[Chapter-delegates] Trustees! not staff! Re: Announcement about the dissolution of ISOC-KH

Paul Brooks paul.brooks at isoc-au.org.au
Wed Nov 6 17:18:37 PST 2013


+1 Dave
(from one chapter south of the global waistline)


On 07/11/2013 11:36, Dave Burstein wrote:
> Democracy is messy, especially as Jason notes when the people are 12,000 miles away 
> and don't communicate in other ways. Jason is right to call for more courtesy 
> whenever possible and calling Ted Mooney "dishonest" was worth avoiding. My 
> experience is we are all human and make lots of mistakes. Ted strikes me as someone 
> who wants to overcome problems that develop and will work to solve whatever this is 
> about.
>
>     Ted is getting a lot of flack because he's the point man on a real problem that 
> needs solving. Jason as a board member I hope will do what he can to improve things 
> here. I became involved in ISOC more deeply a while back because I thought the 
> issues coming at WCIT were profoundly troubling. I was really disappointed to 
> discover that what should be a vibrant, "multi-stakeholder" group was being run from 
> the top down. There's a clear message from the top that chapters are supposed to be 
> "supportive of ISOC policy" which they set. Anyone who follows this list can provide 
> a dozen examples. Of course, anyone who follows any passionate discussion on this or 
> almost anything else can provide plenty of examples of anger boiling over like this.
>
>    Which most of us shrug off and happily share a beer later on. Let's hope that 
> Alan and Ted reach that point soon.
>
>    And that Jason, as well as the rest of the board, exercise good judgment and help 
> resolve the underlying problems, which are substantial. In particular, I think it's 
> crucially important the replacements for Lynn and Markus Kummer have proven 
> experience in working with a vibrant, open organization that attracts people of 
> strong political views.
>
>    I also think it crucial that Lyn and Markus' replacement have the experience to 
> bridge the North-South divide. I was horrified to note that 8 out of 8 people 
> speaking at a recent ISOC presentation to members were from the U.S.-Europe access 
> when a strong majority of Internet users and ISOC chapters are from the BRICs and 
> the developing world. We don't need ethnic tests on our staffers but we certainly 
> need more diverse backgrounds. Some of our presentations for WCIT were serious 
> battles for freedom but others (terms of trade in Internet products, practical 
> approached to rural development) were uninformed and seriously disrespectful of 
> legitimate issues of less developed countries.
>
>    We need leadership who understand issues from the "development" point of view as 
> well as the "DC consensus."
>
> Dave Burstein
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 2:52 PM, CW Mail <mail at christopherwilkinson.eu 
> <mailto:mail at christopherwilkinson.eu>> wrote:
>
>     Dear Grigori:
>
>     Thankyou for these questions. they are very relevant.
>
>     *1.Regional Bureaus:*
>
>     The question is not internal ISOC communications. It is our external
>     communications with other Internet communities, particularly governments and
>     regulators.
>     There has to be concentrated, coordinated and consensus based policy
>     communication focussed on the relevant actors at each point in time.
>     That will never be achieved through individual Chapters acting on their own
>     through the Internet.
>     The Regional Bureaus are not doing that job at present, but they should, with
>     the political oversight of the Chapters in their Region.
>
>     *2.Decentralised staff: *
>
>     (a) the published ISOC job description for the Regional Bureaus is already
>     sufficiently broad that it obviously cannot be done by only one or two people
>     operating in large geographical areas.
>     (b) very few Chapters - that I am aware of - have the resources to act as 'local
>     staff'. That is part of the parallel discussion going on about ISOC
>     administrative support to Chapters.
>     in any event, a relevant level of knowledge and experience is required.
>     (c ) most global Internet policy issues have a significant national or regional
>     dimension, either in terms of timing, or in terms of domestic conditions
>     including legislation.
>     Grigori: This response is expressly generic. In the European context one could
>     be much more specific in terms of the EU institutions and regulators, in terms
>     of the geographical scope and in terms of the domestic dimension of the policy
>     issues.
>
>     Best regards
>
>     Christopher
>
>
>     On 06 Nov 2013, at 14:42, Grigori Saghyan <gregor at arminco.com
>     <mailto:gregor at arminco.com>> wrote:
>
>>     -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>     Hash: SHA1
>>
>>
>>     Dear Christopher,
>>
>>     could you please describe, why we need Regional Bureaus today, when we
>>     have all necessary tools for communications using the Internet?
>>
>>     And why  it is necessary to have decentralized staff? Each ISOC
>>     Chapter is a natural representative of  the Internet  community and
>>     can act as a local staff.
>>
>>     With respect
>>     Grigori Saghyan
>>     ISOC.AM <http://ISOC.AM>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     On 06.11.2013 16:57, CW Mail wrote:
>>>     Dear Alan and colleagues:
>>>
>>>     I hesitate to intervene in this discussion because had my
>>>     recommendations of three years ago been promptly implemented, we
>>>     would not be having this critical discussion today.
>>>
>>>     To be clear, I do not support the dissolution of the Regional
>>>     Bureaus. My position is that the staff should be decentralised to
>>>     the Regional Bureaus and that the Regional Bureaus must be
>>>     politically accountable to the Chapters in their Region.
>>>
>>>     The second point is of course a pre-condition for the first.
>>>
>>>     Having been neither a Trustee nor a senior staff member, I abstain
>>>     from that argument as well. Clearly the Chapters have been
>>>     under-represented in the Board of Trustees for a considerable
>>>     period of time, and that might have contributed to a certain lack
>>>     of understanding, if not sensitivity, to Chapter issues.
>>>
>>>     Regards to you all
>>>
>>>     Christopher Wilkinson.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     On 06 Nov 2013, at 12:37, Alan Levin <alan at isoc.org.za
>>>     <mailto:alan at isoc.org.za>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>     Dear Veni,
>>>>
>>>>     On 05 Nov 2013, at 8:49 PM, Veni Markovski <veni at veni.com <mailto:veni at veni.com>>
>>>>     wrote:
>>>>>     You are right. The staffers are good people. I'd say -
>>>>>     amazingly good people.
>>>>
>>>>     I am so sorry as in the past I would always have agreed with this
>>>>     comment. Sadly, after spending more than a calendar day in
>>>>     various discussions with Ted Mooney in Durban a few months ago, I
>>>>     found him to have been dishonest with me. I would not state this
>>>>     in such a public forum unless I was entirely convinced on three
>>>>     bases, 1. regarding ISOC Gauteng, 2. regarding a visit to ISOC
>>>>     projects in Gauteng that I sent him to, and 3. regarding a
>>>>     commitment to observing netiquette.
>>>>
>>>>     I have told Ted that cannot trust him and that I believe he is
>>>>     waging a war against ISOC-ZA yet he persists. Sadly he is in
>>>>     charge of ISOCs position on all of us :(
>>>>
>>>>     On the other hand I've had a few discussion with the Trustees and
>>>>     I believe that they are fully aware of the issues and are fully
>>>>     supportive of the Chapters needs. I expect that with the new CEO
>>>>     we will see dissolution of the 'bureaus' and additional global
>>>>     policy analysts that will be available to assist us with policy
>>>>     issues at national or regional levels.
>>>>
>>>>     Sincerely
>>>>
>>>>     Alan
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     _______________________________________________ As an Internet
>>>>     Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed to this
>>>>     list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>>>>     Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>>>>
>>>
>>>     _______________________________________________ As an Internet
>>>     Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed to this
>>>     list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>>>     Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>>>
>>
>>
>>     - -- 
>>     Grigori Saghyan
>>     PGP Key ID: 0x48E4D5DC
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>>     _______________________________________________
>>     As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>>     to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>>     Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>>
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>     to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
>     Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Editor, Fast Net News, Net Policy News and A Wireless Cloud
> Author with Jennie Bourne  DSL (Wiley, 2002) and Web Video: Making It Great, Getting 
> It Noticed (Peachpit, 2008)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS):https://portal.isoc.org



-- 
Paul Brooks
Board member
ISOC-AU - Internet Society of Australia

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