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
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!
Professor of Law
& Chair, Graduate IP Programs
Franklin Pierce
Law Center
>>>
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.
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