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

Carlton Samuels carlton.samuels at gmail.com
Mon Dec 30 18:49:36 UTC 2013


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
>
>
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>


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