[Gnso-sc-budget] ICANN Learn - Participant Rewards, and Overall ROI

Sat Feb 17 15:53:09 UTC 2018

Hi Ergys,

Thank you so much for the prompt reply here, and apologies for the tardiness in my response. I appreciate you clarifying the matter.

Just to offer a brief context to the question below, I asked not because I do not see any value in the ICANN Learn platform or similar endeavours, but because it is my perception that the budget for community support is becoming tighter, now and in FY19, yet staff are able to spend funds freely without consulting with the community to ascertain whether or not we think this would be a prudent use of precious resources. In another message on this mailing list (which you were not cc'd into, but which related to the GSE team), I said that is unclear to me as to what internal controls are in place to manage staff spending. I was going to label this 'hypocrisy' but I suppose it isn't; it is just a different set of priorities for expenditure.

My perception is that there seems to be shrinkage on anything that the community has identified as a priority, but it does not feel to me that budget cuts are happening at all levels. It is my perception (and perhaps it is just the echo chamber that I live in following closely the ICANN Twitter feed - I am constantly amazed by the expensive projects being highlighted, many of which seem to have no/loose connection to ICANN's mission) that resources which help the community are seen as a problem, and staff are able to exhaust budgets just because they can. Hopefully I am mistaken.

This Standing Committee has a narrow mandate and it is not my intention to scrutinise every tweet that ICANN sends or every single item that I see in the Budget. However I do think that ICANN org should be looking inward and assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of its allocation of resources, just like we are being asked to do with our modest support. I worry about how that is happening, however. I have been asking around to learn why CROP - a very successful, largely community-led programme - was cut, and was told that Sally Costerton made this decision on her own because every division within ICANN was given targets for cuts, and she decided to focus her cuts on community-related expenditure in order to protect her staff. This explanation has been corroborated by two people. Well, if this is the case, it is hard not to think that some ICANN staff do not value the work that ICANN volunteers do then. (I do not expect a response to this comment.)

Ultimately, the issue is not that community support is being cut. I support fiscal prudence and think I (and others, of course) could help identify resources being given to us that are being misallocated. I want to see the community documenting the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the support we are being given; but at the end of the day, community support is the thinest wedge of the budget, and it doesn't feel like the great majority of the organisation's spend is required to be subject to the same scrutiny. The budget documents, while comprehensive and I appreciate the level of detail, are lengthy and bury the lede. They do not make it immediately apparent what projects have disappeared or been discontinued, though at the risk of being reductive, I've now realised that if it helps the community, it's probably been cut.

Speaking of which, I didn't see the (pilot) Community Onboarding Programme in the Budget. Do you know if it has been discontinued? Thank you.

Best wishes,

Ayden

-------- Original Message --------
On 13 February 2018 9:10 PM, Ergys Ramaj <ergys.ramaj at icann.org> wrote:

> Hi Ayden,
>
> Hope all is well.
>
> Below please find answers to your questions. Let me know if I’ve missed anything. Happy to provide additional details, as needed.
>
> - 25 totebags at $7.88 each, plus a $50 graphic design set up fee, totaling $287.38 with tax and shipping
> - An additional $250 has been budgeted for shipping to sweepstakes winners, however we anticipate coming in under budget because some of the winners are likely to be at ICANN61 where they can receive the award tote in person
> - FY18 budget includes $3,000 for marketing materials for ICANN Learn with the objective of increasing number of learners registered to the ICANN Learn platform
> - 176554 is the “Supporting Education” project ID for FY19; this is not limited to ICANN Learn, but includes the Leadership Program and the History Project
> - The 2FTE allocated to managing the online learning platform includes percentage of multiple employees’ time supporting the platform
> - The current catalog consists of a variety of courses estimated to take from 30 minutes to 7hrs to complete, depending on learners’ individualized paces; while the courses prepared by the Community Onboarding Pilot are shorter than other curricula, all courses exceed ten minutes to complete.
>
> Looking forward to seeing you in Puerto Rico.
>
> Ergys
>
> From: "Xavier J. Calvez" <xavier.calvez at icann.org>
> Date: Monday, February 12, 2018 at 4:37 PM
> To: Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com>, "gnso-sc-budget at icann.org" <gnso-sc-budget at icann.org>
> Cc: Ergys Ramaj <ergys.ramaj at icann.org>
> Subject: Re: [Gnso-sc-budget] ICANN Learn - Participant Rewards, and Overall ROI
>
> Ayden,
>
> I passed on your questions below to Ergys Ramaj, Head of the department for Public Responsibility Support at ICANN (reporting to Sally Costerton), copied, as his department oversees ICANN Learn. He will address the questions below in a response to this group.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Best,
>
> Xavier
>
> Xavier Calvez
>
> ICANN – SVP & CFO
>
> 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
>
> Los Angeles, CA 90094
>
> Phone:   310-301-5838
>
> Mobile:  805-312-0052
>
> Fax:        310-957-2348
>
> From: Gnso-sc-budget <gnso-sc-budget-bounces at icann.org> on behalf of Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com>
> Reply-To: Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com>
> Date: Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 12:05 PM
> To: "gnso-sc-budget at icann.org" <gnso-sc-budget at icann.org>
> Subject: [Gnso-sc-budget] ICANN Learn - Participant Rewards, and Overall ROI
>
> Hi,
>
> Might we be able to get some more information please around how many tote bags ICANN Learn will be distributing, how much they have budgeted for procurement and postage, and why they are seen as a useful means of boosting enrolment in the ICANN Learn platform? I write in relation to this tweet: [https://twitter.com/ICANN/status/961659806258929664[twitter.com]](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_ICANN_status_961659806258929664&d=DwMGaQ&c=FmY1u3PJp6wrcrwll3mSVzgfkbPSS6sJms7xcl4I5cM&r=IWWGaKyGUGcKQNGe7LtArAou7HP6fPR5aWjbPBUFZ3k&m=voyQEbYo60vFsbZM3ESESa97FoaN7YASWLFfCt80xN8&s=LKiS0FFUn6cF4eZcd9PtxGtkHdOuGgk4pomVUDCJA_M&e=)
>
> I understand that $600,000 has been allocated to this platform (and other educational activities contained within project ID # 176554) in the FY19 budget. Can we please be advised much of this will be for participant rewards, such as tote bags?
>
> I am also left wondering whether this tool is delivering an appropriate return on investment. I find it curious that this platform is so expensive to maintain and has 2 FTEs working on it given its uptake seems to be minimal. [This tweet from ICANN[twitter.com]](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_ICANN_status_958405905229348864&d=DwMGaQ&c=FmY1u3PJp6wrcrwll3mSVzgfkbPSS6sJms7xcl4I5cM&r=IWWGaKyGUGcKQNGe7LtArAou7HP6fPR5aWjbPBUFZ3k&m=voyQEbYo60vFsbZM3ESESa97FoaN7YASWLFfCt80xN8&s=KiiF78vjoYahjEUejUiSaCnrSoVNNAQ_C6sKXM9BZ9I&e=) indicates that "Almost 300 ICANN Learn courses were taken last quarter". I took two, and from memory each took me roughly 10 minutes to complete, so it seems like they're quite expensive to deliver for what is a self-administered programme without a tutor/moderator/instructor. [And the course content is developed by community volunteers.].
>
> Any further insights would be very helpful. Thanks!
>
> Ayden
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