Hello All, Based on discussions I have had over the past two ICANN meetings, there seems to be reasonable support for ICANN to fund some of the travel expenses for members of the Council and task forces. Even though some Council members are employed by members of the Internet industry that may seem like well resourced organisations, the reality is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Council and task force members to get regular travel support to attend several meetings a year where there is not a direct commercial return from each meeting. The Internet industry is intensely competitive and most organizations in the industry manage costs very tightly. Some of these organisations already feel they are making a significant contribution through the time that they allow their staff to spend on ICANN matters. Note that ICANN already funds some of the travel of members of ICANN's nominating committee, the Council members appointed by the Nominating committee, and members of the At-Large Advisory Committee. Recent experience with meetings in Washington and Wellington have shown that face-to-face meetings are an important part of making more rapid progress on complex policy issues. However I don't believe that ICANN funding of travel should be taken for granted, and any recipients of funding should ensure that they have done significant work in advance of travelling to any physical meeting. I intend to submit feedback to the Kurt Pritz with respect to the Operating Plan for 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007. Here is my proposal so far: (1) GNSO Council - All GNSO Council members should receive travel support consistent with the support provided to other members of the ICANN community (e.g ICANN Board, nominating committee etc) for the three ICANN meetings per year. - I assume that there is some sort of consistent ICANN travel policy for the organisation, with respect to things like class of airline travel, class of hotel accommodation etc. (2) For major PDPs that are of strategic significance to the organisation - e.g new gTLDs, IDNs, and WHOIS - that allowance be made for up to three face-to-face meetings a year separate from the normal ICANN meetings - that funding be provided for: -- the chair of the committee/task force -- one representative from each constituency (not including the chair) -- one of the three appointees from the Nominating committee (not including the chair) -- each representative would need to apply to the Council for funding, and provide information on the outreach conducted by that representative, as well as a written summary of material that will be used as part of the physical meeting. This application would be public. If an application was inadequate the Council could decide to deny funding. - the location of the face-to-face meetings have a studio-quality audio-visual environment that allows for effective remote participation The intent is that meetings may be rotated around the major regions of the world, and that representatives that are located close to the location for the meeting would receive no funding for that meeting. Each rep would also typically have the opportunity to be funded once per year, assuming that the role is rotated. Please let me know any feedback, before I submit to Kurt Pritz. Regards, Bruce Tonkin