Sent on behalf of Council Leadership

Dear Councilors,

In preparation for the Council Strategic Planning Session (SPS) 2020, the planning committee which consists of Council leadership, Heather Forrest, former GNSO Chair, and the staff support team, has been working diligently on putting together the program and supporting materials for the SPS which takes place from 22-24 January 2020 in Los Angeles.

In order to give you a preview and allow you to start your own preparations you will find a high-level agenda attached. As you can see, as part of the orientation for this meeting, a webinar has been scheduled for 8 January (you should have received an invitation) to help address any questions you may have in relation to:

• The role of the GNSO
• Role and responsibilities of the GNSO as a member of the Empowered Community
• What is the GNSO Council and what does it do, including review of ICANN Bylaws Article 11 and GNSO Operating Procedures?
• Role of Council leadership
• Role of the Council liaison
• GNSO Policy Development Process, including ‘picket fence’

In preparation for this webinar and the Council SPS 2020, you are required to review the materials that will be posted on a Google drive (the link will shared as soon as possible), as we want to make sure that everyone has the same level of understanding as we go into our discussions. You are encouraged to share any questions or observations you may have after your review of these materials in advance of the webinar with gnso-secs@icann.org so that these can be used by the planning committee to prepare the webinar.

We expect the Council SPS 2020 to be highly interactive and an important milestone in setting the Council agenda and priorities for the year to come so we are counting on all of you to come prepared and make this meeting as productive as possible.

Best regards,

Keith, Pam, and Rafik

Steven Chan


Policy Director, GNSO Support

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 

12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300

Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536


Email: steve.chan@icann.org

Skype: steve.chan55

Mobile: +1.310.339.4410

Find out more about the GNSO by visiting: https://learn.icann.org/

Follow @GNSO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICANN_GNSO

Transcripts and recordings of GNSO Working Group and Council events are located on the GNSO Master Calendar