Good evening:
Domain Name Wire editor, Andrew Alleman is lobbying for an in-person ICANN72 in Seattle, next October:
https://domainnamewire.com/2021/07/14/icanns-board-should-go-forward-with-in-person-seattle-meeting/
May I say that I think this is a rather bad idea. It would be premature visà vis Covid 19 and extremely difficult to obtain balanced participation with present travel funding policies.
Covid 19 : irrespective of more generalized vaccinations and testing, it is likely that many participants will have to quarantine for several days on arrival and/or on returning home. At present this is typically 10 days for some countries.
Who knows what the situation will be world-wide in October?
Balanced participation: Apparently in support of their case, their blurb notes that “Seattle is home to a large (and growing) number of domain name companies”. So be it, but there are also an even larger number of domain name companies which are NOT in Seattle.
US Visas : most non-US participants will have to get a new ESTA travel permit ;
e.g. mine has certainly expired.
ALAC and CPWG may reach their own conclusions about achieving balanced AC/SO participation in these circumstances. In my view, an in-person ICANN72 dominated by local domain name companies hardly inspires confidence in the light of At Large's declared objectives for the future.
CW, Xàbia, July 2021