[At-Large] ATLASIII Participation

Wed Jul 10 15:07:09 UTC 2019

That one or two among a hundred participants in the past took a Wednesday
off does not imply that At Large should draw up an enforce rules of
attendance and penalties that can never be exhaustive enough ( What happens
if the participant's flight is delayed? What happens when the participant
is unwell? What if it is in ICANN's best interests when the participant's
expertise is required in another parallel session? What if a participant
has a compelling need to be excused from one or two sessions? ) It would
require a rule book and a process of implementation, which would shift the
ATLAS focus to compliance.

The participants are not school boys. Most of the participants, as Carlton
observes, offer their valuable time to ATLAS and ICANN, without reward or
acknowledgement of the value of their contribution. Most of them do not
participate to comply with the requirements, but to exceed any requirement
as understood, by ICANN conventions, that is to say, the participation is
not 9-5 for four days, but more like 6 am to 12 midnight for seven days or
more, not counting time spent in the visa process, time spent in traveling,
time spent ahead and after the event by discussions online.

While the point about the required commitment is valid, it is not necessary
to stipulate rules, device a process to enforce rules and impose penalties.
The value of the participant's contribution, in most cases, in ways
measurable or not, far, far exceeds the funding of about $5000 per
participant which does NOT in any manner amount to a monetary benefit that
the participant takes home.

Sivasubramanian M

On Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 3:37 AM Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I quite understand the draw for the 'accountability thing'. And I concede
> my bona fides in the At-Large in general and the previous two ATLAS events
> in particular are hardly enough to caution.
>
> The problem is proffering traveling to ICANN events as a benefit. For
> volunteers.
>
> It is not.   That characterisation is dead wrong.
>
> Where a benefit is alleged, the natural inclination is to account costs.
> And no accountant worth spit would wish to ignore some of the ledgers. I
> submit the volunteer's time, intellectual capital and coin are worthy.
>
> -Carlton
> ==============================
> *Carlton A Samuels*
>
> *Mobile: 876-818-1799Strategy, Process, Governance, Assessment &
> Turnaround*
> =============================
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 4:30 PM John Laprise <jlaprise at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> People who choose to take offense at accountability and responsibility
>> (even as a volunteer), choose to be offended.
>>
>> Please note that I believe that while I may have initially referenced
>> travel funding, I meant to include all funding and ineligibility for
>> elected positions to be fair. If we cannot rely on a volunteer on a single
>> dedicated occasion, it is foolish to rely on such an individual in other
>> circumstances, volunteer or not.
>>
>> We disagree.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 9, 2019, 4:15 PM Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear John:
>>> I know you mean well.  But I must register my profound and utter
>>> disagreement with you here.  And, on principle.
>>>
>>> At-Large representatives are volunteers.  Largely.
>>>
>>> I am seethe at this indignity that a measure of my voluntarism connects
>>> to me flying somewhere to volunteer my time, my energy, my intellectual
>>> capital and yes, my labour, all as public goods.
>>>
>>> I would not wish to be so judged.  And what is proposed is nothing but
>>> an episode of the slave's torment; doing what he thinks would appease his
>>> master by providing the hog grease for the leather whip that stipes his own
>>> back.
>>>
>>> I came to this opposition from bitter experience. It started when I was
>>> the only elected LACRALO official. And in a period when travel was dangled
>>> as a benefit to volunteers. I couldn't give a tinker's damn since by that
>>> time I had already racked up 2 million plus airmiles. And traveling
>>> steerage class is not my idea of a fun time.
>>>
>>> In that period of time, LACRALO arguably provided the most egregious
>>> examples of the ICANN tourist traveler. And I suffered the slings of my
>>> northern metropolitan colleagues for vehemently opposing sanctions on the
>>> then LACRALO ALAC representatives. [I am ever grateful to Evan for
>>> supporting me on principle!] My argument was those persons behaved badly as
>>> individuals. I told them so. One has hated me to this day. But inspite of
>>> him, I adamantly refused to support travel sanctions against them. That
>>> action reinforces that rather louche idea that travel is a benefit rather
>>> than the tool that it is to get a job done. And to hypothecate the tool as
>>> security for work to be done seems immoral to me.
>>>
>>> Value is assigned my time and intellectual capital by others; I sell
>>> them for fee. I got home less than 2 hours ago from Suriname.  Most in this
>>> thread would likely not even know where that is. it is a hump to get to.
>>> And, somebody paid me for that.
>>>
>>> As a volunteer, my time, intellectual capital and my own coin have been
>>> placed in trust and in the service of the At-Large. An airplane ticket in
>>> steerage does not begin to compensate me as volunteer. It is no benefit to
>>> me or for me.  It is rude and crude to suggest, must less legislate, that
>>> it is.
>>>
>>> My position has not changed in these many years because the same
>>> response offends reason and conscience. It is for the At-Large constituents
>>> to pick representatives. And this seemingly Pavlovian response proffered is
>>> and remains a bad policy idea. It is inimical to the spirit of volutarism -
>>> real voluntarism! - that premises the At-Large engagement.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> -Carlton
>>>
>>>
>>> ==============================
>>> *Carlton A Samuels*
>>>
>>> *Mobile: 876-818-1799Strategy, Process, Governance, Assessment &
>>> Turnaround*
>>> =============================
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 9:16 AM John Laprise <jlaprise at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I would like us all to consider consequences for ATLASIII participants
>>>> who travel but do not participate (excepting reasons of illness etc). This
>>>> is a serious, professional responsibility and should be treated as such.
>>>>
>>>> For a start, I would suggest that participants who fail to participate
>>>> should be ineligible for funding and elections for 3 years.
>>>>
>>>> I look forward to conversation on this topic leading to action by the
>>>> ALAC.
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my Pixel 3XL
>>>>
>>>> John Laprise, Ph.D.
>>>> _______________________________________________
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