<p dir="ltr">Hi All,</p>
<p dir="ltr">I agree with you that companies like Google, Microsoft, etc. would like to help local chapters mostly because of their relationships with ISOC.</p>
<p dir="ltr">However chapters will fall in two categories:</p>
<p dir="ltr">-A chapter in a developed world whereby there is presence of these IT company giants.</p>
<p dir="ltr">- And a chapter in a developing country whereby there is no such thing like Google's presence etc. and that all the other international organizations, present in those countries, have only the mandate to help governments that host them. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Those organizations will have a mission to please these governments because that is what their job is - diplomacy and international affairs. And chapters will not get significant support from them like they are most of the times politically-oriented.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I have been raising funds and fighting for support for more than 3 years and i know what i am talking about. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Just recently, i was challenged by a question following some reports of what ISOC global pays as taxes on salaries to i dont know remember which organization.. and the question was like this:</p>
<p dir="ltr">"I wonder how your organization can be ignoring you by giving you $2000 annual support and spend more than 12millions US dollars (please check ISOC tax reports for the exact figure, it is about that) on taxes? The money you are given cannot even cover your administration needs let alone raise your visibility."</p>
<p dir="ltr">Now, imagine what my answer to the question was, it was like..i dont know what to say. We chatted for a time and he said that chapters are not given value by ISOC global and he wonders why ISOC wants to keep them if it does not want to maintain them or why it wants other organizations to support those chapters on its behalf. </p>
<p dir="ltr">If given the power there is something that i would like to change in the way that isoc operates, i mean the working relationships between governments-isocChapters-isocGlobal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Beside that, i am sorry to say this but i have often observed that some african chapters will just tend to only do online works (sending emails back and forth) pretending or trying to give the impression that everything is fine, that they have serious ongoing activities.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Just say it, it is not working. And i am quite certain it is not, you want to know how... say if we could assign other chapters delegates to just come visit and see what your chapter is busy doing now.. say for a week's visit, i bet that they will not find anything significant.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The bottom line is that chapters need to have longterm initiatives that are always running, the fact that there is nothing like that make governments pull back as they realize that you cannot help them when you need them to help you - who needs who.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I guess the situation will be slightly different in countries whereby the Isoc people are the ones that built the internet up along with their gover ments, here they will continue to have a strong say. Case for Older chapters i must say.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For the young chapters to have an influence they need to bring something different to what is already available otherwise they stand no chance.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I believe this will change one day, but it will not, if we continue to put these chapters in the same basket and treat them the same way, forgetting that they should be categorized, and given different kinds of support. Just as an example..... Not $2000 for a chapter in New York or Colorado or Tokyo and the same $2000 for another one in Uganda or Burundi.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Best regards,</p>
<p dir="ltr">Chris Mulola<br>
President, ISOC Rwanda</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On May 18, 2014 3:28 AM, "Gihan Dias" <<a href="mailto:gihan@uom.lk">gihan@uom.lk</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div>On 2014/05/17 ප.ව. 1:12, Charles Oloo
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div><big>Engaging local stakeholders is done at various levels
and functions depending on activity or event. The more
engagement we have the more we raise ISOC profile and
visibility. In most cases, the involvement of the media is
paramount if at all one has to reach a wider audience.</big></div>
</blockquote>
Charles,<br>
<br>
Yes. I agree. Could you shre with us some the engagements you have
carried out or planning to do so. Also, how you are engaging the
media?<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div><big> All these cannot be done without financial resources,
and the annual grant of 2000 USD is not adequate for this,</big></div>
</blockquote>
My suggestion, (not as a trustee, but based on my experience
elsewhere) is to first spend the USD 2000, and then discuss with
Christine/Anne about your additional requirements. Often, some funds
may be available somewhere.<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div><big> bearing in mind the other equally important events like
the annual IGFs.<br>
</big></div>
</blockquote>
The IGF ambassadors program is separate from chapter funding. Not
sure about its status in 2014. <br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div><big>
<br>
</big></div>
<big>If chapters cannot get or identify other financial resources,
increasing visibility and impact in local scenarios </big><big>will
take a little longer, especially for young chapters. And this is
a specific area the ISOC BoT, and the Chapter Advisory need to
look into.<br>
</big></blockquote>
To develop your chapter, you need to get other funding. Since the
ISoc name is well known, it is often not difficult to get funding,
both from local companies and rom the local offices of places like
Google, Cisco and Microsoft. Please let me know what assistance you
need in this regard.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Gihan<br>
</div>
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