In terms of events of interest to NA-RALO, let me also suggest the FALL CIRA meeting. If anything, it will give Canadians and americans we might be able to get to come - an opportunity to see how the canadian specific ccTLD organization works . There is usually a - large - involvement of users. At least - take it as a suggestion. what do others think? Robert On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 2:01 PM, Evan Leibovitch <evan@telly.org> wrote:
Robert Guerra wrote:
NTEN and CES are two completely different conferences. Exactly right. We don't want to be at multiple shows that talk to the same audiences. That would be a waste of resources.
We don't want to exclusively do outreach to conventional NGOs, nor do we want to exclude them. People involved in computer user groups, for instance, are far more likely to attend a consumer show than an NGO conference. We want to introduce policy making to people who have never thought about it before.
NTEN being far more ngo and user centric, while CES is focused on new consumer electronics products being launched.
I guess that depends on what you consider "users". Both have their own -- extremely different -- user focuses. In your own description you noted the consumer attraction. Isn't the consumer interest the core of At-Large?
That's my point. Get to NGOs. Get to the general public. Do both.
I am quite tired of -- and find myself repeatedly pushing back against -- a culture within ALAC that actually fears the general public. It is our mission to go far beyond the realm of orgs that are already into policy making. If we limit ourselves to NGOs we are not doing full outreach. It is a must for us to get out of our own comfort zones and talk to people we would not normally talk to.
Having said that, I'm not for a moment saying to ignore the NGO community. In fact, I'm suggesting two NGO events and one that is consumer-oriented. In order to get maximum exposure I am suggesting the comferences of each type which attract the most attendees.
CES is useful simply because of the sheer volume of technically-aware people it attracts. N-TEN has the attraction of attracting the technology side of orgs whose focus is not primarily on the Internet. I am wondering of there is a similar event in Canada; most of the non-profit conferences of which I'm aware are regional in scope.
And enough with "strategic", already, that's merely become a safe euphamism for "elitist". Let's just get on the ground and meet people, as many as we can and with as great a diversity as possible, without constantly making pre-judgement on who are the "right" people to have around. A basic aptitiude for computers and interest in the Internet is required -- without that, explaining ICANN would be near impossible -- but beyond that there should be no limits.
THAT is outreach. For At-Large to work we need to get out of the ivory tower.
- Evan