>We understand there is concern that the ICANN Board, community and Staff
>does not grasp the participation requirements of At-Large, and that At-Large
>believes similar funding of travel for various communities is not an
>equitable approach.  Specifically, that ICANN travel funding should be based
>on equalising the opportunity for participation across stakeholder groups in
>proportion to their need.
>
>Our goal is support a travel funding approach that the ICANN community deems
>appropriate to lower the barrier to participation, broaden the group of
>ICANN participants and advance the "work" of ICANN.  We acknowledge that
>there are many differences of opinion on the meaning of "appropriate," and
>are committed to continuing this dialogue and reviewing ­ and if necessary
>revising ­ the travel procedures for FY 2010.
>
>We also are striving to ensure that At-Large (and all other stakeholder
>participants in ICANN's work) has the necessary tools and resources to
>support your work on ICANN issues.  At-Large is a highly valued member of
>the ICANN community, and we want to make sure your continued productivity is
>supported.
>It is for these reasons that ICANN has always dedicated considerable
>resources to At-Large, including:
>
>1.    A tripling of staff resources dedicated to At-Large in the past year;
>2.    Substantial year-on-year increases in funding dedicated to At-Large;
>3.    A significant amount of extra resources in this fiscal year and the
>last for translation and interpretation ­ driven in large part by At-Large's
>needs;
>4.    Continuing development of your online participation mechanisms ­ for
>example, the website at http://atlarge.icann.org is the most technically
>advanced in ICANN, the most multilingual, and will be the first site to
>support direct contributions of content from the community ­ and it is being
>continually enhanced.
>
>We could go on about this subject, but we trust you are aware of these and
>other efforts to increase your ability to participate as you are
>experiencing the benefits of them directly.  We continue to look for more
>and better ways to ensure that the individual Internet user is represented
>in decisions affecting them, and we value your ongoing guidance and
>commitment to this endeavour, which is a fundamental part of the ICANN
>model.
>
>Of course, other communities are essential too. Other communities have said
>that they need support to attend ICANN meetings for the same reason that you
>have stated ­ because the meetings are an important part of the ICANN
>process and some of their members cannot afford to attend.  ICANN cannot
>provide travel support for all communities at the level of funding all of
>their members consider ideal.  Budgetary realities require compromises to be
>made.
>
>However, we would like to propose the following ideas as a way not just to
>address the level of travel support for At-Large, but to go beyond that and
>deal with some of the underlying issues you have raised.
>
>What we propose is the following:
>*
>1.    We will work with the community throughout this fiscal year to review
>the provisions of the travel procedure as they affect At-Large, especially
>participation of the RALOs.  It would useful to have an At-Large proposed
>plan completed at the At-Large Summit in Mexico City to factor the
>community's needs into the year-end review of the community travel procedure
>and related FY2009-2010 budget process.  *We understand your point that the
>current travel procedure, if applied to At-Large in the next fiscal year,
>does not take into sufficient account the needs of the RALOs to be able to
>participate at face-to-face meetings. In particular, from the time spent
>with you on an interpreted teleconference where a sizable portion of the
>participants were speaking Spanish, we understand that At-Large is the
>community which has the greatest needs for translation and interpretation
>support at this time, and that until reliable remote participation that
>facilitates multilingual participation is available for face-to-face
>meetings, face-to-face attendance is more important than it would otherwise
>be. We also understand your view that even English-speaking RALO
>participants benefit from face-to-face interaction. Indeed, the purpose of
>the travel procedure is to expand participation at face-to-face meetings
>because we understand how valuable these opportunities are. Of course, the
>whole ICANN community will get the opportunity to review the travel
>procedure at the end of this fiscal year, along with ICANN's strategic and
>operational plans and budget.  These consultations offer important
>opportunities for discussion and input on a range of issues that may relate
>to RALOs (besides travel) including translation and interpretation, ICANN
>regional meetings, etc.  We encourage you to discuss your needs with the
>other communities as well.
>
>2.    *We will recommend that the eligibility of various communities for
>participation in the Fellowship Program be reviewed in light of the new
>community travel procedure. * It may be appropriate to update this program
>after we evaluate the effect of the shared goals and support provided
>through both the travel procedures and the Fellowship Program. Up to now,
>this program has excluded At-Large from participating since At-Large travel
>has been funded separately, and it has targeted members of the ccNSO and
>Government Advisory Committee from eligible countries for priority support.
>The ccNSO now receives some support under the travel procedures and GAC will
>be considered for inclusion in the travel procedures for the next fiscal
>year.  It seems to us that the changes being made to travel for various
>communities makes this step a sensible one.
>
>3.    *GNSO Improvement initiatives offer opportunities to improve support
>for At-Large, as well. * As part of the GNSO Improvements work recently
>approved by the Board, a number of initiatives will be undertaken to:
>
>a.    Review and improve the tools, processes, procedures, and GNSO
>constituency support mechanisms;
>b.    Design and implement a global recruitment effort to increase
>participation in all GNSO constituencies.
>
>This work will include a dialogue with constituencies about how to achieve
>this and should take into account the different consultation and
>collaboration needs of our global communities to advance policy-development.
>
>
>Given the integral role At-Large plays in policy development, we would like
>to explore ways to involve At-Large in this dialogue and planning, and
>extend the results to At-Large, as appropriate.
>
>4.    *To ensure that the progress made by the regional Secretariats in
>creating structures and processes for working together and with the ALAC
>continues, ICANN will provide travel support for the Secretariats for the
>ICANN Cairo meeting and the final (June 2009) ICANN meeting for this fiscal
>year. * The regional Secretariats will be funded on the same basis as they
>were in the last fiscal year. We understand the value of having a periodic
>opportunity for regional leaders and ALAC members to meet face-to-face, and
>recognize that the whole community has benefited from the Secretariats'
>attendance at ICANN meetings.
>
>We hope that you will look at these proposals and see in them a way not just
>to deal with the issue of face-to-face attendance at ICANN meetings, but as
>a way to go beyond that to advance At-Large involvement overall.
>
>We look forward to hearing from you, and working with you further.
>
>Regards,
>Doug Brent, COO
>Denise Michel, VP Policy