<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">All:<br>
These are reasonable proposals, and would seem to be the price the
centre should pay to call itself a bottom-up organization, and to
connect the Board to the Chapters.<br>
<br>
If a proposal like this has come up every few years for a decade,
perhaps it is time to act upon it.<br>
<br>
Timothy Denton<br>
Chairman<br>
Canada Chapter<br>
<br>
On 4/9/2016 4:20 AM, Dave Burstein wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAAUuzMRZYLNpKZU5gq+w+39w4QV_+wp6f=h+shO0BUg1gpG0kg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Folks</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Earlier today, chapters
at the North America meeting stressed the importance of the
chapter role. Below are two suggestions of policies the board
should immediately adopt. To get this going, I write this
personally but I have listened to many. Most of us have seen
the comments on the mailing list.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Kathy Brown came in
with strong support for involving the chapters more deeply and
making ISOC a "bottom up, multi-stakeholder" organization.
She's done an excellent job getting the chapters to speak up.
But decision-making at ISOC is very much a top down system
concentrated at the top. </div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">I'm told by a former
board member that proposals like this have come up every two
or three years for a decade. There was general agreement but
little action, At ISOC, the senior staff is principled and
dedicated to working cooperatively. That's why I think we can
do much better. I understand it is very hard for those running
any institution to yield any power. It doesn't have to be
impossible.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">I suggest the board
immediately set two simple policies:</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<h1 id="title" class=""
style="padding:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:0px!important">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal">First,<span
style="font-size:12.8px"> that staff </span>discuss<span
style="font-size:12.8px"> in depth with the relevant
chapters any major policy move, </span><u
style="font-size:12.8px">before the policy is decided.</u><span
style="font-size:12.8px"> (Unless time is very short.)
This is the right way to run the organization. It also
will lead to better policy choices. </span></div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal">Our
staff is skilled but not expert in everything. For
example, a top staffer made a forceful policy
recommendation that would have resulted in 30-50% less
wireless capacity in Kenya. (LTE Carrier Aggregation
efficiency takes some study to understand,) Most of us
lack detailed knowledge of the networks in other
countries. The frequent result In an ITU filing, we
insisted on competition as the solution. The context was
mostly about bringing broadband to rural regions that have
difficulty attracting even a single provider. Competition
can be great but doesn't work everywhere.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal">This
can be as simple as the staffer involved writing a note to
the mailing list. It would explain what policy changes are
being considered and who we would be working with. A joint
effort with the World Wide Web Consortium is very
different from a similar alliance with, say, Jacob Zuma'<span
style="font-size:12.8px">s South Africa. If people speak
up, they need to be treated with respect and the issues
discussed in depth. Most of the time we'll move forward
with very little extra effort.</span></div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal">--------------------------------------</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px;font-weight:400;line-height:normal">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small">
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">Second, the board should propose that
ISOC start immediately on a program to allow
chapters to decide how to spend, say, 3% of the ISOC
budget. Jason made the sensible decision on
coordinating this through the new Chapters'
Committee. If the principle is agreed, the details
can be worked out quickly.</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">I suggest we start modestly, making a
$2,000-$10,000 allocation to each active chapter.
The guideline would be to spend the money as ISOC is
currently spending funds on chapter support: events,
expenses to F2F events, web sites, necessary fees
for non-profit status, ... These are expenses that
ISOC is often covering today, but with an
inefficient process.</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">It should be accompanied by serious but
easy to follow rules on accountability. For
example, any amount spent above petty cash must be
reported on a simple web form within 30 days and
posted so others can see where the money is going,
Someone independent should check the accuracy of the
bank account fairly regularly. </font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">Sure there will be some wastage, but
there's some waste in </font><span
style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">everYthing we
do. Modest supervision should keep it under
control. </span></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">----------------------</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">Improvements welcome.</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">Everyone, including the board, has been
in general agreement on deepening the chapter role. </font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div class="gmail_default"><font face="verdana,
sans-serif">Time to make it so.</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Dave Burstein</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">(who is separately
requesting from the chair two minutes of the time
set aside at this evening's open board discussion.)</font></div>
</div>
</div>
</h1>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
<pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
Chapter Portal (AMS): <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://portal.isoc.org">https://portal.isoc.org</a></pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Timothy Denton
613 789 5397
613 222 1850 mobile</div>
</body>
</html>