Dear all, first of all, I wish you all the best for the New Year! And the change of year is always a good opportunity to strike a balance on the precedent one: After an almost fulminate start and debate around the creation of EURALO our RALO and its list fall in agony at the second part of last year. There were some signs and expressions of frustration and it seems to be difficult to define and find a way out of this prevailing silence. Thanks to Sébastien who took the initiative a week ago we have to make another effort now – to restart with a telephone conference at least. After a phone call I had with Sébastien, we both believe there is a unique chance for EURALO ahead that we cannot miss. Thanks to Sébastien and some RALO-friends from North America, there was this great idea and project of a User’s Summit to be organised and held along the ICANN meeting this summer in Paris – as one of the outcomes of the LA meeting in autumn 07. This project offers a real and unique chance for us to re-animate and revitalize our cause, commitments and legitimacy. Some of us (Sébastien, Wolfgang, Annette and I etc.) are supposed to participate at ICANN’s next meeting in February in New Delhi having a chance to discuss and elaborate some more planning and organisational details there. What we do need is not much: Three to five people from EURALO (or even more), besides Sébastien, Annette and me, to take the initiative and to establish an EURALO organisational committee (OC) for the User’s Summit. Almost immediately after ICANN’s New Delhi meeting there is another IGF-preparatory consultation meeting foreseen in Geneva (26 – 28 Feb. 08) offering an opportunity for some more of us (Jeanette, Bill, Karen) to meet in Geneva – as a combined board and OC meeting. Such a prep. meeting in Geneva, let’s say on Monday 25 February, will be easy to organize there – and I will try to find some sponsoring money for it if needed. The main goal and outcome of it would be a concise draft of project for the User’s Summit in summer. After such a prep. meeting we would have about four months to get the work done on a common EURALO project. And thereby we could hopefully revitalize and strengthen EURALO’s capacities (-- otherwise I cannot imagine any other way out for EURALO’s future). Please let us know your ideas about this appeal and who is interested to work with Sébastien, Annette and me on this project. According to Sébastien’s Doodle-Survey the best date and time for our Phone Conference is Thursday 17 January 2008 at 16h00 UTC (= 17h Paris time). I would kindly like to ask Nick to care about the necessary arrangements for this Tel-Conf. next Thursday (Thanks!) Best regards, Wolf comunica-ch phone +41 79 204 83 87 www.comunica-ch.net http://blog.allmend.ch - Digitale Allmend