[council] Meeting Protocol for Brussels and beyond...

[Adrian Kinderis]

Councilors,

I have been increasingly frustrated at the GNSO Sessions (Saturday and Sunday) of the ICANN Meetings at how they have often been used as a public forum session.

Often, these sessions are our only direct access to staff and it is imperative that we, as elected representatives of our Stakeholder Groups, have appropriate time to ask questions and seek clarifications to the many issues before us.

I would like to suggest that there be no questions from the floor during these sessions. The GNSO, by definition, is representative of the Community. I would suggest that, should a member of the audience wish to ask a question that they do it through their elected representative or, perhaps, through the Chair (not so sure about this though). This would allow a more structured approach to the questions and also fair allocation and management of time on each topic.

I also suggest that each Councilor have placards placed in front of them (doublesided so they can be ) that details both name and representative Stakeholder Group. An audience member could then simply approach the appropriate Councilor and request that a question be asked on their behalf. This would also allow for remote participants to send questions and have their voices heard (albeit through Councilors). 

I would also like to potentially have allocated seating for the meetings, as seats are often taken up by "members of the public" and Councilors are relegated to the bleachers. It is an official GNSO Council meeting and should be treated as such.

Please don't misinterpret the intention here, I am supportive of audience participation. I am just trying to get structure and efficiency to our meetings.

I would be happy to hear thoughts on this.

Thanks and see you all in Brussels.

Adrian Kinderis