Mike Adrian, you, and I seem to have the same concerns! And I will be very concerned/upset if the "Council members only" are not designated at the table. My first experience was that I was not at the table as it was already full and had no idea what my role or place was for that reason. Sorry I will not be relegated to the back row ever again without protest as it OUR meeting! I'm perfectly fine with "open mic" sessions/times for the constituencies to voice their individual questions of staff/council but it is still OUR meeting. Take care Terry -----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Mike Rodenbaugh Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 4:46 PM To: council@gnso.icann.org Subject: RE: [council] Meeting Protocol for Brussels and beyond... I continue to share these same frustrations, which I expressed in Seoul. I missed Nairobi, as did many other Councilors and community members, so it should not be taken as an example. I expect a large crowd for our meetings on the weekend in Brussels, many of whom will try to practice the speeches they will then give at multiple public fora during the week, including the Council meeting on Wednesday. So that would be an annoying waste of time and should not be allowed. It provides far undue influence to self-interested individuals/lobbyists, who seek to take advantage of the smaller forum to make their points directly to Staff and/or the Council. Council sessions should be for Councilors, only; observers have plenty of other fora to make their points, including the public forum at the Council meeting on Wednesday. Mike Rodenbaugh RODENBAUGH LAW tel/fax: +1 (415) 738-8087 http://rodenbaugh.com -----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Adrian Kinderis Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 5:25 PM To: council@gnso.icann.org Council Subject: [council] Meeting Protocol for Brussels and beyond... Councilors, I have been increasingly frustrated at the GNSO Sessions (Saturday and Sunday) of the ICANN Meetings at how they have often been used as a public forum session. Often, these sessions are our only direct access to staff and it is imperative that we, as elected representatives of our Stakeholder Groups, have appropriate time to ask questions and seek clarifications to the many issues before us. I would like to suggest that there be no questions from the floor during these sessions. The GNSO, by definition, is representative of the Community. I would suggest that, should a member of the audience wish to ask a question that they do it through their elected representative or, perhaps, through the Chair (not so sure about this though). This would allow a more structured approach to the questions and also fair allocation and management of time on each topic. I also suggest that each Councilor have placards placed in front of them (doublesided so they can be ) that details both name and representative Stakeholder Group. An audience member could then simply approach the appropriate Councilor and request that a question be asked on their behalf. This would also allow for remote participants to send questions and have their voices heard (albeit through Councilors). I would also like to potentially have allocated seating for the meetings, as seats are often taken up by "members of the public" and Councilors are relegated to the bleachers. It is an official GNSO Council meeting and should be treated as such. Please don't misinterpret the intention here, I am supportive of audience participation. I am just trying to get structure and efficiency to our meetings. I would be happy to hear thoughts on this. Thanks and see you all in Brussels. Adrian Kinderis