From: http://blog.icann.org/2014/05/thursday-in-london/ Thursday In London by Steve Crocker on May 12, 2014 When we last met in Singapore, the NTIA announcement on transitioning stewardship of the IANA functions was still very fresh and we adjusted our meeting schedules to begin constructive discussions in response. The processes governing these discussions are now in motion, and we want to support them with open dialogue with as many stakeholders as possible. For ICANN 50 in London, we will carve out a substantial amount of quality time to continue meaningful dialogue on both the transition of the IANA stewardship process and the ICANN Accountability process at the stages those processes will be in late June. We also want to support these processes as much as possible by maximizing remote participation from around the world. To the latter, we are exploring the possibility of setting up a series of remote hubs similar to what was used last month during NETmundial and to great acclaim. As for the schedule, we are reshuffling the planned Thursday, June 26 agenda for this meeting only. Here is the expected schedule: ◾8:00a – 10a: Complete all group sessions ◾10a – 12p: ICANN Accountability Forum ◾12p – 1p: Lunch ◾1p – 3:30p: IANA Stewardship Transition Forum ◾4p – 6p: Public Forum ◾6p – 7p: Board Meeting ◾7p – : Cocktails I hope that two hours for the Public Forum during this particular meeting will be adequate as discussions on the transition and on accountability would likely, under normal circumstances, take up a good chunk of that time. Shortening the Public Forum was not an easy decision. I, and I’m sure I speak for the other Board members, always look forward to the abundance of input the community shares and the passion by which you can do so at the end of a long week. However, some sort of change was necessary this time, and we consulted with the leaders of the Advisory Committees and Supporting Organizations to choose this approach. The feedback was remarkably supportive. My hope is that this change in the meeting schedule, and again for this meeting only, is made with enough notice so that we all can adjust accordingly. The meetings team will do its best to identify alternative slots for any Thursday session disrupted by this change in schedule. Thanks for your attention to this and I look forward to seeing you in London.