Yes, Garth and Dharma's points are very well stated. On the other hand, having just listened to a session in LA there was a good discussion between board members and the alac reps. board underscored the commitment to ALAC On Oct 30, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Garth Graham wrote:
In general, I consider postings to lists that merely say "me too!" to be abusive of privilege. I say that to underline the strength of the "ditto" I'd like to add to Dharma Dailey's points below.
Yes, because of the importance of understanding how the issues of Internet Governance emerge into public policy, I'm still lurking on the ALAC, NARALO and IGC lists. I do this in spite of the degree to which they often degenerate into "process" instant messaging systems to support those able to participate in the face-to-face interaction provided by their attendance at ICANN and IGF meetings. But, after shepherding Telecommunities Canada's elevation to the higher realms of ALS, and thus catalysing to some degree the formation of the NARALO, and after the experience of hosting an ALAC "outreach" meeting at TC's expense, I consciously drew back from active participation. I acted, and with some success, but rated the cost as much too high for me to keep pushing. I still believe there is a "payoff" for both ICANN and TC from TC participation. TC is one of the few "open" vehicles in Canada for sharing experience of the impact of Internet use on community development. It's a counter- balancing voice needs to be at the table. But, personally, this kid isn't going to touch that hot stove more than once.
I'm going to end by noting what you already know. There is an enormous gap between the realities of daily life online and ICANN's highly technical agendas. Correct action for an ALAC in the longer term, whatever that might be, is probably in the gap and not at the end points.
GG
On 29-Oct-07, at 8:20 PM, Dharma Dailey wrote:
Therefore, if there is value to recruiting "people like me" into the ICANN process, the structure leaves little incentive for me to be involved because 1) the structure doesn't allow much lateral interaction 2) I'm not learning much about how ICANN policies affect the issues I care about 3) It's not fun to participate. In short, there is no payoff.
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