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

[Ayden Férdeline]

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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