I strongly agree with Mary.
Debbie
Debra Y. Hughes l Senior
Counsel
American Red Cross
Office of the General Counsel
2025 E Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: (202) 303-5356
Fax: (202) 303-0143
HughesDeb@usa.redcross.org
From:
owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Mary Wong
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 10:34
AM
To: GNSO Council
Subject: Re: [council] Gala
tickets and volunteers...
I agree with Tim
that it seems to defeat the purpose if the most active volunteers at ICANN
don't get an equal chance to attend the main event.
More broadly, I
find it troubling that these events are listed as "networking events"
on the schedule, but occasionally (usually at meetings where there are very
many attendees, e.g. Paris and now Brussels) an "ordinary" member of
the community (e.g. not a Board or Council member) is
told, after traveling to the meeting and after he/she has been
asked to name his/her hotel for transport to the gala, that he/she needs a
ticket on a "first come first served" basis (BTW the meeting website
merely hints vaguely at this, saying that "Invitations will be available
... starting on Tuesday etc.")
I appreciate that
this kind of decision is made by the host/sponsor for logistical reasons, and
not ICANN, but to me it could - and probably will - be taken as a poor
reflection of ICANN (especially when so much volunteer time is being asked of
the community). I also appreciate that as a Council member I get a ticket and
in advance (thank you Glen!!!!) but if I were a non-Council but active WG
member, I might be troubled by that too.
It seems to me
that if the host/sponsor cannot hold a splashy event that can accommodate
as many members of the community as wish to attend (some of whom may be here
for the first time or who may be funding themselves), then either hold a less
fancy/ambitious event so that more can attend, or don't hold one at all (or at
least don't advertise it as a gala open to all).
All right,
now someone tell me this is "outside the scope of Council" :)
Have a good day
of meetings, everyone!
Mary
Mary W S Wong
Professor of Law
& Chair, Graduate IP Programs
Franklin Pierce
Law Center
Two White Street
Concord, NH 03301
USA
Email: mwong@piercelaw.edu
Phone:
1-603-513-5143
Selected
writings available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=437584
>>>
I learned this morning that the ATRT members do not get Gala
tickets similar to the way the Council received them. It seems to me that if
the primary social event at these meetings is going to have
limited availability that active volunteers in current working groups,
work teams, etc. of the ACs and SOs should have some preference. I'm not sure if there is anything we can do about it at this
point, but Glen, is there any way that at least the ATRT members
can be sure to get tickets if any of them want them? And going forward,
this is something that should be given some thought. It may even serve as an
incentive for participation in the work of the ACs and SOs. Tim |