[council] Discussion around face 2 face meetings

[Stéphane Van Gelder]

Dear all,

There currently seems to be a trend towards more and more requests being made for ICANN resources to fund F2F meetings. This trend now seems to be spilling over into work teams that would previously have probably not made them but simply endeavored to complete their work through teleconference calls and email correspondence.

On a personal basis, I find this trend worrying as it places an undue financial burden on ICANN and is not, in my view, viable in the long term unless we accept that a) ICANN's budget needs to grow exponentially and without limits and b) that participation in work teams means making oneself available to travel (with the inherent tendency that follows for only those people whom either have lots of time to devote to the ICANN process will tend to participate).

However, I have not before approached this topic with the Council as I did not have concrete examples to provide. But a recent example has come to light, and I have been asked by the RrSG to forward the following message to the Council. This message comes from a member of PPSC WT who has asked that it be very clearly stated that this comment is not in any way meant as a criticism of Jeff Neuman, the chair of the group, whom has done an excellent job despite some difficult working conditions.

Message reads:

The PPSC PDP Work Team has proposed an ICANN-funded face-to-face meeting in Washington DC next year.  The RrSG objects to this proposal on the following grounds:

We are concerned about the potential for precedent this move would set for future PDPs struggling to meet the challenges of participation and schedule pressure.
       
We are concerned about an expansion of ICANN-funded travel, and the impact this will have on budgets & fees.  As such, we request that this (and any future)  proposed meetings that call for ICANN funding be subject to a full vote of the Council, and are not decided unilaterally at the working-group level.
       
It is difficult to commit support, in advance, for any meeting that does not have a detailed & defined agenda.

And finally, we believe that an emphasis on face-to-face meetings (as opposed to remote teleconferences / webcasts) is a retreat from ICANN's mission of global participation and inclusion of interests outside the US.

Thanks,

Stéphane
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