Fouad, my comments embedded below, in addition to Evan's comments which I generally support. Alan At 21/07/2010 07:18 PM, Fouad Bajwa wrote:

I would like to step in to share perspectives and recommendations as a person who travels from the developing world. I was hoping more of the participants from such regions would also do so because they also share many of the troubles as mine.

First and foremost, it is very hard to pay for air-ticket bookings on our own and secondly the per-diem facilitates a great deal of us to manage the on-ground expenses during meetings. On various occasions other than ICANN, I have been compelled to cancel certain engagements because the tickets weren't facilitated before-hand by the hosts.

When I arrived in Brussels on the 18th, I had overlooked the hotel booking that said it was from the 19th. Funny because the Air-Ticket and Hotel were both booked by the same travel team. Lacking the amount of one night's hotel expense and a credit card that leaves my side at the nick of time (Pakistani credit cards are like that, they don't work when you need them to), I almost thought of myself to be out on the street or maybe finding my way to some Youth Hostel far away if i could find it or trying to convince one of you folks to let me spend the night on the couch in your rooms which wouldn't have been convenient either. Okay, I had an advantage of wits and lively communication that worked well convincing the ladies at the reception that the highest order in ICANN will be soon in touch with them on the issue but I almost freaked out!!!!! Okay, people may be in better positions than mine but hey....I hope you understand.

It is an unfortunate fact that no matter how good the policy, there will always be errors. Having arrived at the Delhi ICANN meeting and found that my hotel was booked for the wrong night, I do understand the issue (and yes, I talked by way into the hotel as well). You may have noticed that you were (or should have been) sent a confirmation of your hotel reservation showing both the dates and a confirmation number. I and a number of others fought very hard for those bits of valuable information (neither of which I had been given before my arrival New Delhi). You were also given a listing showing when others were arriving in Brussels, many of them with phone numbers (including ICANN staff), so hopefully you did not need too many wits to fix the problem (although a surplus of wit is always useful).

Travel policy recommendations should not be just from the perspective of the developed regions but should be accommodating volunteer travellers from developing regions.

Do you feel that the proposal is portraying just the needs of the developed world? Items 2, 7 and 8 were carefully crafted to take into account the issues faced by developing country participants.

Let me also share another example, if we take note of say the cost of accommodating a developing region participant, many of us may be surprised to learn that the cost of his participation in one meeting may actually be equal to his 6 or 9 month income (based on situation in the best income earning scenario)

My recommendations:

1. Volunteer travellers from developing/low-income/least developing regions should continue to receive advance ticketing but with improvements in flight bookings.

I don't disagree that this should be available at the traveler's option, but is this different from the original document which said that ICANN should continue to offer tickets booked by their travel agent and paid directly by ICANN? You should be aware that some of the people who have been most frustrated with ICANN's refusal to let travelers buy their own tickets are from developing countries. In many such countries, tickets can be purchased for MUCH less than a similar ticket in the US (perhaps related to the amount that local travelers can pay, as per your example shared above). The tickets also often have more flexibility (changes, cancellation) than those issued in the US. That was the motivation for the necessity for Travel Advances in such cases (Item 7).

Recommendation 1: ICANN Travel Policy Exceptions for Travellers from Developing Regions.

2. ICANN should maintain a Diary of Allowed Travel Routes for Developing Region Travellers. One or two meetings should be sufficient to do so. For example, for Brussels meeting, I was twice sent a proposed itinerary that was forcing me to go through Heathrow whereas residents of my country are not allowed transit through UK without following the prior 6 month long duration transit visa acquisition application submission process and it took me quite some time to get the message through. I do have allowance to travel through EU. Interestingly, I could still fly direct to Brussels cheaper on middle eastern airline carriers that flew direct from my city of Lahore, Pakistan and ICANN got it right in the end though but it does get overly time consuming and considerable tension goes in to it as we stay uncertain whether we will make it or not.

I actually had a sentence about transit issues in item 2. Also one related to origin cities that are not served by airlines. However, the section was getting to large, and I felt that such issues could be laid out in detail if and when ICANN accepts the overall proposal. I summarized these points and several others by saying they needed a travel agent who was well versed in travel from "unusual" places. It does not cover all requirements, but sets the stage for needed a travel agent who does not assume that all travelers live in New York and travel on a US passport.

Recommendation 2: Diary of Allowed Travel Routes for Developing Region Travellers.

3. Issue 2 also implies that when we travel, we have to reschedule/allocate a lot of changes in our work plans, engagements, commitments etc and we should be on a boot-camp style or concentration camp style regime for travelling. I would like to second the issue of allowing a day before the actual meeting and would also suggest to at-least allow us to attend the board meeting that's where the crux of the whole week comes out at and missing that is like missing a major portion of what we invested our time and efforts in, unless personal requirements create the need to fly early.

The Brussels meeting rules explicitly allowed you to attend the Board meeting. This is another battle that has been fought for several years, but based on this last meeting's experience, we have won it. But to be sure, my item 5 reiterated the requirement. Current rules already allow you to arrive the day before the meeting. What they don't do is make sure that you arrive sufficiently early to be able to get a night's sleep.

Recommendation 3: Improved Arrival and Departure Facilitation

4. Urgent change to allocated travel plan policies - What if an emergency comes up and one has to change or modify their travel plan - Threats - they start coming. You will pay this, you will pay that, you will pay this. Interestingly, these arguments happen over a nights stay expense or maybe a minor 50Euro investment to make the rescheduling. It feels like an important and urgent request but all hell breaks loose when replies come in mentioning, you will have to pay this and that and no this can't happen. It seems as the issue of urgency isn't being realized. We may recommend having ICANN's travel constituency to place a Travel Support desk at all meetings with staff that can take decisions especially when the CFO and ICANN staff are around the meetings to take last minute decisions in situations of urgency.

I think that this is overkill, but publicizing a "help" phone number is probably warranted.

Recommendation 4: Eliminate Antagonist Behaviour towards Traveller's Urgent/Unavoidable Circumstances

5. Both the organization and volunteer travellers are giving something important to each other and the role of travel and commitment by both parties are significant. Volunteers shouldn't be treated like minors undergoing air-travel and accompanied by a guardian. They should be treated equally with ICANN Staff and Board Members and thus should receive equal attention. I also reserve my right to object to the fact that I see less developing region people in the staff and board but that's not the issue at hand but it would definitely teach ICANN operations a great deal of mutual respect and better handling of everyone. Its interesting how the Board was interested in compensations to the Board but not improving the issues within ICANN participation, better developing region representation etc and that is an advantage that the Public Face of ICANN in the form of At-Large brings to ICANN. Therefore we should feel the mutual request and equal level treatment first before we say to the world that ICANN has mutual request and equal treatment/relations with all its stakeholders.

Recommendation 5: Mutual Respect of all travellers including Volunteers, ICANN Staff and Board Representatives as Equal!

Recommendation 6: ICANN should deploy an ICANN Travel Team Support Desk right near the registration desk at all ICANN meetings that should be operative from the day that ICANN staff or travellers arrive. Period!

These were the ones that came to mind. Don't mind the details, we really do not have many outlets in such discourses.

On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 2:17 AM, Gareth Shearman <shearman@victoria.tc.ca> wrote:

...

Thanks for the clarification Alan. On first reading I thought there was an option for changing the per diem arrangements.

I would prefer that the designated travel agency book the flights so as to remove the need for reimbursement, but I like your suggestion for allowing more flexibility to allow the traveller more input into the arrangements. If we can find a cheaper option early in the process, so much the better.

Gareth

On 2010-07-21, at 1:53 PM, Alan Greenberg wrote:

...

Perhaps I am missing something. My proposal was that the traveller be able to optionally book their own flights and that would require reimbursement. If you want to use ICANN's travel agent and have them pay directly, that is also provided for. And I am suggesting that they continue using per diem instead of claims.

Alan

At 21/07/2010 04:31 PM, Gareth Shearman wrote:

...

I'm opposed to having to submit claims after the fact for either.

Gareth

On 2010-07-21, at 12:13 PM, Alan Greenberg wrote:

...

Do you mean submit claims instead of per diem, or for air travel??

Alan

At 21/07/2010 01:52 PM, Gareth Shearman wrote:

...

Very thoughtful contribution, Alan.

I certainly like the comment about possible slightly improved seating arrangements but I would be opposed to any requirement for having to submit claims - been there, done that.

Gareth

On 2010-07-21, at 10:42 AM, Thompson, Darlene wrote:

> Very well worded, Alan. > > D > > Darlene A. Thompson > Community Access Program Administrator > Nunavut Dept. of Education / N-CAP > P.O. Box 1000, Station 910 > Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 > Phone: (867) 975-5631 > Fax: (867) 975-5610 > E-mail: dthompson@gov.nu.ca > > -----Original Message----- > From: alac-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org > [mailto:alac-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Alan > Greenberg > Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 10:52 PM > To: ALAC Working List > Subject: [ALAC] Fwd: ICANN Volunteer Air Travel proposal > > Following is a message that I have just sent to ICANN's Chief > Financial Officer, Kevin Wilson. As noted, it was sent purely on my > own behalf, although it was very briefly discussed at this week's > ExCom meeting and there was general support. I suggest that at our > meeting next week, the ALAC decide whether there is any interest in > adopting this proposal, or something similar, as an ALAC statement. > > Given that time during our meetings is always very tight, I would > suggest that any comments (negative or positive) be made on the > mailing list prior to the meeting. > > Alan > > >> To: Kevin Wilson <kevin.wilson@icann.org> >> From: Alan Greenberg <alan.greenberg@mcgill.ca> >> Subject: ICANN Volunteer Air Travel proposal >> >> Dear Kevin, >> >> At the ALAC Executive Committee wrap-up meeting in Brussels, you >> confirmed what we already knew - that the current process for travel >> support was unwieldy and expensive for ICANN and many (or perhaps >> most) of the volunteer travelers were unhappy with the experience and > results. >> >> Since you agree that the current process was less than optimal, and >> I suspect that you would agree that minor tweaks are not likely to >> fix the problems, I offer a new approach. I think that it may >> address the overall concerns that ICANN has regarding fiduciary >> responsibility while putting more control in the hands of the > travelers. >> >> In short, I am suggesting that you optionally allow travelers to >> make their own air travel arrangements, but subject to a number of >> constraints. I am also offering one variant that will maximize the >> benefit to ICANN and its constituent units of the budgeted travel > funds. >> >> I believe that you will still need an "official" travel agent. I am >> sure that many travelers will be happy to use them if the process >> were streamlined. Moreover, they will play an essential role in >> ensuring that the overall process costs are "reasonable", which >> should be a prime the target. I do not know if you currently use the >> same travel agency for staff travel as you do for volunteer travel, >> but I would suggest that doing so maximizes the agent's desire to >> keep ICANN happy on all counts, and guarantees them a substantial >> amount of guaranteed business. >> >> I support the current allocation of travel by "slots" allocated per >> group per meeting, but with an important variant I will discuss >> later in this note. >> >> 0. In the interest of transparency, I would suggest that whatever >> air travel rules are used be applied equally to Board >> members/liaisons as well as other volunteer travelers. >> >> 1. Travel is based on economy or business class as per the current >> rules. However, for long haul travel (flights over 6 hours or >> overall travel time over 18 hours), I suggest that booking on >> premium economy be allowed. Premium economy includes few of the real >> perks of business class, but does afford a modest increase in >> passenger comfort. >> >> 2. Prior to starting travel for any given event, your travel agent >> should compile a list of "ball-park" air fares for the list of >> cities typically used by ICANN travelers. The list might include >> 50-60 cities but based on my personal experiences, it should not >> take much time or effort to compile. I acknowledge that doing this >> well will require a good travel agent who understands the issues >> related to travel from and to locations that are "unusual" in the >> sense of traditional business travel. If some needed cities are >> omitted, they can be added later. Estimates should be based on fares >> of regularly schedules "business oriented" airlines. By that I >> exclude charter airlines, fares provided by consolidators and fares >> offered by airlines that focus on vacation and tour-package >> travelers - all of whom tend to provide very poor service to recover >> from irregular operations. The estimate should include the service >> fee that would be charged by the agent if they did the booking. >> >> 3. I recommend that there still be an "exception" policy to handle >> requests outside of the constraints described here, but there should >> be far fewer of them. >> >> 4. Hotel nights and per diem (if used - see later) should be based >> on the need to be sufficiently rested for the first scheduled >> meeting. I have included details of such scheduling in previous >> messages, and can do so again, but I will not clutter this note with >> such details. In short, the person should be allowed to arrive early >> enough to get a full night's sleep the night before their first >> meeting. For venues where flights only arrive in the evening, this >> may mean that they be allowed to arrive a day early. >> >> 5. Hotel nights and per diem should be based on departures that >> allow the participant to attend all scheduled meetings. This should >> include the ability to stay in their room until a reasonable number >> of hours prior to flight time. Both this rule and the prior one are >> equivalent to the "reasonable" constraint placed on staff travelers, >> and volunteers should be offered no less. >> >> 6. Air travel fairs up the $300 or 10% (which ever is greater) above >> the estimate should be allowed. The $300 figure is what was used for >> a number of years and (as far as I understand) resulted in a higher >> level of traveler satisfaction and was not an unreasonable average >> burden for ICANN. I have added the 10% to accommodate similar issues >> for those travelers where business class is allowed. >> >> 7. For those travelers who can provide their own air travel at >> substantially below that of the estimate (perhaps the same $300 or >> 10%), ICANN should be willing to provide travel advances to pay for the > ticket. >> >> 8. If a traveler needs to arrive early or late due to the lack of >> reasonable air options, the hotel and per diem should be covered by >> ICANN. There will be relatively few such cases and they can be >> easily audited or verified. Any such "extensions" are subject to >> audit by ICANN with the penalty being permanent withdrawal of >> self-reservation privileges. >> >> 9. If there is a substantial amount to be saved on airfare by >> scheduling an earlier arrival or later departure, such schedules >> should be allowed with ICANN paying the additional hotel and per >> diem, but only if the net savings is at least the greater of $300 >> or 10% of the original estimate. If making their own reservations, >> the traveler must document such savings. It is possible that the >> traveller may not be working for those days, but ICANN is still >> coming out ahead! >> >> 10. For reservations made by the traveler, unless an exemption has >> been granted, ICANN will reimburse no more that the lesser of the >> airfare paid, converted into US$, or the original estimate plus the >> greater of $300 or 10%. >> >> 11. I suggest a variation of the strict slot principle. >> Specifically, that the total airfare per group be compared to that >> budgeted (with allowance for business class travel granted for >> medical or size reasons), and that the group be allowed to use any >> significant savings for other pre-approved travel purposes (either >> to allow additional people to attend later ICANN meetings or for >> other events that support the mission of the group. For Board >> members, this should probably be tallied on an individual basis. >> >> 12. I would suggest a *reasonable* deadline for submitting travel >> expenses with a commitment by ICANN to pay promptly after submission >> if the deadline is met. I would be happy to comment on "reasonable". >> >> Although not related to air travel, it could be that reimbursing >> real and reasonable expenses instead of per diems would result in a >> net savings to ICANN, but I question whether this is worth the >> additional staff time required to administrate it, or the grief that >> will be caused by the occasional rejection of claims. >> >> I am submitting this proposal on my own behalf, but with the general >> support of the ALAC Executive Committee. The proposal will be >> discussed at the ALAC meeting next week, and it is possible that the >> ALAC as a whole may endorse this or a similar proposal. > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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 >

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-- Regards. -------------------------- Fouad Bajwa