[Rt4-whois] Quick update on Prague meeting

[Kathy Kleiman]

Hi All,
I wanted to share a quick update on the meeting in Prague.  We were all 
thanked in the opening Welcome Session by Steve Crocker in his 
chairman's address. I was actually trying to slip out (to go to another 
meeting) when Steve started talking about our hard work (so I decided to 
stay) and he thanked all of us for our efforts, and the SSR Review Team 
too.

It was particularly nice because, not only were over 1000 people present 
in the room, but my son Sam (age 14). He had a great time, and as you 
can imagine, jumped into the policy sessions :-).

It was great to see James, Sarmad, Bill, Sharon (for a moment), Peter 
(only in passing) and Wilfried.  The key issues at this meeting, as I 
saw them, were the New gTLDs, and questions about digital archery, 
batching, and other procedures (e.g., oppositions) to follow, and the 
gTLD Registrar negotiations with Law Enforcement on contractual issues.

There were lots of newcomers to the booth area and handouts for .CLUB, 
.KIDS, .AFRICA, etc., and apparently the best attended meeting to date. 
The Hilton Prague did a great job with the conference.

I had an unusual project for this meeting. With Google, we created the 
"Multistakeholders Storytelling Project." In the debate over ITU vs. 
Multistakeholder governance of the Net, we wanted to record stories of 
people, including why they participate in ICANN, and how it helps their 
countries and communities.

I have to say that Dr. Sarmad was particularly eloquent (thank you!) in 
his video. We'll be posting shortly on YouTube (happy to send a link 
here if you are interested).

But it was odd not to arrive early, and not to be in all-Sunday meetings 
with all of you. Missed everyone who did not attend -- it was a lonelier 
meeting without all of you.

Best regards,
Kathy
Kathy

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