[Gnso-sc-budget] [Ext] Re: GNSO Council's Strategic Planning Session Travel Report is out

Fri Jun 1 00:04:15 UTC 2018

Ayden,
Thank you. Very relevant points below. Very quickly, though it would deserve a longer conversation later:

  *   Of course, I am not asking you to estimate accurately costs that you don’t know how to quantify.
  *   These costs are not indirect, they are very direct to organizing the meeting, you just don’t see them.
  *   We have not been producing any “rate card” that would make these costs more visible, and this would help everyone be more responsible. Have been talking about it a few times in the past (including today during a financial review meeting with Göran). It is on our list of useful things to produce, but have not had time to dedicate to it.
  *   ABR: It is actually very logical that the submitter of requests do not have to produce costs estimates: the requester makes a request for a service to be provided, not for a grant to be received. The staff is then evaluating how best to provide that service and therefore how much it will cost.
  *   I am not expecting you to account for any costs, of staff or any other. I just provided a reminder that there are other costs incurred as a result of holding a meeting, but I did not say that you should do anything about it.
  *   The fact that ICANN staff is mostly salaried does not mean that the time that staff spends in supporting events does not “cost” anything. If you organize 10 events, you need more resources (including staff) than if you hold 5 events. Of course, it is not linear or a systematic equation, but in aggregate, every event or every more day, has a cost of resources, including staff.

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: Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com>
Reply-To: Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com>
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018 at 1:49 PM
To: Xavier Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org>
Cc: "gnso-sc-budget at icann.org" <gnso-sc-budget at icann.org>
Subject: [Ext] Re: [Gnso-sc-budget] GNSO Council's Strategic Planning Session Travel Report is out

Hi Xavier,

Thank you for your comment. I appreciate there are other indirect costs associated with extending this meeting by one day, but as these figures are not at hand, it is hard for me to accurately guess what the costs would be.

I have previously asked, in relation to working groups*, how much it costs to do an Adobe Connect dial-out (versus someone dialling in themselves), how much a transcript costs to produce, how much interpretation costs, etc., but have never received an answer. It is hard to understand the financial implications of our activities. When we submit Additional Budgetary Requests, we are not even asked to estimate how much the activity would cost, which I do find unusual. In other organisations if I apply for a grant to complete even a very small project, an accurate costing is a very important part of the evaluation process.

But given we do not have any say over procurement (for meeting venues, for instance) or how many and which staff are provided to support (and aren't most ICANN staff salaried?) it would not exactly be fair to expect us to account for these costs in our activities. I understand this must be reconciled internally, but I don't see how we could do it... I think we'd be up for the challenge if we were given access to this information, however!

Best wishes,

Ayden

* Note: I did not ask this question on this particular mailing list.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On 31 May 2018 5:33 PM, Xavier J. Calvez <xavier.calvez at icann.org> wrote:

Ayden,
As an illustration to a point that applies broadly, I am taking the example of your quick evaluation below to remind everyone that the cost of 1 day of meeting is not only including the costs directly incurred for each community participant (hotel and per diem), but the costs of room rental, catering, AV support, staff support (Meetings team, IT team, Policy/MSSI/GSE/GE departments as applicable), etc…

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: Thursday, May 31, 2018 at 1:03 AM
To: "gnso-sc-budget at icann.org" <gnso-sc-budget at icann.org>
Subject: [Gnso-sc-budget] GNSO Council's Strategic Planning Session Travel Report is out

Dear all,

I noticed that the travel report has now been published for the GNSO Council's Strategic Planning Session back in January (and the Non-Contracted Parties House Intersessional, which has been combined into this report because of overlapping dates). You can find it here:

https://community.icann.org/display/trvlconstit/ICANN+Face-to+Face+Meeting?preview=/71603563/84224328/2018-02-01%20-%20GNSO%20NCPH%20-%20LAX.pdf [community.icann.org]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__community.icann.org_display_trvlconstit_ICANN-2BFace-2Dto-2BFace-2BMeeting-3Fpreview-3D_71603563_84224328_2018-2D02-2D01-2520-2D-2520GNSO-2520NCPH-2520-2D-2520LAX.pdf&d=DwMGaQ&c=FmY1u3PJp6wrcrwll3mSVzgfkbPSS6sJms7xcl4I5cM&r=IWWGaKyGUGcKQNGe7LtArAou7HP6fPR5aWjbPBUFZ3k&m=fsSQRbs2v-sA-gaWr4ZqcDfVPLZRY9zVyzrcQUc_KuE&s=ZZCeIwKY4w_p17xQVs-ShU9FGpTTJUK0eLn6nUsxFew&e=>

Based on FY18 costs, the daily per diem was USD 50 per traveler, and hotel accommodation was USD 255 per night. My back of the napkin maths thus suggests it would cost USD 6,710 to extend the Strategic Planning Session from two days to three days for 22 people (21 members of the Council, and one volunteer facilitator).

That said, neither we nor the Council manage our own budget here. If we did, perhaps we could suggest means of achieving cost savings. (One idea that I might have put forward, and I am speaking in my personal capacity now, would be to cap visa reimbursements at USD 500 per traveller.)

Best wishes,

Ayden

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