Re: [At-Large] Resolution of the Board of Directors related to the proposed Summit

Nick Ashton-Hart ha scritto:
> Dear All:
>
> I wanted to ensure you saw this as soon as it became available. This
> is the text of the resolution related to the proposed Summit adopted
> unanimously at the public ICANN Board Meeting today in New Delhi

I need some clarifications...

> At-Large Structures Summit
>
> Whereas, the At-Large Advisory Committee is now supported by five
> Regional At-Large Organizations comprised of more than one hundred At-
> Large Structures.
> Whereas, members of the ALAC, RALOs, and At-Large Structures believe
> that a face-to-face meeting of at least one person from each of these
> structures in conjunction with an ICANN meeting would facilitate their
> coordination and work on ICANN policy matters relating to the
> interests of individual Internet users.

I am not sure whether I understand the wording.
If this means "*all* members believe that...", I don't think that there
was sufficient consultation with the RALOs and the ALSes - actually in
several cases there was none yet - so I don't know how one can say that.
If this means that "*not all* members..."(i.e., "members of" implies
that it is not the ALAC as a whole that believes that), does that imply
that a formal request to set up the Summit has not been presented yet by
the ALAC?
In other words, I am not sure whether the ALAC already submitted a
formal request as a group, or whether this is a preliminary solicitation
by the Board for a formal request. In this case, the ALAC should
promptly oblige.

D: There most definitely was sufficient consultation with the RALOs and ALSs. After the meeting in San Juan, the Secretariats of each region were charged with the duty of taking this proposal to their ALSs and seeing if there was support for it. All Secretariats reported back that there was overwhelming support. If you do not think that this is true in some region, you may wish to contact that Secretariat directly to discuss your concerns.

Also, yes, a formal request has been put to the Board.

> Whereas, the ALAC and constituents have been planning for such a
> Summit since ICANN's San Juan meeting.
>
> Whereas, this would be a special event associated with the completion
> of the establishment of the At-Large Advisory Committee.

This seems to imply that it is being perceived as a "once in a lifetime"
event, not as the first of a series (or at least, for the moment, there
is the desire to state clearly that the possible funding of this one
will not constitute a commitment to fund other similar events in the
future).

D: Perhaps the Board does perceive it that way. Its up to us to prove the value of such a Summit to the Board to get further funding support for future Summits. You are right in saying that they are certainly not committing at this time to fund other similar events - or even this one.

> Whereas, many of the ALAC At-Large structures are unable to cover the
> costs of sending a representative to an ICANN meeting for this purpose.
>
> Resolved (2008.02.15.12), the Board directs Staff to work with the
> ALAC to finalise a proposal that will fund one person from each At-
> Large Structure to attend the proposed Summit, for consideration as
> part of the 2008-2009 operating plan and budget process.

The way I interpret this is:
- the Board asks the staff to transform all these talks into a final
proposal;
- the Board commits the organization to examine the proposal, on the
same level and with the same procedures as any other proposal submitted
by any party for something to be funded by ICANN;
- there is no commitment yet by the Board, or auspices that the proposal
is approved, which is obvious since there is no proposal yet;

D: Odd assumption to make, Vittorio, since there is a formal proposal in their hands.