[NA-Discuss] Events of Interest - Canada & USA

[Evan Leibovitch]

Robert Guerra wrote:
> NTEN and CES are two completely different conferences.
Exactly right. We don't want to be at multiple shows that talk to the
same audiences. That would be a waste of resources.

We don't want to exclusively do outreach to conventional NGOs, nor do we
want to exclude them. People involved in computer user groups, for
instance, are far more likely to attend a consumer show than an NGO
conference. We want to introduce policy making to people who have never
thought about it before.

> NTEN  being far more ngo and user centric, while CES is focused on new consumer electronics products being launched.
>   
I guess that depends on what you consider "users". Both have their own
-- extremely different -- user focuses. In your own description you
noted the consumer attraction. Isn't the consumer interest the core of
At-Large?

That's my point. Get to NGOs. Get to the general public. Do both.

I am quite tired of -- and find myself repeatedly pushing back against
-- a culture within ALAC that actually fears the general public. It is
our mission to go far beyond the realm of orgs that are already into
policy making. If we limit ourselves to NGOs we are not doing full
outreach. It is a must for us to get out of our own comfort zones and
talk to people we would not normally talk to.

Having said that, I'm not for a moment saying to ignore the NGO
community. In fact, I'm suggesting two NGO events and one that is
consumer-oriented. In order to get maximum exposure I am suggesting the
comferences of each type which attract the most attendees.

CES is useful simply because of the sheer volume of technically-aware
people it attracts. N-TEN has the attraction of attracting the
technology side of orgs whose focus is not primarily on the Internet. I
am wondering of there is a similar event in Canada; most of the
non-profit conferences of which I'm aware are regional in scope.

And enough with "strategic", already, that's merely become a safe
euphamism for "elitist". Let's just get on the ground and meet people,
as many as we can and with as great a diversity as possible, without
constantly making pre-judgement on who are the "right" people to have
around. A basic aptitiude for computers and interest in the Internet is
required -- without that, explaining ICANN would be near impossible --
but beyond that there should be no limits.

THAT is outreach. For At-Large to work we need to get out of the ivory
tower.

- Evan