I am pleased to announce that Rob Hoggarth has joined ICANN's Policy Staff as Senior Policy Director. Rob will be managing key projects and cross-cutting activities that support ICANN's policy development objectives, including initiatives to improve our Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. He also will serve as a primary liaison with other departments in ICANN and will provide support, as needed, for policy development initiatives. Rob will report to me and will split his time between his home office in Silver Spring, Maryland and Marina del Rey. Rob has had a distinguished career in technology and communications policy and law, including managing his own private consulting practice for domestic and international clients, serving as a Senior Vice President and General Manager for NTT America, Inc. (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in the United States), and as a Senior Vice President for the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA). He also represented communications companies for a decade as a lawyer in private practice. Rob has written numerous white papers on a wide variety of telecommunications subjects and has organized and participated in conferences and seminars on emerging telecommunications issues and technologies throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Please join me in welcoming him to ICANN. He can be reached at < robert.hoggarth@icann.org <rob.hoggarth@icann.org>>. Regards, Denise Denise Michel ICANN VP, Policy denise.michel@icann.org