[Gnso-newgtld-wg] Co-Chair / Vice Chair Position (Was: RE: Nomination of Plenary Co-chair post Abu Dhabi)

Jeff Neuman jeff.neuman at comlaude.com
Thu Sep 14 02:49:43 UTC 2017


Thanks Karen for initiating this process and for Cheryl accepting the nomination (in a subsequent e-mail).

Just for fairness purposes, and to give others the opportunity to formally put their names forward, I would like to start a 9 day nomination period for the role of either co-chair and/or Vice Chair of the SubPro PDP.  The nomination period will end just prior to the next full Working Group call on September 25th.

The full leadership team (Avri and I as well as each of the Work Track leaders) discussed this position during our call today.  Given where we are with our work heading towards the drafting of the Preliminary Report, the leaders are recommending the following:


  1.  If a current member of the leadership team puts his or her name forward to be considered and they are supported by the full working group (and approved by the GNSO Council), that person can choose to serve as either a co-chair or vice chair of the full Working Group.
  2.  If a person that is a member of the full working group puts his or her name forward to be considered and they are supported by the full working group (and approved by the GNSO Council), that person will serve as a vice chair of the full Working Group as opposed to a co-chair.

The rationale for this recommendation relates not to the competency of the person that volunteers (and is approved), but rather to the steep learning curve for someone not currently on the leadership team to become a co-chair of the full working group.  The leadership team has met virtually every week for the past year and a half (I believe over 50 times by now), has held two lengthy strategy retreats (over the phone) and has expertise in the subject matters, strategy, milestones, deliverables, etc.  The time and resources needed to train a member of the leadership team to serve as a co-chair would be significantly less than the time and resources (of both myself, the new candidate, ICANN staff, etc.) to be prepared to serve as a co-chair.

So what is the difference between a co-chair and a vice chair.  In my mind, with respect to serving on the full leadership team, having input into making strategic recommendations to the working group, planning for future meetings, etc., there is very little difference.  However, the primary role of a Vice-Chair is to chair the plenary meetings and fill in for the Chair in other events when the Chair is unable to attend.  He or she will also be responsible for other administrative and other day-to-day tasks required to performed by the leadership team.   He or she is invited to participate in all leadership calls.

A co-chair, however, is a co-equal with the Chair.  He or she will assist in overseeing the full working group, share the chair responsibilities of the plenary meetings, oversee two of the work tracks, have the ability to speak on behalf of the Working Group when updating the GNSO Council, GAC, etc. (where it is appropriate for a chiar/co-chair to speak on behalf of the group), etc.  A vice chair may be called upon to do some of these activities depending on the circumstances, but that would be at the discretion of the Chair (who relies heavily on the entire leadership team).

These are just some of my thoughts that I wanted to share with the full group and are just recommendations.  Feedback of course is welcome and we can discuss on the next Plenary call.  In the meantime, please submit any nominations on the full list.  I only ask that you check with the person to make sure he or she is willing and able to devote the time to Nominations due by no later than September 25th at 19:59:00 UTC.

Best regards,


Jeffrey J. Neuman
Senior Vice President |Valideus USA | Com Laude USA
1751 Pinnacle Drive, Suite 600
Mclean, VA 22102, United States
E: jeff.neuman at valideus.com<mailto:jeff.neuman at valideus.com> or jeff.neuman at comlaude.com<mailto:jeff.neuman at comlaude.com>
T: +1.703.635.7514
M: +1.202.549.5079
@Jintlaw

From: gnso-newgtld-wg-bounces at icann.org [mailto:gnso-newgtld-wg-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Karen Day
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2017 9:11 PM
To: gnso-newgtld-wg at icann.org
Subject: [Gnso-newgtld-wg] Nomination of Plenary Co-chair post Abu Dhabi

Dear fellow PDP members,

Following on Jeff’s announcement during our last call that Avri will be stepping down as plenary co-chair at the time she transitions to her seat on the ICANN Board, I am very pleased to nominate Cheryl Langdon-Orr to assume the role of plenary co-chair to serve alongside Jeff upon Avri’s departure.  Cheryl is the current co-chair of Work Track 4 and her SOI is available for your review here https://community.icann.org/display/gnsosoi/Cheryl+Langdon-Orr+SOI

Thank you for your consideration,
Karen Day
Co-Chair WT 3
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