Although I see some benefit coming from regional meetings, I'd like to echo Wendy's concerns(not going so far as 'divide and conquer' conspiracy theory). Specific local concerns of some regions may overshadow controversial global issues which may then be swept under the rug. I'm for regional meetings organized by RALOs with focus on regional issues that should be brought to the attention of ICANN, but such meetings should not replace regular global meetings. Siavash
I very much like the idea of regional meetings, and I hope that the Taipei experiment can show that these can be a substitute for one of the three meetings a year: i.e. for one week a year, everyone meets regionally, rather than at a central location, and regional rappateurs report back to the other groups.
That said, at least as much advance planning should go into regional meetings as goes into central ones, and I would hope that, in the future, participants would have significantly more advance notice and input into the process.
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