Hello Philip, I agree that the Vice-chair can be an important role in its own right. To use the registrars constituency as an example, we have 4 exec positions: (chair, vice-chair/technology-officer, secretary, treasurer) Each position essentially has a defined role: From: http://www.icann-registrars.org/docs/gnso-rc-bylaws.doc The Chair, who shall: - Act as a neutral facilitator of Constituency meetings and teleconferences, provide Constituency leadership and act as spokesperson for the Constituency; - Facilitate the development of Constituency consensus on various issues, as appropriate; and - Represent the Constituency on Constituency policies and other items that have been deemed to be the official position of the Constituency by the Membership; and - Report activities of interest and importance to the Constituency on a regular basis, but no less than every ninety (90) days. The Secretary, who shall - Take, maintain and publish in a timely manner minutes of Constituency meetings and facilitate communications of the Registrar Constituency. - Encourage new registrars to join the Constituency. - Monitor, report and make recommendations regarding legislation and regulations affecting the registrar community - Manage the Registrar Constituency web site as appropriate. - Report activities of interest and import to the Constituency on a regular basis, but no less than every ninety (90) days. The Treasurer, who shall: - Manage Constituency bookkeeping and accounting - Report on a monthly basis to the Constituency regarding the state of the Constituency budget - Report on a quarterly basis to the Constituency the list of the Constituency Members in good standing - Make recommendations for and prepare an annual Constituency budget - Act as liaison with ICANN and Names Council budget staff and the Budget Committee; - Collect dues and fees; and - Report activities of interest and import to the Constituency on a regular basis, but no less than every ninety (90) days. The Vice Chair & Technology Officer, who shall: - Monitor and report to the Constituency on technical issues relating to the domain name system, including registries' compliance with registry service level agreements, - Monitor developments within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and other technical developments, as appropriate. - Facilitate the development of Constituency consensus on technology issues. - Report activities of interest and import to the Constituency on a regular basis, but no less than every ninety (90) days; and - Act as Chairperson in situations when the Chairperson is temporarily unavailable to do so. Regards, Bruce Tonkin