Dear WG members, Thanks to everyone who has already sent in their votes for their ³top two² topics that they believe should be prioritized for discussion at the face to face facilitated session in LA on 10 October. For those who have not yet done so, please let me know your topic selections as soon as you can. I thought it might also be helpful to provide a brief explanation of the proposed ³group agreement² principles we sent around. First of all, please do not interpret these as final they are all subject to discussion as the idea is for them (or any others that are ultimately adopted) to be the product of group agreement, so as to facilitate greater collaboration, focus and likelihood of success. This may be something that we can take up further during the WG meeting tomorrow, for instance (for which we will be sending out a draft agenda shortly as well). Essentially, any and all ³group agreements² are the product of consensus and agreed on prior to any substantive work or discussions. Secondly, on the specific suggestion of ³no laptops or phones², this was included on the list of proposals because our experience with this type of facilitated face to face sessions including at a senior executive staff training session and at the first ICANN Academy event has shown that this is one of the best ³ground rules² for ensuring that everyone is focused and present, and fully contributing to the discussion. As I noted above, this like all the others is a proposal subject to group discussion and agreement, and the group can therefore agree to (a) use the rule as proposed; (b) reject the rule entirely; (c) use the rule with exceptions; or (d) something else. Should (c) be the group¹s choice, then part of that agreement might include agreed exceptions such as the ones Don, Kiran and Paul have listed. We also note the point made by Kristina and Kiran about communicating privately, whether with others in the room or who are participating remotely. Our thought on this was that one major objective of a face to face session is to have everyone contribute to the group conversation to that end, while a session may (subject to physical facilities and other limitations) break out into small groups and such, the preferred dynamic when the group is together (as we anticipate this WG mostly to be in LA) is for everyone to speak publicly unless a request is made for a more private caucus. We have planned to have a staff member keep an eye on questions and comments from remote participants for that reason. I hope this clarifies the document in question and look forward to the group¹s discussion on these proposed principles. Thanks and cheers Mary Mary Wong Senior Policy Director Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) Telephone: +1 603 574 4892 Email: mary.wong@icann.org