Hello all,

As most of you know, Brian Cute, Tim Ruiz and myself were elected to the ICANN budget committee on behalf of the Registrars Constituency.

Last night, we received our first copy of the proposed budget from ICANN. There is a conference call this afternoon to discuss it with the rest of the budget committee.

As you may know, Brian Cute is leaving NSI for a new job.

The budget process this year will be very abbreviated and intense, due to the time frames involved (it must be approved by the board in KL and posted 45 days in advance), and it all starts this afternoon.

As you may recall, we had a constituency vote on whom should be on the committee. Elana tied with Brian in the voting, and voluntarily stepped down allowing Brian to serve. As you may also recall, Elana sat on the budget committee for the previous few years, and is very familiar with both the history and the content of the discussions that will occur. I also personally think Elana is the best possible choice to step in and serve on this committee.

Given Brian's leaving NSI, the voting results, and the short time frames, Tim and I have asked Elana to join the committee and participate in this afternoons conference call. It is important for the Registrars to maintain three strong voices during these discussions.

As time is short, we are moving ahead in this direction. If you have an objection to this, please let us know immediately, but in the absence of any objections, we will be informing ICANN of the change in representation once Brian has moved on.

Rob.