Please see an important announcement pasted below. ICANN updated this late last week, and it just came to my attention late last night. Apologies that I didn't catch it earlier. Others may have. The new news is required RSVP, with proof of travel somehow shown. I have a call into ICANN staff to verify how this will work. I am planning on attending, and I think that Steve DelBianco is also planning to travel. Other members may be as well. There will not be a guarantee of seats, it appears. I will do my best to find out how much room there is, however. As you all will recall from the BC call with members, Steve and I and others will be working on a document which summarizes the present BC positions against the GAC/Board discussion topics. Where we do not have a position and it seems advisable to do so, we will use a shortened voting period. The ExComm does believe that would only be necessary in one or two instances, but we won't know until we see the GAC and Board discussion papers. I have asked for the Constituency Chairs or their designees to be designated 'experts' to respond to questions about formalized positions of the individual constituencies. That would allow the BC's views to be heard regarding the items of priority to the full BC. I also want to have a brief gathering of BC members from the Brussels area and those who travel while we are there. One of our members located in Brussels has volunteered space, so stay tuned for further details on what seems feasible on that front. We may also want to invite some business guests who may be prospective members to drinks or breakfast, and Chris and I will work on whether that seems doable, depending on who from the BC is actually in Brussels at that time/dates. Updated: ICANN's Board and GAC to Meet on New gTLDs Updated: 2 February 2011 21 January 2011 RSVP to Attend ICANN Board-GAC Meeting in Brussels A message to those who wish to attend the ICANN Board-GAC Meeting in Brussels on 28 Feb-1 Mar. If you wish to attend as an observer the upcoming meeting of the ICANN's Board and the GAC to discuss new gTLDs [see below], please RSVP by sending an email to GAC-BoardRSVP@icann.org no later than 8 February 2011. Space in the room is limited and we don't wish to have people traveling and find there is no space for them to attend. Therefore it was necessary to come up with a limited procedure for seat allocation. If the number of RSVPs exceeds the amount of available seating, ICANN staff will allocate the seating in an equitable manner. To ensure maximum attendance, those whose RSVPs are confirmed will need to submit a copy of an airline ticket, hotel reservation or other indication of their intent to attend in person. As previously announced, the meeting will be open, scribed and streamed live over the Internet. Only GAC members, ICANN Board members, select ICANN staff members and subject matter experts will participate in the meeting. Please note that in addition to the open plenary sessions, smaller meetings focused on specific issues may also take place and may be closed to non-participants. If they occur, those in these smaller meetings will report on their work during the open plenary sessions. During the recent ICANN meeting in Cartagena, the ICANN Board of Directors and Governmental Advisory Committee agreed to meet at some time prior to the upcoming Silicon Valley/San Francisco meeting in order to devote significant time in the interest of resolving the outstanding issues the GAC has identified with the new gTLD process. Planning for that meeting has occurred and the Board and the GAC have agreed to meet on 28 February and 1 March 2011, in Brussels, at the Square Brussels Meeting Centre, Mont des Arts – Kunstberg, Brussels. The purpose of the meeting is to: Identify the specific differences between Governmental Advisory Committee ("GAC") advice and the current implementation of the GNSO New gTLD Policy recommendations embodied in the Applicant Guidebook. Through discussion among Board and GAC members, either: arrive at an agreed upon resolution of those differences, or for those issues not resolved, identify what differences remain. This meeting is not intended to address the requirements/steps outlined in the Bylaws mandated Board-GAC consultation process. The meeting will be open, scribed and streamed live over the Internet. Only GAC members, ICANN Board members, select ICANN staff members and subject matter experts will participate in the discussion, whether in person or remotely. It will be possible for interested parties to attend and observe proceedings. Remote participation facilities will also be made available. Papers to inform the discussions will be published prior to the meeting. Details of the agenda and logistics will be made available closer to the meeting. Background ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) plays a key role within ICANN, particularly with regard to providing advice to the Board on public policy issues. The GAC has been actively involved in the discussions on the introduction of new gTLDs and has regularly provided advice to the ICANN Board on a number of issues, which the Board has sought to address. The most recent GAC communiqué [PDF, 45 KB] identified a number of issues associated with the introduction of new gTLDs that the GAC considers outstanding, or unresolved to the GAC's satisfaction. The new gTLD program has its origins in carefully deliberated policy development work by the ICANN community. In October 2007, following more than 18 months of community discussions, the GNSO formally completed its policy development work on new gTLDS and approved a set of 19 policy recommendations. In June 2008, ICANN's Board of Directors adopted the policy recommendations and directed staff to commence work on an implementation plan. The first version of the Applicant Guidebook was posted for public comment on 1 October 2008, and since that time a further four versions have followed with the most recent, the Proposed Final Applicant Guidebook published on 10 November 2010. Each version has been revised as a result of comments received via the respective public comment fora. The ICANN meeting in Cartagena provided the platform for discussion of the latest version, and provided an opportunity for the Board to hear first hand, the community's views.