[Chapter-delegates] LoA for good or bad?

[Veni Markovski]

Eric, see below:

On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, Eric Burger wrote:

> This is an important point. There is something that I do not understand.
>
> What is the distinction between a chapter funded by ISOC and a branch
> office of ISOC?
>

Big difference in money spent. Money for one branch doffice perhaps will be
enough for 10-20+ chapters.


> John and Eduard explicitly mentions ISOC as a worldwide NGO, and a handful
> of people on the list +1'ed the concept. When I think of a worldwide NGO, I
> think of paid staff, every office is under the direct control of
> headquarters, and there may be a volunteer or two helping the NGO out. An
> example here would be Médecins Sans Frontières, where the doctors are
> essentially staff, sent into the field. The field offices are literally
> field offices of MSF. They may or may not have local employees, as needed.
>


The problem is we can't compare Isoc to any existing entities. It has
received .org on the assumption it won't use your PIR money for covering
the expenses of Isoc, for example. That does not seem to be the case.


>
> I am under the belief that ISOC is more of a grass-roots organization.
> Like-minded people get together, usually regionally or around some other
> common interest. Is it your desire to move to a centrally-administered
> model? For me, I would not want ISOC-DC under the direct management of ISOC
> HQ.
>

I wouldn't, too. Actually I would love to see Isoc-DC into becoming an
important voice of the Internet community in the capital of the USA. It is
still not there, and it is still not the organization we envisioned, when 3
years ago some of us decided to reconvene, or establish again.




> There are things ISOC-DC does that we do that ISOC HQ, or a branch office
> of ISOC, to do. As a recent example, imagine if some of the folks from ISOC
> NY were receiving ISOC HQ funds. When the story of Paul broke, instead of
> us showing our strength in the ability of the ISOC NY leadership to speak
> their mind, they would be seen as bad, soon to be ex-, employees of ISOC. I
> know I do *not* want something like that to happen to my chapter. Is that
> really what you want?
>

No, and I think you are confusing the items. Even if Isoc pays small amount
of money, there cannot be hidden or not strings attached. This is not
Isoc's private money, which they have raised from campaigning,
contributions, etc. this is money for public interest projects.

 Best,
Veni


>
>
> On Mar 28, 2012, at 3:13 PM, John More wrote:
>
> Norbert and Veni 1+
>
> Having paid staff and an office are essential tools for any successful
> chapter in any worldwide NGO, such as ISOC.  Volunteers are essential for
> leadership and contacts, etc., but without staff to plan for and carry out
> events on an ongoing basis and to supplement the efforts of volunteers who
> often must manage their businesses and jobs, the chapter cannot really be
> that effective. One successful model is for the central organization to
> train interns and then second them.
>
> I have previously put forward the importance of paid staff. Naturally the
> availability of funding (and training) is important for Chapters located in
> regions with fewer resources. At the same time, it should be a requirement
> that the Chapter raise some money (even a nominal amount).  Charity is not
> a good model. No financial contribution, no ownership -- a primary
> principal of organizing.
>
> John More
>
> ISOC-DC
>
> On Mar 28, 2012, at 3:15 AM, Veni Markovski wrote:
>
> Correct. We got also additional support through the Global Internet Policy
> Initiative - a program ISOC should have been funding today, as they stopped
> functioning because of lack of money. It was through GIPI that we got the
> legal expertise we needed about 10 years ago, and support for going to
> meetings, etc.
> Worth considering from Isoc.
>
>
> Btw, it seems we are sharing here ideas how not only to make Isoc better,
> but to make it a great organization. It would be good to see some follow up
> on those ideas. They are based on experience from many chapters, different
> cultures, etc., and could be perhaps the missing part at Isoc.
>
> On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, Eduard Tric wrote:
>
> +1 here , too.
> When we were proposed to start a Romanian chapter long time ago, i've
> asked  a friend , chair at that time of another chapter , what do we need
> to run a chapter, the answer was "energy and a mailing list" .
> We still have the energy , but wee needed more than the mailing list to
> function , it was an investment so far : office space  (people like also to
> have physical meetings ) , internet , electricity. Having all that + energy
> was still not enoug  , for years Isoc Romania was more a club of  Internet
> enthusiasts running Internet -related projects than a well-known and
> respected local NGO.
> The boost in terms of awareness was the Inet Bucharest and our bold
> position and initiative on ACTA issue.
> Now we are well known,it's a fact.
> To become respected, we need (at least ) : synchronization with other
> chapters and HQ , especially on policies issues, and yes, some funding to
> run the chapter (especially the legal part of our actions is very costly ,
> we cannot be efficient on policies without a local lawyer support ).
> Regads,
> Ed
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Veni Markovski" <veni at veni.com>
> To: president at isoc-kh.org
> Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 9:37:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] LoA for good or bad?
>
>
> Norbert, +1.
> Isoc Bulgaria started being active, when we got some funding. Before that
> it was mainly thanks to the efforts of the board members, who were spending
> their own money and time to keep the chapter moving. If I wasn't a CEO of
> an ISP, and co-founder, AND my business partner wouldn't have agreed to let
> me allocate the time for that... I wouldn't be even on this list now.
> Paid staff brought the chapter in another dimension. Our committed, humble
> and totally workohollic people are known to many of you. Julia and Dessi
> have made wonderful things at Isoc BG and continue doing them.
> But I've argued many years ago that Isoc HQ could afford pay staff at
> chapters, which would have.made the chapters stronger. HQ chose a different
> path, and so far they've used only one person from the chapters world -
> Jacek, who is now working for Isoc. The regional directors are a good idea,
> but they need more support - from the chapters to do their job. And that's
> a problem, as you properly point out, chapters don't have staff to work for
> free. So, a suggestion might be for HQ to create a pool for supporting not
> just projects, but chapters personnel hiring. My bet is that on average $
> 10,000 per chapter will be enough. Average, because some don't need it, and
> some need only $ 1,000 per year.
>
>
> V.
>
> On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, President ISOC-KH wrote:
>
>
> On 03/27/2012 05:33 PM, Victor Ndonnang wrote:
>
>
> Dear Norbert,
>
> Thank you very much for your message. Talking about building up a Chapter,
> supporting its grow
>
>

-- 
Best,
Veni

== Sent from my phone, so any spelling mistakes are caused by the
touchscreen keyboard. That's a nice excuse, isn't it;-)
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