Hi Alan 

LOL. I should have put the "exotic places" comment in speech marks because that is the perception of many - that travel is a perk. And some take time before or after meetings to take advantage of the venue wherever it is. This could be considered a reward. I have done the same with colleagues myself thanks to ICANN. But for me the real bonus of attending an ICANN meeting has been the chance to spend any down-time with colleagues who have now become friends, wherever the meeting takes place.

It has already been hinted that the pandemic has changed the way ICANN meetings will look in the future. How do we see it will be? 

M

On Fri, 18 Sep 2020, 8:01 am Alan Greenberg, <alan.greenberg@mcgill.ca> wrote:

Maureen, please do not say things like "But what replaces our more
accustomed reward for effort - of attending an ICANN meeting in some
exotic place around the world?"!!

I am sure that for some, it is quite true that they volunteer for the
travel rewards, but it is NOT the case for many, and it reflects SO
BADLY on us.

I have been to MANY exotic places on ICANN's dime. only rarely have I
taken the time to experience them. And I have been to MANY places
that I had no interest in visiting. If every ICANN meeting were held
at a Los Angeles airport hotel, my attendance would not be different,
and I suspect that is the same for you.

So let's not encourage the concept that we consider travel a reward.

Alan


At 2020-09-17 09:02 PM, Maureen Hilyard wrote:
>Hi everyone
>
>I noted that in the threads related to discussions with Goran (and
>wrt the ALAC-Board meeting at ICANN69) there were references made to
>matters that were raised in the Workload Survey so that I am bending
>towards using this interaction with Goran as an opportunity to
>address some of our workload issues related to ICANN meetings and
>our work with ICANN in general.
>
>I sent the Workload survey to Goran and others and soon after, had
>an opportunity to speak to it during our 1:1 discussion (as one of
>his normal SOAC Chair chats). He was sympathetic to the workload
>issues that were raised, and I asked whether perhaps ICANN should
>look at how they might appropriately recognise the work that is
>being done by some very active At-Large participants at their own
>cost - of precious down-time, energy, internet costs as well as the
>intellectual contribution they make on a weekly basis, all for the
>benefit of ICANN, with no expectation of compensation.
>
>Is it really acceptable in this day and age that people are expected
>to have such a high level of input into an important organisational
>output, for free? Especially in light of what many are also
>experiencing with regards to pandemic conditions and the impacts it
>is having on their daily lives? That volunteers across ICANN remain
>committed to this level of giving is really amazing. But what
>replaces our more accustomed reward for effort - of attending an
>ICANN meeting in some exotic place around the world? In the middle
>of a pandemic, do we have any answers?
>
>Another topical discussion also mentioned in the Workload survey,
>and which was also raised in our SOAC Chairs meeting this week, was
>the idea of regional meetings. Goran suggested that things may have
>to be different for the future of ICANN meetings. If you have any
>suggestions as alternatives, then I am sure that he would be happy
>to hear them. I am re-attaching the report in case you can't find
>it. The discussion should be interesting.
>
>Just to add, Leon will also be at the meeting, but he will be giving
>his usual update on Board activities. Maybe he will have further
>news on the Internet Grant.
>
>Comments welcome.
>Maureen
>Content-Type: application/pdf;
>         name="At Large Meeting Workload Survey results Aug 2020-2.pdf"
>Content-Disposition: attachment;
>         filename="At Large Meeting Workload Survey results Aug 2020-2.pdf"
>Content-ID: <f_kf7co9bv0>
>X-Attachment-Id: f_kf7co9bv0
>
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