[Gnso-rpm-sunrise] [Gnso-rpm-trademark] RPM sub team homework assignments need to be "bite-sized"

Fri Feb 8 14:59:31 UTC 2019

FYI, I've perused next week's assigned homework. Despite the
objections over the past couple of weeks, the workload has actually
been *increased*! We appear to be in some Bizarro World:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World

where everything is inverted.

Based on length and word density compared to past assignments, I'd
expect that it would take 8 to 10 hours to read, analyze and compile
into the 19 Google docs (the "read" past is the easiest). This is on
top of the 90 minutes to 2 hours of prep time before calls (to review
input), and the 2 hour calls themselves (which might be 2.5 hours this
coming week).

Even based on past homework assignments, we know only a handful of
people (Kristine, Kathy, Griffin and myself) were filling out the
Google Docs. It was suggested on the past call that folks were "doing
the homework, but had nothing more to add than had already been
input." To me, that appears completely indistinguishable from someone
who didn't do the homework at all.

So, next week will be different. There's a concept in the NBA called
"load management", where the star players are rested, to ensure they
have high energy for the playoffs:

http://www.nba.com/article/2019/02/02/lebron-james-out-vs-warriors

For this coming week, I will do the exact "median" input  provided by
the rest of the sub teams for all the past weeks in the Google Docs
spreadsheet, which was **zero**. This will give others the opportunity
to "show their stuff" and "shine", because there will be no baseline
input provided by me. I would suggest to Kristine, Kathy and Griffin
that they might want to consider doing the same, to let others shine,
lest they crowd out the efforts of others who've been pining to fill
out the Google Docs, but "had nothing more to add". Apparently, it's
such an easy job, and I wouldn't want to crowd out the visibility of
their to date unseen Herculean efforts.

I'll resume my input into the Google Docs only when the Section 3.7
appeal is properly dealt with. Until then, I'll join with the majority
and input the exact same amount into the Google Docs as they are doing
(namely zero).

I'll be watching Gladiator and Spartacus this weekend!

Have a great weekend! ;-)

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
416-588-0269
http://www.leap.com/

On Sun, Feb 3, 2019 at 12:24 PM George Kirikos <icann at leap.com> wrote:
>
> Hi fellow sub team members,
>
> Since my concerns haven't been addressed on the main mailing list, I'm
> being compelled to file a Section 3.7 appeal shortly (probably later
> today, or tomorrow), in order to make sure that we have the
> resources/time we need to actually do the work. The section 3.7 appeal
> is meant to be constructive, not to obstruct our work, but to call to
> the attention of the "powers that be" the realities on the ground that
> they appear to not be aware of or are ignoring. In preparing my notes
> for the Section 3.7 appeal, I thought I'd share with you some data.
>
> For those who haven't started this week's "homework" yet, the 4
> documents (first 4; 8 more to go) amount to approximately 27 pages.
> Those need to be read, analyzed, and then cross-referenced against the
> Charter questions.
>
> For TM Claims, there are 5 charter questions (some with multiple
> sub-parts in the them). For Sunrise, there are 12 charter questions, a
> preamble, and Q5 was broken into 2 parts, so 14 documents used for the
> cross-referencing, again, some with multiple sub-parts. So, for those
> on both sub teams, that's a total of 19 documents where we need to be
> potentially submitting inputs/analysis/citations.
>
> For those who've actually attempted this in the past, especially in
> depth (I've named names earlier in this thread, but the core group so
> far has really been Griffin, Kristine, Kathy and myself), you know
> first hand how time consuming this is. I think despite this, this
> week's homework is doable (in say 4 hours or less).
>
> BUT, if you've not done this already, open the other 8 links (i.e. the
> other 8 documents), and see what's coming up, namely more than 250
> more pages (some of it single-spaced!) [e.g. 67 + 2 + 3 pages for the
> Analysis Group stuff, 20 + 74 pages for INTA, and so on]
>
> If you've not fainted yet, let me repeat, that's 250+ more pages (not
> counting the 27 pages for this week).
>
> For those still with us (perhaps after being administered CPR, etc.
> ... :-) ), according to our updated process:
>
> https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/gnso-rpm-wg/2019-January/003619.html
>
> we are supposed to be finished that task in only 1 more meeting on
> February 13, 2019 (i.e. Feb 6, this coming week, is for the first 27
> pages). And not only that, February 13 is also the date to consider
> that "additional data" which is to be submitted by Feb 8 (this Friday)
> -- I've already posted on the main mailing list how unreasonable that
> other deadline is (won't say more here).
>
> Anyhow, for those who haven't spoken up yet, I ask you to consider how
> those 250+ pages will be read, analyzed, and cross-referenced against
> the Charter questions by February 13 (starting from Feb 6, after we
> finish this week's homework).
>
> One of the constructive suggestions I will make is that all future
> homework assignments (both in sub teams, and in the main working
> group) have an ***explicit*** stated time estimate attached to it.
> This should then be compared with an "expected time contribution" by
> members. I asked this before (wasn't a rhetorical question!) but would
> love to know how much time others are expecting to contribute to this
> subteam (or even the main RPM team) per week.
>
> For me, as I mentioned before, I can do 4 hours of "homework" a week,
> plus I spend between 90 minutes and 2 hours preparing for the calls
> (i.e. before the scheduled calls, reading others' input on the
> homework, and getting my thoughts in order to be able to engage in a
> discussion on reconciling all the points of view, etc.), plus the 2
> hours for the calls themselves. That's 8 hours per week! I think
> that's more than one can reasonably expect, for an unpaid volunteer.
>
> Others have suggested that 2 hours of "homework" time might be
> reasonable (that's on top of the 1 or 2 hours for the calls, and
> prep).
>
> I'll have other constructive suggestions as well (e.g. perhaps having
> a call early in the week of March 6, where no sub team calls are
> scheduled, as well as another  call late in the week of March 20,
> which might give us 2 more productive weeks to be able to accomplish
> all that's ahead of us.
>
> I could be doing better things on Super Bowl Sunday, but ultimately
> we're going to have to have this discussion at some point (either
> through the Section 3.7 appeal, or on the sub team call this
> Wednesday, or on the mailing list now), so I thought I'd give you a
> heads-up, as things are untenable at present.
>
> Enjoy the big game!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> George Kirikos
> 416-588-0269
> http://www.leap.com/
>
> P.S. I'll be at home writing up the section 3.7 appeal this afternoon
> (Toronto time), if anyone wants to discuss in real-time by phone (much
> easier than writing these emails!). Or, we can talk next week.