[EURO-Discuss] [lac-discuss-en] Happy Holidays and Thank You!

William Drake wjdrake at gmail.com
Tue Dec 31 11:09:11 UTC 2013


Normally this bit of laziness is one of my least favorite bits of net lexicon, but it seems apt enough here, so: +1!

Cheers OCL,

BD

On Dec 30, 2013, at 10:10 PM, Wolf Ludwig <wolf.ludwig at comunica-ch.net> wrote:

> Couldn't express and echo anything better than Carlton did already! Thanks for your marvelous leadership, Olivier, and let's move further with ATLAS II next year!
> 
> Curtsey,
> Wolf
> 
> 
> Carlton Samuels wrote Mon, 30 Dec 2013 13:49:
>> Dear Olivier:
>> It must also be said that the notice now being received by the At-Large in
>> ICANN affairs is decidedly also a testament to the leadership of the ALAC.
>> 
>> I for one would wish to record my own sense of the outstanding role you
>> play in this development as Chair - lead diplomat and delegate in chief to
>> other areas of ICANN. Yours has been an arduous task, one that you have
>> accepted and worked with a diligence that makes some of us concerned for
>> your wellbeing.
>> 
>> Take a bow.
>> 
>> -Carlton
>> 
>> 
>> ==============================
>> Carlton A Samuels
>> Mobile: 876-818-1799
>> *Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
>> =============================
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 11:08 AM, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <ocl at gih.com>wrote:
>> 
>>> Dear members, staff, and friends,
>>> 
>>> as we near the end of the calendar year, the traditional holiday season
>>> allows us to take a week where we can reflect on this year's past
>>> challenges and the ones we have ahead of us.
>>> 
>>> Looking back at the year, I am really delighted with the advances this
>>> community has made. We now have active working groups with a very
>>> diverse membership. Some people take part in one or two working groups,
>>> or take part in regional activities, and they bring in the valuable
>>> diversity of input that is needed in a geographically balanced,
>>> bottom-up multi-stakeholder system. Others promote this community by
>>> performing outreach in fora outside of ICANN. Others work behind the
>>> scenes designing courses and capacity building for newcomers and for
>>> those members who are not yet taking an active part in this community.
>>> Some are very active in enhancing their RALO's capability at helping
>>> their members with understanding and taking part in ICANN processes.
>>> Some people are active in GNSO working groups. I could go on for a long
>>> time to explain all of the activities of this community. As ALAC Chair,
>>> I try to keep aware of all of the work that our members do for this
>>> community, but occasionally I am surprised by people who are taking part
>>> in an ICANN process but have not directly "advertised it" - such is the
>>> humbleness of some people in our community.
>>> 
>>> When interacting with the Board and in other fora, I often receive
>>> congratulations from people who tell me that they are so pleased that
>>> At-Large has matured over the years. They are so pleased with the
>>> quality of the Statements that we draft and send to them. I tell them
>>> that this would not be possible without the great Team that I have on
>>> the ALAC and in the RALOs. So I wanted to thank you for the work you are
>>> doing as volunteers. It is truly inspirational to a lot of people in ICANN.
>>> 
>>> Next year is about to arrive and there are a lot more challenges coming
>>> up. Our work in Policy Development will continue to grow as we now need
>>> to expand our competencies beyond commenting on ICANN processes but also
>>> in Internet Governance as a whole and the defense of the
>>> multi-stakeholder model as practised in ICANN. I have concerns that a
>>> few people have done the majority of the work in "holding the pen" when
>>> drafting Statements - so I look forward to new volunteers adding to the
>>> list of writers. Remember, you could co-draft Statements and you do not
>>> need to be an ALAC member to be a pen-holder. Policy work is very
>>> important to improve ICANN as a whole and I am thankful that many in our
>>> community care enough to take the time to propose constructive comments
>>> to improve ICANN's processes.
>>> On Organisation building, there is a lot of ongoing work in Capacity
>>> Building. This is an integral part of building our community. Outreach
>>> brings more people and organisations in At-Large to share the workload
>>> among more people and to reach more parts of the world and more diverse
>>> communities. In-reach makes sure that our At-Large Structures are more
>>> actively involved. However, after three years as ALAC Chair, I am still
>>> not satisfied that we have done enough to help engage our At-Large
>>> Structures.
>>> Thankfully this year we will have the second ever At-Large Summit (ATLAS
>>> II) which will take place in London in June 2014. This is an opportunity
>>> for every At-Large Structure named delegate to experience an ICANN
>>> meeting but also to learn about the bottom-up multi-stakeholder process
>>> of governance. It is the opportunity for participants to meet face to
>>> face and discuss the challenges facing ICANN and this community. The
>>> Summit is being entirely prepared by At-Large Structures, for At-Large
>>> Structures. It is vital that our Capacity building programs continue to
>>> expand since without knowledge, it would be impossible for At-Large
>>> Structure representatives to engage more in policy work. Capacity
>>> building is the first step to involvement of Internet end users at all
>>> levels of policy - please make sure you make use of the ATLAS II
>>> opportunity to enhance your knowledge!
>>> With efforts on the way to make ICANN more accountable after the end of
>>> the second round of Accountability & Transparency Review (ATRT 2), it is
>>> also important to recognise that our community is taking steps to make
>>> the ALAC and At-Large more accountable. Whilst I am delighted to see a
>>> significant number of organizations having signed up as At-Large
>>> Structures, it is equally as important for our RALOs to check on the
>>> existence of their members and to report back to the ALAC if an
>>> organisation's status has changed. Equally, ALAC members, selected by
>>> their RALOs and by the Nominating Committee, should be effective in
>>> their position. Non participation is to let down the community that has
>>> chosen them to assume this position and puts an unfair workload on other
>>> ALAC representatives from the region. As ALAC Chair, I am therefore
>>> delighted to see that our community is looking at Metrics to more easily
>>> identify matters which need to be improved. These are all small but
>>> significant steps to make our community more effective and more
>>> answerable to Internet end users and to therefore continue to improve
>>> its legitimacy when bringing input into the ICANN processes.
>>> 
>>> Our bottom-up multi-stakeholder model is not perfect and still needs
>>> much improvement but it is a work in progress! I am proud to be able to
>>> work with you all in what I consider to be a cutting-edge experiment in
>>> bottom-up governance. I am proud that so many of us are actively trying
>>> to make the model work, to find its limits and shortfalls, but also to
>>> find its force and its opportunities. Some days, the model works beyond
>>> my expectations - what a great surprise! Some days it fails miserably
>>> and we are then able to learn from our mistakes. You are pioneers and
>>> just being able to work with all of you has been an immensely rich
>>> experience. It is so unique, I don't believe there is any other process
>>> like it out there.
>>> 
>>> And for this, I thank you all, volunteers and staff, and I send you my
>>> Best Wishes for the Holiday Season and for the New Year 2014. Prepare
>>> for an exciting year. Prepare for a lot of work. Prepare for a lot of
>>> rewards. Expect the unexpected, but never give up.
>>> 
>>> Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond
>>> ALAC Chair
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> lac-discuss-en mailing list
>>> lac-discuss-en at atlarge-lists.icann.org
>>> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/lac-discuss-en
>>> 
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> 
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