Excomm and Outreach Committee,

Just off a long call with Pablo Rodriguez who was helping us arrange our event with the PR Chamber, and also spoke with Chris Mondini.

Pablo went to the Chamber building last night along with the Executive Committee of the Chamber and some members of his committee and we expected to get their final sign off then.  What they found is that the building has sustained much more physical damage than earlier believed and is uninhabitable so out as a venue.  Their temporary housing is 30 minutes from the venue, and in any case, wouldn’t be appropriate.  

At the same time, it is clear that Chamber members are still recovering and though leadership is working hard to reach them despite power and cellphone outages, who are interested are also head down working on recovery.  Pablo believed that it would be easily possible under normal circumstances to get 25+ members to the planned event, but things are more broken than expected, and this now seems unlikely.

Chris confirms that all of the different constituencies are having the same challenges around ICANN 61, and that all of them are adjusting their CROP/Outreach plans accordingly.  Both he and Pablo both agree that there is a good medium/long term potential to build BC membership in PR and that outreach to the Chamber’s leadership would be much appreciated at this time.  They confirm that there are many PR Chamber members that are closely connected to BC leader companies.

If Excomm and OC are ok with the idea, I will attend ICANN 61 as planned, setting up meetings with the Chamber leadership to talk about the BC and our issues (and involving any OC or Excomm members available).  These smaller meetings will be easier to arrange and provide more flexibility for the Chamber leaders.  We will discuss both what the BC does, but also who in their membership could be appropriate BC members and the best ways to reach those companies around which issues.  I have already made all the necessary plane/hotel arrangements and am paying for the days not covered under CROP.

We have discussed setting up meetings the weekend prior to ICANN 61 (when it may be easier to get meetings with Chamber leadership) + following the opening ceremonies, where Chris has said he will help us get space to have discussions between BC leaders and Chamber leaders who will be at the venue for the opening.  And Chris has offered to get us info on all local business people who are attending the meeting and I can reach out to them individually, shooting to set up a coffees/discussions/quick cocktail during the meeting with a minimum of 5-10 of them, which will come at not cost to the BC — Chris was prepared to cover the entire outreach proposal, and this would be less.

I recognize this is not ideal, and it was not what any of us had expected, but it is the reality for the business community in PR at this point.  I am eager to involve others in on any meetings we schedule and of course will document thoroughly everything we do in OC style.  

Chris believes we could also unwind the CROP funding for PR if Excomm decides, and if so, we would have 2 months to use the NA funding for some other event assuming we can find one that is appropriate.  I am open to whatever is best for the BC, but personally still think PR is the right call.  

I hope this makes sense, and if you are supportive, I’ll do my best to make the most of the opportunity in what is a challenging time for a good long term BC market.

Apologies for not getting this info to you earlier, but I literally just got the word this morning from Pablo and Chris.

Thanks, Andrew