As the person on this list with perhaps the most liaising (assuming that is a word) experience, I feel obliged to contribute to this. One of the reasons that I have taken on the GNSO Liaison role for three years, is because I have generally been treated in that group as an equal. Despite the rules that say that I have no vote and cannot make motions, in pretty much all other ways I have been accepted and even welcomed as a full participant. This has been exceedingly gratifying for me, and I hope that the GNSO discussions have benefited as well. Clearly there are responsibilities that I have (and hopefully have carried out moderately well) that are formal "Liaison". But I have not been limited to those. There are some qualifications that must be made: - I have tried not to preach the beliefs of ALAC and At-large other than to pass on information as appropriate for a Liaison. To a very large extent, the GNSO has returned the courtesy and not roasted me over positions that ALAC/At-Large have taken, nor castigated me because they do not agree with everything I say. - I have hopefully made it clear when I am speaking on my own behalf and not passing on a formal At-Large/ALAC position (and to be clear, most of the discussions in the GNSO are not ones that I have been formally instructed on by the ALAC). - At times during discussions of GNSO internal matters (for instance travel funding) I have generally remained silent other than to occasionally point out matters of fact. And even those, several senior GNSO people have told me that I really should participate fully in even those. - There have been a few times when it is clear that neither my personal views not those of At-Large agree with the general GNSO direction, and I have said so and then stayed out of it. Perhaps this comes under the do-not-preach edict. - I try to be sensitive to the fact that I am a Liaison and try not to dominate the conversation. I have not always done this well, but I have NEVER been criticized for it even when I have failed to be somewhat demure. So from my perspective, it comes down to clarity with respect to which hat you are wearing at the time, not preaching or trying to get converts, hopefully making useful contributions and definitely learning a lot. With your relationship to EURALO, all of this should be an easy fit for you, and I for one would welcome more than just "liaising" on your part. But of course, you need to mold the job into something that both you and the ALAC feel comfortable with. Alan At 25/09/2009 12:28 PM, William Drake wrote:
Hi
On Sep 24, 2009, at 6:39 PM, Vanda Scartezini wrote:
Welcome! And we expect a lot of contribution from you.
Thanks for the welcome, but you probably shouldn't expect a lot of contribution, as it's not my role. I'm just here to liaise (I don't know if ICANN has a standard affirmation of responsibilities for such people, if so someone please point me to it), which I assume means I should just pipe up when you want to understand NCUC's position/ thinking/action on some issue, consider some communication or collaboration with NCUC, etc. Anything beyond such items is probably beyond my remit. Indeed, if folks want to vent about what louts we NCUCers are or whatever, I'll do my best to resist intervening on personal stuff (might be a little harder if it's about me) and to stick to inter-organizational matters. If I fail to, just remind me. And anything that's obviously sensitive I'll treat as such and check before sharing externally, etc.
Just for the record.
Cheers,
Bill
_______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC@atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org
At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org ALAC Working Wiki: http://st.icann.org/alac