[EURO-Discuss] At-Large NomCom Seats

[Nick Ashton-Hart]

Since a number of questions and statements have been made about the  
NomCom seats, who appoints them, what do those appointed have to do /  
what are the time requirements, etc. I wanted to put everything about  
this subject into one email for everyone.

WHO APPOINTS?

The ICANN Bylaw provisions as it relates to this:

The ALAC shall [....] after consultation with each RALO, annually  
appoint five voting delegates (no two of whom shall be citizens of  
countries in the same Geographic Region, as defined according to  
Section 5 of Article VI) to the Nominating Committee.

This means that the ALAC must consult the region on who to appoint.

The ALAC have asked each region to forward a name, or more than one  
name, to them before the end of August. The ALAC will then select  
from amongst those names submitted the single individual for each  
region to the NomCom.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Of the currently sitting NomCom members appointed by At-Large, only  
Sebastian Ricciardi is eligible for a second term. All other ALAC- 
appointed NomCom members are term-limited.

HOW DO THE REGIONS DECIDE WHAT NAME(s) TO FORWARD?

This is entirely up to them. Regions could decide to have formal  
elections to choose one name, or three names, or any number of names  
to forward to ALAC; they could ask for volunteers and send the entire  
list to ALAC. It is completely up to the region. I provided the  
Secretariats with the option - if a region so chooses, and because it  
was clear to me that some regions might be holding an election - of  
using the voting system which At-Large already has. I made this offer  
not to suggest any course of action, but simply to make it easier to  
manage a vote. There is no obligation to use this tool, just as there  
is no obligation to hold a vote. There is no set way to hold the  
selection if the tool is used; the tool itself is very flexible and  
can, for example, produce 1 'winner', just as it can be setup to  
provide a ranked list of the whole candidate pool in order of  
preference.

WHAT DOES BEING A MEMBER OF NOMCOM INVOLVE?

Below is an excerpt from an email from Adam Peake of the NomCom:

Timeline of the 2007 committee might help:

* Announcement of Formal Call --1 February 2007
* Deadline of Formal Call for Full Consideration -- 1 May 2007
* Deadline extended until 18 May 2007 23:59 UTC
* Review and Evaluation -- May to early July
* Face-to-Face Meeting and Selection -- early July 2007
* Results Announced to ICANN Secretary -- before 2 October 2007
* Selected candidates take their positions as the conclusion of the  
ICANN General Meeting 2007, 2 November 2007

The 2007 NomCom held it's first meeting after the Sao Paulo ICANN  
meeting (December 8 and 9).  The 2007 AGM in LA is earlier, so the  
2008 schedule may move forward a month.

The commitment is essentially:

To be able to attend one ICANN meeting (i.e. LA), ideally for the  
full meeting (from Monday Oct. 29) but at least to be there for the  
NomCom session which will be the afternoon of Friday Nov 2, and all  
day Saturday November 3.

NomCom's final task is the selection meeting, a requirement for all  
members.  The meeting usually takes 3 full days.  The location and  
date will be decided by the NomCom. Usually the location is  
wherever's easiest for the majority, or the chair's choice. Likely  
timing is June or July 2008.  So the NomCom works from November 2007  
to mid-summer 2008.

Work during the period from the first face to face meeting to the end  
of recruitment includes approx 6 conference calls of the full  
committee. i.e. around one call every 6 weeks. Members should recruit  
candidates, and how much time they take doing that is a personal  
choice.  But it can take some hours.  If each member recruits 5  
candidates then there would be over 100 candidates in the pool.  Took  
a lot of effort to get 90 candidates this year, and people worked  
hard at recruitment.

The main work (time) begins once recruitment has finished.  All  
candidates will give the names of 3 or 4 people who provide  
references.  Chasing these references (making sure people submit  
them) can take some time. Each candidates submits a statement of  
interest (SOI), essentially an application form these a usually 4-5  
pages. 90 SOIs is 2007, add 3 or 4 references for each candidate and  
it adds up to a lot of reading. Members should be familiar with all  
candidates.

There is a burst of activity as the date of the selection meeting  
approaches. NomCom usually breaks into sub-groups that evaluate  
candidates in detail.  There might be 3 or 4 2-hour teleconferences  
during this period of about 3 weeks.

Some NomCom members, particularly those not very familiar with ICANN  
may be asked to attend one of the other ICANN meetings held in the  
early part of 2008.  But this is not required, and is for the chair  
to decide.

Overall, the NomCom is a reasonably light time commitment by ICANN  
working group standards. However, the commitment toward the end of  
the process is intense. I expect during June and perhaps early July  
depending on the timing of the selection meeting, NomCom will be  
quite time consuming, many calls and a lot of reading.

-- 
Regards,

Nick Ashton-Hart
Director, At-Large
ICANN
PO Box 32160
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