[NA-Discuss] ICANN is looking for qualified qualified people to, fill leadership positions within its organization - Deadline is April, 2, 2011.

[Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond]

On Wed, 2 Mar 2011 19:48:37 +0100, Avri Doria wrote:

>
> This is the message I send whenever I see a solicitation for Nomcom.
>
> I think that Nomcom is currently flawed in that it is managed/coordinated by staff as opposed to being a totally separate function as I believe it is defined to be.
>
> This combined by the utter secrecy and non transparency of the process allows for a situation where ICANN officers can, should they be wish,  affect the outcome.  The process is especially vulnerable to influence by acts of omission and to other difficult to discover acts. 
>
> I am not making an accusation against any of the staff that serve to support the Nomcom itself, they are nice hard working people who are loyal ICANN employees who do what they are instructed to do.  It is the possibility of misdeed by those more senior that concerns me.
>
> I advise everyone I know to avoid ICANN Nomcom, and will continue to do so until such time as it has a completely separate staffing.  I also avoid it myself, but that is as much because I do not believe that insiders, which I am defining as people who have already been active in ICANN for 4 years or more in recent years, as for reasons of mistrust and for the personal reason of having been burned without real redress in a nomcom like process in the recent past.

...and Avri, I beg to differ.

I served on the NomCom last year and in my view, it is one of the most
independent processes in ICANN that I ever took part in. It is shrouded
with "confidentiality", often confused as "secrecy" in order to protect
the candidates themselves because unfortunately we live in a world where
people who do not get selected are sometimes pointed out as "losers" and
shamed.
How do you wish to be transparent in a discussion where you discuss a
candidate's most private details, their career, their track record?
Their perceived potential? How do you wish the discussions in NomCom to
be frank and open within the group, if NomCom members were not bound by
confidentiality?

I have found serving on NomCom for a year, to be a very refreshing
experience, and I am so pleased to see the candidates we chose last
year, spread their wings and serve ICANN successfully this year. I
encourage everyone to apply for leadership position through NomCom, not
only for Board positions, but also for GNSO, ccNSO and ALAC positions.
At first glance, these might appear "less glamorous" than a Board
position on a CV but ICANN isn't about glamour, it's about making the
bottom-up decision process work, and NomCom members will quickly see
through an application that's filed to make a CV look good.

Warmest regards,

Olivier
(wearing an individual hat)

-- 
Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond, PhD
http://www.gih.com/ocl.html