Hi all, I wanted to let you know that I’m expecting my first baby in March. As a result, I will not be able to travel to Singapore for ICANN 52, and I will be taking some time away from work after the baby is born. Mohamed, Patrik, and I have discussed ICG chairing responsibilities in light of this and wanted to share that plan with you. For the Feb 6-7 ICG meeting and ICANN 52: * As they did for the September meeting, Patrik and Mohamed will decide amongst themselves who will run each session or portion thereof (and we can of course continue the practice of sharing that responsibility among all the ICG members). * I will participate remotely for as much of the meetings as possible and will be available by phone/Skype/IM for ad hoc discussion as necessary. Daylight hours in Singapore are early-to-late evening hours in California, so this should work ok. For parental leave time: My parental leave will likely start in early-to-mid March (although it could start earlier, it’s not entirely predictable). My rough plan for leave is outline below, but obviously it could change substantially at any time depending on how everything goes. I plan to take 4 weeks entirely off of work after the baby is born. If some ICG emergency requires my attention during that time, Patrik and Mohamed will have my contact details and will be able to reach me. During that time they will decide amongst themselves who will run teleconferences, make consensus calls (if necessary), and make administrative decisions, or they will do those things jointly. After 4 weeks I will still be at home with the baby but will plan to return to my ICG responsibilities. Patrik, Mohamed and I will coordinate if scheduling issues come up on my end but my hope is to be able to re-engage with the mailing list, phone conferences, and the rest of our work. After 12 weeks I will be back to working full-time. I plan to travel to ICANN 53. Please feel free to reach out to me on the mailing list or privately if you have questions. Alissa