On 7/6/07, Bret Fausett <bfausett@internet.law.pro> wrote:

Dear Colleagues,

A few years ago, before the RALOs were formed, I proposed an idea to
the then-ALAC that I think is worth reconsidering.

It occurred to me at ICANN's meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina,
while listening to our very good and very Italian Chair, Vittorio
Bertola, address the Board, that it would have been a nice thing had
our *Argentinean* ALAC member, Sebastian Ricciardi, been the Chair
and ALAC spokesperson for the Mar del Plata meeting *in Argentina.*
This was nothing at all against Vittorio, who was a very good Chair
for us at that time, but more a feeling that we could be doing more
to highlight the international nature of the ALAC by rotating the
Chair among the five regions, in step with ICANN's meeting calendar.
In recent discussions with ALAC members, I proposed the idea again,
and because it was well received, I wanted to propose it formally on
the list. As long as we are revising our internal working rules, this
is worth discussing.

Here's the idea. At the end of every ICANN meeting, the members of
the region that will host the *next* ICANN meeting select one of them
to act as Chair from that point through the last day of the next
meeting. This will have a couple of positive effects. First, it will
take the burden of acting as Chair off of a single individual and
allow the ALAC to share the work among its members. Second, it will
give each region a chance to have one of its members serve as Chair,
providing greater perspective and diversity to our work. It also will
assist us in our outreach efforts, as this rotation will highlight
for the regions the international nature of the ALAC.

The downside of the proposal, as I presented it in Argentina, was
that we would lose some continuity at a time when we were trying to
get the RALOs formed and get the ALAC up and running. Even though we
are past the formational stages of the ALAC, I can still see the
continuity issue. Fortunately, one of my North American colleagues
told me about the way the European Union handles *its* rotating
Chair, and I immediately knew we had found our solution.

If we follow the EU model of rotation, the ALAC would have an
Executive Committee consisting of the immediate Past Chair, the
Current Chair, and the Prospective Chair. At the end of every ICANN
meeting, the Past Chair would drop off the Executive Committee, the
Current Chair would become the Past Chair, the Prospective Chair
would become the Chair, and a new Prospective Chair would be
selected. The "Prospective Chair" would act as Vice-Chair of the ALAC.

If applied to our current ALAC at the present time, the Executive
Committee would consist of Jacqueline Morris as Past Chair (she was
Chair in Puerto Rico), a Chair from among the three North Americans
(NA hosts the October, 2007 meeting), and a Prospective Chair from
among the Asia Pacific representatives (AP hosts the February, 2008
meeting). When the ICANN meeting in Los Angeles closes, Jacqueline
would drop off the Executive Committee, the North American would
become the Past Chair, an Asian-Pacific Islander would become Chair,
and a European would be selected as the Prospective Chair (Europe
will host the June, 2008 meeting).

The nice thing about the EU-style rotation is that it ensures we
have, at all times, a multinational Executive Committee, and it keeps
continuity in our leadership, as every person selected will serve a
year on the Executive Committee.

I think this would work very well, and I hope you will consider it.

Bret Fausett

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