[Chapter-delegates] Individual vs. Trustee (was Re: Net Neutrality)

[cdel.firsthand.net]

It does appear that ISOC trustees are NOT trustees in the charity structure sense but are themselves board members who share in corporate management.

It would I think be far preferable if the UK model was adopted for ISOC where a trustee is separate higher oversight board to represent the public interest over the day to day executive control layer. 

It is currently confused as to who and how this public interest oversight is established at ISOC in relation to holding management to account and if necessary renewal.



Christian de Larrinaga


On 1 Jun 2012, at 09:27, Klaus Birkenbihl <Klaus.Birkenbihl at Isoc.de> wrote:

> Eric,
> 
> thanks for your explanation. And please allow me to respectfully
> disagree. I have a slightly different view on the role of a Trustee.
> I is not your job as a Trustee to speak in the name of ISOC - you
> are not an Officer. As the name "Trustee" suggests you are somebody
> who has been found trustworthy to control the organization. And it
> should be your very own opinions and your conscience that guides
> you in doing so for the best of the organization. So when you
> say [speaking as a chapter member, not a Trustee] it sounds like
> "my private opinion might differ from what I represent as a
> Trustee".
> 
>> One can think of lots of situations where a chapter member may have a
>> different point of view than an organization member which could be
>> different from an individual participant.
> 
> A psychologist would probably diagnose alarming symptoms of
> schizophrenia. Changing my hat doesn't change my opinion.
> And I'd rather not trust a person (make him a Trustee) who
> changes his opinion based on the role, as a chameleon changes
> its color based on the environment.
> 
> Of course an Officer might say: "speaking as Officer" indicating
> that he forwards the organizations position rather than his own.
> But for his mental sanity it might be good to abstain from
> having one opinion as an Officer, one as citizen, one as house
> owner, one as family father ...
> 
> Klaus
> 
> Eric Burger wrote on 2012-05-31 12:47:
>> When I speak as a Trustee, I must speak only with the accepted, agreed
>> to, vetted, and implemented position of the Internet Society.
>> 
>> As Carlos said:
>> On May 30, 2012, at 10:30 AM, cveraq at gmail.com
>> <mailto:cveraq at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Internet Society as organization can and must have a voice. An
>>> official position. It must have an official channel and also an
>>> official section (editorial, official letter, etc) to express that
>>> vision or position. In this way no one should ask if this is or not
>>> an official position.
>> 
>> I was making it clear that my statement is a personal statement and
>> is *not* *necessarily* the official position of the Internet Society.
>> It is also not to say that it differs from the official position of
>> the Society. It was simply stating what my personal opinion is. More
>> importantly, the disclaimer is to ensure that you knew that I was not
>> abusing my position as a Trustee to make it sound like an official
>> position of ISOC.
>> 
>> One can think of lots of situations where a chapter member may have a
>> different point of view than an organization member which could be
>> different from an individual participant. As a chapter member, with my
>> Trustee hat off, I can advocate for the chapter position. However, as
>> a Trustee, I have to consider what is best for the Internet, and that
>> consideration on a particular topic may only be very good, instead of
>> excellent, for chapters.
>> 
>> The alternative is for Trustees to not participate in any discussion
>> that may be misconstrued as an official statement of the Internet
>> Society. That would include most of the discussions here. In my
>> opinion, that would be a step backwards, since as a society we want to
>> encourage dialog, not have it strictly one-way.
>> 
>> Thanks for asking!
>> --
>> - Eric
>> 
>> 
>> On May 30, 2012, at 8:42 AM, Klaus Birkenbihl wrote:
>> 
>>> Eric, what do you mean by this: [speaking as a chapter member, not a
>>> Trustee]??? Do you have a different view as a (chapter) member than as
>>> a Trustee? What is your position as a Trustee? I mean, you should have
>>> one. Probably I'm not the only one who's curious.
>> 
> 
> -- 
> Klaus Birkenbihl
> Internet Society German Chapter e.V. (ISOC.DE)
> c/o ict-Media GmbH
> http://www.isoc.de/
> <Klaus_Birkenbihl.vcf>
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