but as the community grows this will not be sustainable.
I agree this isn't sustainable. What I would propose is that ICANN budget something like $50,000-$75,000 per meeting for ALS travel to ICANN meetings within the ALS region. (This is likely in the range of what it is currently spending for the "18-20 persons.") Then give the RALO the discretionary power over how to spend that money. This could be 50-75 $1000 travel stipends, or something else, but entrust the relevant RALO with maximizing the effectiveness of the money. Like it or not, having in person presence at the ICANN meetings still matters a great deal. Until the big corporate interests that dominate so much of the ICANN process stop sending their paid employees to ICANN meetings, we should make every effort to have user interests on the ground as well. -- Bret -- Bret Fausett (skype me at "lextext") smime.p7s is a digital signature http://www.imc.org/smime-pgpmime.html -------------------------------------