Dear All: Since there have been various queries and concerns raised about how and why postings which come from the 'corporate' staff account, I thought I would mention the reasons why the account exists and why and when we use it. The main purpose of the staff account is so that all of you can send a message to a single place and reach all of us. Of course, when it was just me, it didn't really matter whether my personal account was used, or the staff account. Now that there are three of us, it definitely makes a difference: It helps us respond to you faster, and it helps us to work efficiently. In a similar vein, sending mail from the staff account is that the reply will reach all three of us - you don't have to wonder whom to send your message to; you can just send it and leave it to us to ensure that the right one of us replies. The other reason that we send messages from the staff is when we are acting in a non-personal capacity - posting announcements, minutes, or the like, and where more than one of us has a hand in preparing the output. Of course, once again there's a benefit in that these are exactly the kinds of emails which generate requests in reply for one reason or another - which again means we all receive the note. On the question of accountability: we are all accountable for what we do or say of course - when an email comes out from the staff, it will now list all three of our names. However, if you feel someone has said or done something that you disagree with, or which is not proper in some way, you can always hold me responsible, since I'm the supervisor of the team. I hope that this makes it clear what the purpose of these corporate emails is and why we use them. In the main, it is to make it easier for you to have a 'one stop shop' - but also to differentiate the acts we make in our individual staff capacities, and when we are acting as a unit. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director for At-Large Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart@icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart@hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart@mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart